James Howard Kunstler to Speak in Tacoma on April 23rd.
Tickets are on sale now! Tickets for what? Well…
We’ve partnered with Local Life Tacoma to bring James Howard Kunstler, urban planning advocate, social critic, journalist and novelist, to Tacoma on April 23, 7:00pm, at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts’ Theatre on the Square.
James Howard Kunstler is the author of seven novels and countless articles and essays including The Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency. Geography earned much attention and praise, launching him into the spotlight as a commentator on America’s hapless urban planning. Mr. Kunstler has lectured extensively about urban design, energy issues and new economies for The TED Conference, Google, American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the International Council of Shopping Centers, The National Association of Science and Technology and other professional organizations as well as at numerous colleges and universities.
Mr. Kunstler aptly describes his lectures as “stand-up comedy with some dark moments.” His audience knows he is dependably acerbic, witty, well-read and exceedingly alert, drawing from a tremendous store of hard facts and idealism that ends on a good note: Well-earned and reasoned hope.
His lecture will focus on Tacoma and the state of our city. After the lecture, he will sign books in the lobby. Books will be available for sale from King’s Books.
For more information and tickets, contact the Broadway Center Box Office by phone at 253.591.5894, visit in person at 9th & Broadway or any time online at www.broadwaycenter.org. You must call the BCPA Box Office to receive student pricing.
This event is sponsored by Veritas Mortgage, Embellish Salon, the University of Washington Tacoma Urban Studies Department, Boe Architects, the University of Puget Sound Politics & Government Department, BCRA, and The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. Student ticket prices are made possible through the generous support of the City of Tacoma.
Here’s Kunstler at the TED Conference last year:
Link to Local Life Tacoma
Previously on Exit133
Filed under: Events
35 comments
R RR Anderson March 31, 2008
now in stereo podcast vision!
http://kunstlercast.libsyn.com/rss
R RR Anderson March 31, 2008
so yeah stick that rss feed (above) into your miro player and get yourself pumped for the JHK. You’ll be thanking yourself for taking my advice.
P Paul Sparks March 31, 2008
It may be similar to the Pink Floyd Experience
J Justin Mayfield April 1, 2008
I can’t freakin’ wait for this… Kunstler that is. I’ll catch Floyd next time around.
C CA April 1, 2008
Hmmm. I watched the first 5 minutes of the youtube video Erik B. linked to, and I came away with mixed feelings. Clearly Kunstler knows good urban design when he sees it, but Im not sure I share his disdain for suburbia and suburbanites. Listen, I live and love Tacoma and wouldn’t live anywhere but the city. However, some people like mowing lawns and having fruit trees in the back yard. Is Kunstler suggesting we use coercion to force people to move out of the suburbs and into the cities? Eventually fuel and energy prices will influence people enough to choose to live in cities rather than in Bonney Lake and South Hill. It is these free market pressures which will reshape our countryside, not charismatic speakers. Or maybe I should have watched the entire video. Nevertheless, if his presentation is about what Tacomans can do to make Tacoma a better city, then sign me up!
E Erik B. April 1, 2008
Nevertheless, if his presentation is about what Tacomans can do to make Tacoma a better city, then sign me up!
I think the strength of the TED presentation is how successful public space are located and designed and the public rhelm.
Or maybe I should have watched the entire video.
You might. Then give us your impression.
R RR Anderson April 1, 2008
CA your concerns are real; however, Nobody will be forced to do anything. The people will be moving for survival in their best self interest.
After the fall of the united states government community will be the only thing keeping humans alive and out of the mashing teeth of the zombie horde.
C CA April 1, 2008
RR, I think we may be on similar pages(I think). My premise is that in a free-market capitalist system only market pressures can affectively reallocate resources and capital the way in which Kunstler wishes. You call it “The people will be moving for survival in their best self interest.” But I think we mean almost the same thing. When fuel and energy become super-expensive, and our populations start to decrease(birth rates throughout the developed and developing world are decreasing) only then will market conditions influence people to move back to the cities.
R RR Anderson April 1, 2008
CA, yes. Kunstler is just mad that we’re blowing our whole wad of cheap energy on frivolous crap instead of investing the resources in things that will help us survive the future dark ages when teh oil runs out.
C CA April 1, 2008
But dude, I thought the Toyota Prius was gonna save us.
R RR Anderson April 1, 2008
that’s just what the marketers over at toyota want you to believe.
don’t buy it! Think with your feet man.
