More food for thought on the French riots: Blame it on LeCorbusier?

There is certainly more to the riots than bad design but consider this story from The Toronto Star:

Why Caravelle escaped riots.

"They didn't burn any cars — it was really surprising. Maybe they've changed their whole way of thinking. The place is certainly not as wild as it used to be," he added yesterday.

Bellouti credits the dramatic shift in attitude to a major change in Caravelle's physical appearance — a transformation touted as central to solving troubles plaguing France's isolated public housing compounds.

Racism against French citizens of immigrant backgrounds, along with unemployment and dropout rates significantly higher than the national average, had much to do with the anger that triggered the worst French riots in decades.

But the layout of many of France's public housing complexes, particularly the 1 million rent-capped apartments in impoverished suburban zones, is recognized as a contributing source of alienation and crime

....Driving many of the designs were the modernist views of legendary Swiss architect Le Corbusier, who urged the building of "mass production houses," describing them as "machines for living.

•••

Link courtesy Hans in Toronto.

•••

Of course there is no question that there is a stream of anti-Semitism in French society  -- and has been for centuries -- and now manifest by many French Muslims and to the degree that that is part of the riots, it's preposterous to lay that at the drawing board of LeCorbusier.

Comments

[Brian Miller]

Was anit-semitism a major factor in these riots. David? I thougt it was more nihilistic outrage against the state than anti-semitism.

[David Sucher]

Brian, I am not aware that anti-Semitism is a major factor but it does seems that synagogues have been attacked but Islamic places of woship have not. So it has tobe in the meix somewhere. Perhaps the rioters are trying to gain sympathy from the extreme right-wing in France.

In any case I did hedge: "... to the degree that that is part of the riots..."

[Roger]

David, I suspect there is more truth in the article than wide-spread anti-semitism.

Machines for living have never really worked. People don't want to live in machines. I can admire designs like those Le C penned and built as intellectual exercises, but they're supremely arrogant at the same time. If you're happy where you live, you won't want to see it destroyed. If you despise where you live, who cares what happens to it?

[Desmond Bliek]

Hi,

It's an interesting story you link to, though as you say, it's impossible to lay the blame at the drawing board of Le Corbusier, just as it is foolish to single out any one factor as the sole cause of something so complex.

Interestingly, and I'm surprised you haven't pointed this out yourself as it seems to me the 'City Comforts take on the situation,' it strikes me that certain environments allow for much more participation through the use of space in the economy than others. For instance, it strikes me as a lot easier to rent and customise (to a degree) space in order to open up a small shop or business of any sort in a community that follows your three rules and that has a variety of building types of different ages and sizes. The suburban machines of Europe do not strike me as particularly easy places to innovate or try new economic concepts. In a way, the managerial bureaucracy of such housing projects in some sense echoes their physical rigidity and size.

So, while there's far more to it than Le Corbusier, perhaps it's fair to say that the suburbs built in his wake don't make it any easier for their residents to participate successfully in the political economy.

Desmond

[Benjamin Hemric]

I was thinking along similar multi-causal lines as Desmond -- especially, as he so nicely puts it, "that certain environments allow for much more participation through the use of space in the economy than others." (Which seems to me to be a very Jane Jacobs angle -- especially when expanded to consider the opportunities for social participation and acculturation as well.)

In Sunday's (Nov. 27, 2005) "New York Times," there's an article by Christopher Caldwell, "Revolting High Rises," that discusses some of the physical issues, particularly "building type" (towers-in-the-park "housing projects") and "spatial location" center city vs. outskirts of city). (I think it is in the Sunday magazine section.) Here's the URL [?]:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/magazine/27wwln_essay.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1133064397-QwhoNuUQ3T/zEeV+VfDG/A