'Once this building was used for war,' says one of a pair of warmhearted middle-aged men who run a Californian toy company, 'now we use it for bubbles' - and as a stream of soapy globules emanates from his mouth, he adds, 'People don't do that in normal buildings.' I should hope not. And most people don't think of the Elephant Castle shopping centre as a village green, but they probably don't go to monthly tea dances there either. Then there's the couple who believe it 'purifies the soul to live in a Le Corbusier house'. They found this out by purifying one of the famously adapted houses at Pessac, to the consternation of the long-term residents responsible for the alterations. These and several other episodes from Stewart Brand's series How Buildings Learn would delight lovers of surreal comedy.
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