Gehl of laughter

摘要

Public realm enthusiast Jan Gehl, of Gehl Architects, delivered a rip-roaring address at last week's RIAS conference in Glasgow, explaining how 'carnivasion' had ruined cities worldwide since 1955. Describing Dubai as 'a collection of perfume bottles' and proposing a fleet of personal helicopters for Brasilia, Gehl appealed to architects: 'Whenever we build a single brick we manipulate people's opportunities' and 'If you have only energy [when designing] to do one scale, for God's sake do people scale'.