I'On Dialogues Pt. 2 - "The Beauty of Complexity"
Part 2: "The Beauty of Complexity"
“This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding. It is also, and mostly, an attempt to introduce new principles of city planning and rebuilding, different and even opposite from those now taught in everything from schools of architecture and planning to the Sunday supplements and women's magazines.” ~Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
Session Panelists/ “Provocateurs”:
Lead Provocateur: Dr. Timothy Patitsas, Dean of Hellenic College, Co-founder of Beauty First Films Fellow Provocateurs:
Alain Bertaud, Urbanist, Senior Research Scholar, NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management
Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director, Urban Design Program, Georgia Tech
Samuel Hughes, Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange & Research Fellow, Oxford University
Chuck Marohn, Founder, Strong Towns
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Full Series Description:
“Ancora Imparo” (I am still learning), attributed to Michelangelo, then 87, while working on the design for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
In 1995, a radical new neighborhood was proposed for Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Radical in the sense that its design departed from the conventional post-WWII growth patterns. But also radical in that the vision for I’On built upon the foundational root of human settlement patterns. Opposed at the outset, the neighborhood’s founders, Geoff, Tom and Vince Graham, together with supporters of their vision, endured years of political and legal wrangling to secure approval. Though acclaimed as South Carolina’s most celebrated neighborhood of the past 25 years, I’On continues to be viewed as a radical departure from the norm. Because it is!
In honor of the 25th anniversary of I’On’s approval and groundbreaking, the Grahams invited urban designers who helped shape the vision for I’On, as well as builders, scholars and activists who have inspired their thinking over the last quarter century, for a gathering called The I’On Dialogues.
Held October 23-25, 2022, the Dialogues drew upon lessons learned from I’On and elsewhere for the purpose of raising the level of awareness and discourse surrounding land use and transportation policy reform. Divided into eight sessions interspersed with walking tours, The I’On Dialogues sought to provoke opportunity-opening discussion that would advance the endeavor to achieve a more beautiful and humane built environment.