urbanism assignment

here's what i actually did for urbanism. (look familiar?) the assignment was to read five different visionary (of the likes of antonio sant'elia, frank lloyd wright, le corbusier...) city planning texts and to look for ways in which their ideas have trickled down today in baltimore.

le corbusier and his "guiding principles of town planning." got me going right from the start. this "believe" connection seemed almost too good to be true.

the bold white on black believe banners were something that i immediately loved about baltimore. anytime graphic design can use one word to alter the spirit of a community i'm intreguiged. in so many ways it was one word ("advokate") that led me to an art school, after all. and without knowing anything about what it meant, "believe" appeared to be attempting to do that for an entire city.

looking into it more, i found a progress report on the campaign, which turns out was a full-fledged media effort under mayor o'malley launched in 2002 (and was technically shortlived although the ripple effect still exists in remnants of believe things still around the city.) here's the resoning behind the campaign's creation:

"... it has been difficult for the people of baltimore to embrace with hope and confidence the possibility that human intervention could really drive the pestilence of illegal drugs and their violent effects from the midst of their city. facts alone do not change habis of mind and pessimism of expection long warn into the public psyche. the baltimore believe campaign was concieved as an attempt to set in motion a change that facts alone could not accomplish. it was constructed by the politcal and business leadership of the city to light a fuse of popular will and determinaton that would alter behavior inside and outside the drug culture to undermine its horrific effects on children, on adults, and the city in which they live. nothing like it has ever been attempted before."

a few things worth calling attention to:

first, a leader stepping up to tackle a problem of monumental proportions in the most optimistic way. and not relying on a typical response, but instead doing something so innovative and risky, and trusting that the people of the city would rise to the responsibility. (mayor o'malley is quoted as asking them to "risk action on faith.")

second, there were tangible results. through tv commercials, newspaper spreads, a website, and a hotline, progress was made with programs for career services, the police academy, big brother/big sister mentoring, and drug treatment. (to see the actual data, here's a link to the report itself.)

now i realize i am only seeing one piece of the puzzle in this research. it is impossible to ever fully know the intricacies and layering of a city. i am sure this idealistic project was not without controversy or criticism. but i am still wondering why it officially ended. (though i have some ideas. politics, money. cough, cough.) i am left to only imagine what could have been accomplished if the believe mentality had been continually promoted with such vigor.

and back to corbusier...

"a flood of action which leaves purposes way behind it, taking shape according to the special capacities of the people, stirs the emotions and comes to dominate developments; it issues orders; it establishes behaviour and gives events their deeper significance. at first this flood of action disappoints; but on closer consideration it encourages men and arouse confidence."

summary:
between believing and not believing. it is better to believe.
between acting and disintegrating. it is better to act.