P Paul Sparks April 1, 2008
Kunstler isn’t telling everyone to move to the big city – nor does he have a problem with someone who wants fruit trees in their backyard.
Kunstler believes that our current infrastructure and way of life is unsustainable and ultimately destructive. Many Americans have advocated trends promoting corporate efficiency, productivity and discount, and extreme privatism without noticing how these efforts might cause significant losses and costs to their communities, and to the long-term health of their nation.
Kunstler explains that these systems are not sustainable, and they must be reorganized around local communities. He accuses centralized systems of eliminating practically all the “middlemen,” people who were “members of local communities; they were economic participants in their communities; they made decisions that had to take the needs of their communities into account; they were caretakers of civic institutions, and they were employers.” Kunstler explains that we will have to restore the place of these middlemen and move from a culture of quantity to a culture of quality, by re-localizing and downscaling what we do.
P Paul Sparks April 2, 2008
“…[the] physical arrangement of life in our nation, in particular suburban sprawl, [is] the most destructive development pattern the world has ever seen, and perhaps the greatest misallocation of resources the world has ever known.
The tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots, housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up the everyday environment where most Americans live and work [is] … a land full of places that are not worth caring about [and] will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not worth defending.
The things that will help us the most will be finding a new scale of living and a new way to rebuild local, cohesive communities and cottage industries around them. We will need a new infrastructure for daily life, a new place for the human spirit to dwell and rest in for a while.
James Howard Kunstler
C CA April 2, 2008
It all sounds good Paul, it really does. But during my admittedly cursory investigation of all things Kunstler, I failed to come across any concrete proposals on how we’re gonna empty out the suburbs. Again, I’ll reiterate my contention that the mass migration Kunstler is advocating will only happen as a result of market conditions. And these market conditions, I believe, are still multiple decades away, if they ever materialize in the first place. I like VERY much what he says about good urban design. I just dont know if his dire predictions regarding suburbia are logical at this moment in time.
P Paul Sparks April 2, 2008
Many would say market conditions have already begun creating the conditions believed to be multiple decades away.
From a novice perspective it appears that the value of places that design for local cohesive communities are growing in value while the suburbs are having some serious trouble.
The question is: how much needless suffering will we have to endure because we did not discern preemptively what the market would do, but chose to react after the case?
Here is a few lines from OFHEO’s House Price Index end of they year analysis based on data from Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac from more than 30 million repeat transactions over the past 30 years.
11/29/07
“U.S housing prices dipped into negative territory in the third quarter for the first time in 13 years… Of 287 metro areas, however…over a five-year period, only one metro area – Detroit – shows a decrease in prices.”
I don’t know that we have to ask “how do we empty out the suburbs” so much as: How do we recreate our places and our lifestyles for a more local and sustainable way of living?
C CA April 2, 2008
Paul, I think that you and I are both in agreement with Kunstler that we need vastly improved urban spaces. No point of contention there.
And you’re absolutely right that home/property values are dropping, but they’re dropping in both suburban and urban areas. I’d also point out that most observers would suggest that real estate has been inflated over the last 10 or so years. So it’s likely we’ll see prices reduce to a more logical level, in cities and suburbs.
Yes fuel and energy is going to get more expensive. However, I dont believe we’re gettin rid of the automobile any time soon. We’re just gonna get rid of the internal combustion engine, and replace them with plug-in electric cars and nuclear and coal power plants.
I think we’re going to have cars and suburbs for quite some time.
P Paul Sparks April 3, 2008
I’m not writing from the Peak Oil perspective which generally claims that there is no viable alternative that could sustain our current way of life (although that may be quite possible).
There are a multitude of reasons to get serious about the structural disaster we have created throughout many of our suburbs. First and foremost “Sprawl Kills” (Read “Sprawl Kills: How Blandburbs Steal Your Time, Health, and Money”
by Joel S Hirschhorn).
Yes, it may be possible (though not certain) that our current level of car use and suburb living may remain for some time. It will just be curious to see who lives there if they aren’t recreated for social, cultural, and economic possibility. Probably the poor, who will have to commute in to creative centers to work for others who live there.
