In 1924, Le Corbusier wrote, “The Pack Donkey’s Way is responsible for the plan of every continental city.” When the father of modernism made that observation, the winding, patternless streets that we still associate with pre-industrial cities—organic accumulations of expedient, short-sighted decisions by humans and their domesticated animals—had already given way to the grid's rectilinear regularity in many urban areas. He continues, "Man walks in a straight line because he has a goal and knows where he is going." OK. After Le Corbusier delivered his own vision for cities, which in many ways defined 20th-century architecture, it turned out he may have overestimated the human race. Now we walk in straight lines because we have to, not because we know where we're going. Far from an expression of certainty, the urban street grid simplifies, removes choices, and reflect's nobody's direct route exactly. The donkey, for all its zigging and zagging, may have actually known better where it was headed, and imprinted its will more directly onto the landscape.
#67: A Bicycle for the Donkey Mind
#67: A Bicycle for the Donkey Mind
#67: A Bicycle for the Donkey Mind
In 1924, Le Corbusier wrote, “The Pack Donkey’s Way is responsible for the plan of every continental city.” When the father of modernism made that observation, the winding, patternless streets that we still associate with pre-industrial cities—organic accumulations of expedient, short-sighted decisions by humans and their domesticated animals—had already given way to the grid's rectilinear regularity in many urban areas. He continues, "Man walks in a straight line because he has a goal and knows where he is going." OK. After Le Corbusier delivered his own vision for cities, which in many ways defined 20th-century architecture, it turned out he may have overestimated the human race. Now we walk in straight lines because we have to, not because we know where we're going. Far from an expression of certainty, the urban street grid simplifies, removes choices, and reflect's nobody's direct route exactly. The donkey, for all its zigging and zagging, may have actually known better where it was headed, and imprinted its will more directly onto the landscape.