Whither Tartaria?
post by jenn (pixx) · 2023-08-18T17:45:28.133Z · ? · GW · 0 commentsContents
Slightly Different Meeting Instructions Than Usual After this we will go out into the square and start our meetup at a public bench there. Activity If it turns out to be rainy, we'll reschedule this meetup for the same time on Saturday (the next day). Readings Supplemental Readings None No comments
Slightly Different Meeting Instructions Than Usual
Meet inside The Shops at Waterloo Town Square - we will congregate in the seating area next to the Valu-Mart with the trees sticking out in the middle of the benches at 7:15pm for 15 minutes.
After this we will go out into the square and start our meetup at a public bench there.
(We're doing the usual thing instead of starting at an outdoor bench so that if new people come they know where to find us.)
Activity
This meetup is inspired by some spirited discussion in our Discord group.
Architecture is a snooty discipline, but architecture is for everyone, because we all live and work and visit architecture.
Today, we'll be discussing Scott's post Whither Tartaria and an architecture critic's photo essay series that basically unintentionally works as a rebuttal(?) of the conspiracy theory.
The plan will be for us to spend the meetup mostly outside so we can discuss the buildings that we see. I'll chart a path around Uptown such that we'll go from outdoor seating area to outdoor seating area, spending maybe 45 minutes at each one to discuss the buildings and street design that we see around us. Current contenders inlude:
- The Waterloo Plaza
- Cluster of seating in front of Three Tides Wellness
- Mary Allen Park
- Maybe something a little bit more north of the Plaza if I can find adequate seating.
If it turns out to be rainy, we'll reschedule this meetup for the same time on Saturday (the next day).
Readings
Don't be intimidated by the number of parts for Kate Wagner's posts; the posts are individually quite short and there are lots and lots of pictures.
- Whither Tartaria? (Astral Codex Ten, 2021)
- What The Hell is Modern Architecture? Part 1, Part 2 (Mid-Century), Part 3 (Late Modernism), and Part 4 (Postmodernism) (Kate Wagner, 2016)
If you're short on time, just read Part 1 and Part 4.
Supplemental Readings
These are some design guidelines put out by the City of Waterloo. They're both like 50 pages long, but they have lots of pictures and are generally pretty well laid out in bullet form.
Give these a skim if you want to get a sense of what modern Canadian standards of "reasonably good, practically achievable design" is.
- City of Waterloo General City Design Guidelines (City of Waterloo, 2009)
- City of Waterloo Supplemental Design Guidelines (Streetscapes, tall buildings, student housing, signage, etc.) (City of Waterloo, 2009)
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