i dont get the point of that statement....
90% of architecture throughout history has been nothing more than pragmatic functional enclosures that keep the weather out......we tend to look at the historic monuments and think that all buildings were like that.....in 1700, most cities were not filled with architectural gems....the buildings that most people worked or lived in were dark, cold, unhealthy buildings.....not everything was the notre dame cathedral.
the half timber paris buildings posted in the other thread are certainly charming, but i doubt they 'captured the hearts of their inhabitants'...they capture our hearts because they are nostalgic and quaint in their imperfection.....spend a few days living in one of those and the light and air of a modern building with start to look pretty appealing.
as far as the monuments of the past are concerned, i am the first person to be inspired by them, but as many people are inspired by modern architectural monuments as well.....people travel far and wide to see the guggenheim, the sydney opera house, the st. louis arch, the petronas towers, the beijing olympic stadium, pompidou, the ROM, the disney theatre, the milwaukee art museum...i could list a thousand modern buildings that inspire people.
i will not argue that cities of the old world are certainly better than those of the new, but it has little to do with the age of the architecture....
the wonderful streets of copenhagen are filled with new buildings that sit alongside old ones and create the same urban condition.....here is an example in paris of how a building can be modern but still contribute as much or more to the urban quality of the city than its historic neighbours do...even the background modern building beside it acts as a successful partner in the streetscape......as much as most of the historic buildings in paris do and it probably has a much better interior space because it didnt try and replicate the window sizes of the older buildings.
both modern buildings fit seamlessly into the urban character of paris....one is as inspirational as the ornate examples of historic paris buildings and one does everything that the typical streetscape buildings in the city do......neither are historic replications.