B broadweezy April 3, 2008
Maybe I’m being controversial, but I find Kunstler’s agressive zeal for revitalization of the American city borderline annoying. If we all lived in Kunstler’s perfect world, American cities would essentally all look like Boston with brick brownstone neighborhoods with grocery co-ops surrounded by organic farms and speckeled with occasional LEED condos (but no higher than 4 stories). Kunstler is a huge critic of contemporary architecture, as is evident on his Eyesore of the Month blog, so I’m guessing he would likely be negatively critical of the MOG, TAM, and Convention Center (he called the Seattle Public Libary a “monstrosity”) – all of which have been huge catalysts for downtown Tacoma.
Kunstler was mandatory reading in the urban studies program and I think still is. Although he is known for his provacative views on urban development, I would rather live in a neighborhood designed by Kunstler than say, Quadrant Homes. I just hope to hear less of his bitter ranting and more ideas for practical soltions.
M Mofo from the Hood April 3, 2008
I’ve been trying to come to terms with Kunstler’s prophesies of energy depletion and an impending collapse of the technology canopy.
Therefore in a attempt to prepare for the not inevitable future I am drawing up plans for a transportation company that has a tried and true history.
INTRODUCING:
Tacoma Stagecoach
The initial plans call for one or more horse-drawn stagecoaches to connect the city’s neighborhood business districts.
In Phase Two the extension of the line will serve Tacoma commuters who work in the outlying counties of Kitsap and Pierce—-A ten year projection. King County toward inner Seattle is part of a twenty-five year projection.
Service to the State Capitol and Sea-Tac Airport are a high priority.
TACOMA STAGECOACH!
C CA April 3, 2008
“I just hope to hear less of his bitter ranting and more ideas for practical soltions.”
broadweezy,you said in one sentence what I could not do in multiple posts. Thankyou.
R RR Anderson April 3, 2008
homies! the bitter, cantankerous “mad profit” motif is part of the charm. If he didn’t have that he’d just be another pro-urban weenie.
Shouldn’t take it personal. Just have fun with it.
A an architect April 3, 2008
@RR
Keep what from happening again? Allowing a renowned architect to design something unique-extraordinary-eye-catching-outstanding … Would you rather all buildings be cliche’ glass high rises or boxes made of brick and stucco?
By all means keep any “wow-factor” buildings out of Tacoma. And tear any down that might be considered unique (Museum of Glass).
R RR Anderson April 3, 2008
if by ‘wow factor’ you mean a building that looks like it was coughed up by a sea cucumber (read E.M.P.), then you can keep it.
I prefer buildings that are functional to human beings, and not some sadomasochist freak-job architect’s wet dream.
Why I could carve a better seattle public library out of a banana. The only difference is you’d want to clad my banana in titanium for no reason.
S Sassy McButterpants April 3, 2008
Now Mr. Anderson, one man’s regurgitated sea cucumber is another man’s architecturally signifigant point of community pride.
P Paul Sparks April 4, 2008
“I just hope to hear less of his bitter ranting and more ideas for practical soltions.”
Perhaps you are missing the proposed solutions because you have a different perception of the problem.
What is the crisis you feel needs more practical solutions and less bitter ranting?
E Erik B. April 4, 2008
Allowing a renowned architect to design something unique-extraordinary-eye-catching-outstanding …Would you rather all buildings be cliche’ glass high rises or boxes made of brick and stucco?
I think one of the problems lately in building construction is to try to make a designer type building which looks great from a quarter mile above it.
Unfortunately, these buildings end up being monuments to themselves and no concerns of how they integrate with the rest of the area and end up creating dead zones all around them.
I certainly think there are some good modern designs of buildings though. UWT’s new building on Pacific is “modern” but will work well as designed.
A an architect April 4, 2008
RR, do you hate all great architecture? Maybe you should just stop commenting.
D DavidS April 4, 2008
Unfortunately, critically “great architecture” is often equated with embracing and expanding on new building technologies of the period. This is not always what the users or community may consider great architecture even if it achieves the programmatic goals.
A an_architect April 5, 2008
<i>This is not always what the <strong>users or community</strong> may consider great architecture even if it achieves the programmatic goals.</i>
When is great art or architecture ever judged as such by the masses? Sure, everything is open to critique but some have more weight in their critique than others—and rightfully so. The general masses will call greatness an abomination and most committees effectively dilute visionary ideas.
<i>Lucky for Tacoma i’ll never stop commenting.</i>
And it seems that’s all you do …
R RR Anderson April 5, 2008
I am all for greatness and art. I just want to see some god damn craftsmanship .
when your design inspiration for a building is a terrorist attack or a smashed guitar (viz rubbish) your end result building is going to look like a pile of crap and or terrorist attack.
