Does it? Have you ever walked through one of these progressive lodging communities?
I would be very interested to read what you have say just after you emerge.
Nothing reflects the spiritual order--or disorder--of a civilization as clearly as its architechture. You could not fail to comprehend the underlying view of human beings that inspired the architect--and the society that embraced his aesthetic.
Nonsense. Le Corbusier was not a "totalitarian architect" and blaming the house one lives in for barbaric behavior is Psychobabble 101. Explain the criminals who live in Southampton mansions or on the beach at Malibu or in very nice, middle-class homes in the suburbs. Were their homes too nice for them so they turned to crime and evil behavior because of that? Or explain those who have the moral and ethical values to rise above their humble beginnings to attain status and position and become contributing, valuable citizens. It is not the house, that's just a convenient excuse invented by the "don't-blame-me" crowd.
The author points out that these immigrants are living 100 times better than they did in their own country. They are certainly not poor, at least by the standards of all previously existing societies: they are not hungry; they have cell phones, cars, and many other appurtenances of modernity; they are dressed fashionably—according to their own fashion—with a uniform disdain of bourgeois propriety and with gold chains round their necks. They believe they have rights, and they know they will receive medical treatment, however they behave. They enjoy a far higher standard of living (or consumption) than they would in the countries of their parents’ or grandparents’ origin, even if they labored there 14 hours a day to the maximum of their capacity.
One must assume that they want it all and they want it all without the responsibility of working for it. I lived in Africa for three years and am very familiar with the local housing there. If you look at the apartment house that I posted that Le Cobusier designed, trust me, that's a palace compared to what these immigrants lived in at home.
Amen. I've lived in a totalitarian housing structure and I cannot agree more with your above statement. Thankfully, I had the option of leaving any time. The others did not. Architecture is much more central to our lives -- particularly in cities, of course -- than most understand. That makes it a useful tool for social engineers -- as it has been used for centuries (though under my glorious Habsburgs it was used for higher purposes, to establish order in society and to celebrate the beauty that comes from God).