An American Architectural Epoch Comes to an End

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/weekinreview/25ouroussoff.html?hpw links to a nice piece on public spaces, museums and parks and the end of an era brought to its conclusion by this recession. The piece addresses freedom: "The problem with freedom, after all, is that it allows for horrifying imaginative failures as well as works of stunning genius. When artists fail, you can ignore their work. When architects fail, you walk by their buildings every morning on your way for coffee shaking your fist." It also addresses what I call the 'two camps:' " They reflect the long battle between those who want to tear down old barriers and those who simply want to replace them with new ones. Solving that conflict will be left to a future epoch." Other issues are addressed as well, but it is up to us to begin that future epoch.