READERS: These architects are inhuman monsters who hate you and your children.
P Paul Sparks April 5, 2008
“When is great art or architecture ever judged as such by the masses?
Fatefully, it is usually only judged by the masses after it destroys them. It is a shame that neighborhoods often have very little to say in the design of space that will effect them so deeply, and for which they ought to be responsible.
Once again, this is the reason for Kunstler’s premonition that we need a more local and participatory way of life. Perhaps Tacoma, of all places, remembers what happens when design is left to experts alone, without the collective wisdom of the neighborhood shareholders involved. Our city center is still recovering from such things.
A an_architect April 5, 2008
Paul, I agree that public space can (perhaps should) be shaped by the collective wisdom of neighborhood shareholders with the caveat of with the help of experts. What I disagree with is the idea that, specifically, a “wow-factor” building destroys a community.
An architecturally daring building is often judged as “goofy,” as “madness” or “a joke” by the general public—especially by the outspoken demographic with little or no knowledge of the art of architecture. The Eiffel tower is a perfect example of architecture that was, at the time, decried by the public and is now an international treasure.
One or two Starchitect buildings will usually add to the public landscape creating more opportunities for culture, commerce and social interaction. Of course a city comprised soley of Starchitect buildings would be void of life. I agree with Kunstler when he says that big box retailers with high cement walls and football field parking lots do not encourage community. Urban sprawl, strip malls and massive parking lots are the enemy of communities, not a few Starchitect buildings. I haven’t heard his beef with “wow-factor” buildings but based on what I understand from this discussion I would probably have a differing opinion than his.
As for the aesthetic appreciation of the higher forms of any particular art it is usually the case that the learned among that field will more fully appreciate and be able to critique the specific art form in question. I may have an opinion about a steel workers weld or a webmasters code but because neither are in my area of expertise my opinion counts less than a student of that specialty. No matter how loud I talk, or blog, that fact does not change.
Lastly, from a practical standpoint: I think the idea of public space being shaped by the collective wisdom of neighborhood shareholders is a good one although it seems a bit too idealistic. How is this shaping possible when there are people who exist in communities that don’t give a damn or are only interested in number one? How is what’s best for the community determined? And how does it not get democratized and socialized into something that just makes everyone happy—but really no one?
R RR Anderson April 5, 2008
all i’m sayin is how much did the MOG cost for some fancy pants architect to design stairs that now require those pretty “Caution shallow steps” warning signs every 10 feet?
How many people have to get hurt before folks realize it’s a lousy design.
Also the star destroyer conning tower filled with pigeon poop is a nice touch.
These buildings are designed to look pretty in a CGI world devoid of organic life forms.
For many people, myself included, life is the only thing going for us right now.
E Erik B. April 6, 2008
What I disagree with is the idea that, specifically, a “wow-factor” building destroys a community.
Good looking buildings can be built with good urban design. Of the above buildings mentioned, the MOG seems to do pretty well.
Tacoma’s biggest problems with urban design over the last 50 years has not been with “Starchitects,” it has been with buildings built downtown which have systematically killed any potential of life block after block.
Consequently, Tacoma has almost no “commerce” on Commerce or any markets on Market Street. These streets have blank walls and parking garages on the first floor often spanning an entire block making any kind of pedestrian life impossible.
As for the aesthetic appreciation of the higher forms of any particular art it is usually the case that the learned among that field will more fully appreciate and be able to critique the specific art form in question.
I wish we could defer completely to the architectural community for good urban design.
Unfortunately, they have designed some of the worst buildings in downtown Tacoma including the North Park Plaza Parking garage.
However, I don’t blame the architects. They are a needed skilled professionals who have the expertise to design good urban design. They implement the desire of their clients.
Without the public will to implement good urban design, they are going to have little choice but to continue to build one strip mall after another.
P Paul Sparks April 7, 2008
#43 – “I think the idea of public space being shaped by the collective wisdom of neighborhood shareholders is a good one although it seems a bit too idealistic. How is this shaping possible when there are people who exist in communities that don’t give a damn or are only interested in number one?”
It is possible when the number of people who give a damn collectively realize they are more powerful than those who are only interested in number one.
This possibility is actively nurtured in places built for local living because the outcomes of your actions become directly visible to neighboring shareholders.
I recommend “Community and the Politics of Place” by Daniel Kemmis for those interested in these themes.