Creatives For The People

Last class we touched on art between the wars, in America called Social Realism. The movement honored the working class a time dominated by the Great Depression by union workplace reforms. Notable artists were Raphael Soyer, Miller Brittain (from Saint John, NB), Jack Humphrey, and Paraskeva Clark.

 

"Petrushka" by Paraskeva Clark (1937)

In the same way that these artists were making art work about the people for the people of the time, I find current architects and urban planners thinking more and more about people, and I love it! Here one of my new found favorites, Jan Gehl, resumes his view on how architecture and infrastructure should work. The man is the author of Cities For People, and waves around a mean water bottle. Interested in what he says? Check out one of the many youtube videos of his presentations.