Cosmopolis: by Daniel Solomon (Michigan Architecture Papers)

In this illustrated talk (the text of the 2007 Raoul Wallenberg lecture), the author, architect and urban designer Daniel Solomon discusses the fragility of public space and the uses of architecture in relation to "community design," proposing the model of a "cosmopolis" in which the needs of society are fostered and met. Solomon has an instinctive understanding of what is at stake and what needs to be recovered in the public realm, and addresses these subjects with urgent candor. He observes that architects and urban designers very rarely stray into "community design" (a term he acknowledges as an oxymoron, since how can one possibly Idesign/I a community?), and that while at least a discourse exists for environmental issues in cities, there is almost none for "cosmopolitan" issues, and that architecture schools need to include the conception of a cosmopolis in their pedagogy.