Section = 004_1

HAND MADE

“A castle, made of cartons, rocks, and old branches is worth a thousand perfectly detailed, exactly finished castles, made in a factory.” (Alexander et al., 1977:368, ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND (73))

“…we can master the singular process of producing a singular world of sociality. This is autonomy today…” (Berardi, 2009a:83)

“The human hand is peerless in its strength, agility, and sensitivity.” (Tuan, 1977:11)

“You want to produce homes? Then do you know how to dwell?” (Cacciari, 1980:2)

Whereas ‘cities’ may obey the laws that come into play whenever large numbers are involved (e.g. Bettencourt et al., 2007; Lehrer, 2010), individuals do not (Huxley, 1939:209). Witness the failure of economic science (e.g. Mazzari, 2010 etc…). Thus understood, good cannot be fabricated by mass production methods, it is not that sort of commodity (Huxley, 1939:188). Happiness is not a matter of science (Berardi, 2009b:90), it is a matter of moral craftsmanship that can’t be produced except by individuals (Huxley, 1939:188). Architects may attempt to ‘liberate houses from the programs of granulation and intolerance that came with the 20th Century agenda of ownership and create tolerant spaces where people can live a more vital life in order for [cities to excel]’ (Tsukamoto, 2010:43). Comprehension of the objective qualities of the city that generate flexibility and resilience (as described by Tsukamoto, 2010; Tsukamoto in Kitayama, 2010c) can provide necessary support (or protection). But solutions are not simply a matter of coming up with better design ideas to be imposed by more or less the same apparatus of top-down control (Salingaros et al., 2010:65) – What happens after (Tsukamoto, 2010’s) Fourth Generation House? Urban morphology alone cannot provide all the answers (Salingaros et al., 2010:93) and city planning is just an expression of mistrust in the spontaneity of social relations (Bookchin, 1974:100).