As friends of mine have testified in their design research, NASCAR events are great, hulking, boisterous, and temporal events of intense, bawdy, and dense urbanism. Within the pulsing confines of these masses of drinkin, bawlin', and racin' there are lessons to be learned. Tom Wolfe figured that out back in the 1960's with "The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Yes!"
These gatherings, that easily double or triple the duration, size of a typical Browns or Packers tailgating Sunday, are ripe for further study and intellectual exploitation. Like it or not, the energy and dynamism of American culture, commerce, and zeitgeist, are located in places like Bristol, Tennessee and Talladega, Alabama.
No Prada-wearing architects allowed.
1 comment:
Does "urbanism" simply equal "a lot of people in one place"? I guess we have a lot to learn from the shantytowns of Lagos, too. All you need is thousands of people, a lot of corrugated aluminum, and a few open sewers, and hey! You too can have your own "urbanist" development!
How do these NASCAR encampments deal with education? Employment? Medical care? Public safety? Transportation? Economic development? Oh, that's right: they don't, because they're not actual cities where people live and learn and work and die. And they have nothing to teach anyone about any of the most vital functions of a city. What this has to do with "urbanism" is beyond me, and your commentary sheds no light on how this might be so.
I've never seen this blog before, but with "analysis" like this NASCAR post, I don't feel like I've missed much.
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