Communities in Colorado show new urbanism and modern architecture are not mutually exclusive
New urbanist neighborhoods share many things in common: walkability, mixed-uses, high density, neighborhood centers, and frequently, neo-traditional architecture so sticky sweet it can make your teeth ache. Even though the Charter of the New Urbanism--the document providing new urbanist guidelines created by the non-profit Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)--states, “individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style”, the majority of new urbanist developments in the U.S. contain no, or very little, modern architecture. There is a reason: new urbanists and modernists frequently clash over architectural style regardless of the CNU mandate.
Modernists and new urbanists around the nation can learn something from the planners and architects in Colorado--how to get along
Contrary to appearances, new urbanism isn’t about nostalgia, it’s about smart and environmentally sustainable urban planning for people as opposed to cars. This idea is irrespective of architectural style, but as so many new urbanist projects are composed mostly, or entirely, of neo-traditional architecture, the progressive community design underlying the “Disneyfied” veneer is dismissed, especially by modernists. Historically, many modernists viewed traditional architecture as an expression of repressive social or political ideologies--the fact that Hitler was deeply enamored of neo-classical architecture certainly didn’t hurt their argument. Modernism is a large component of architecture and design schools today, and the idea that traditional architecture represents something less than progressive persists. Eric Owen Moss, director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture told the Washington Post in 2005 that the new urbanist planning suggestions for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina “...would appeal to a kind of anachronistic Mississippi that yearns for the good old days of the Old South as slow and balanced....and each person knew his or her role”, because the new urbanist suggestions included architecture which paid homage to classic Southern styles.
On the new urbanist side, one of the tenets of new urbanism is for buildings to respect a place’s history, and to work together with the other buildings around them to form a cohesive whole. Modern architecture through history, however, has never been about blending in, it’s been about the avant-garde, the standing out; a singular expression of the architect’s artistic vision. Looking around Colorado however, shows this isn’t the only way modern architecture can exist in the landscape: it can provide the sense of place new urbanists are looking for just as well as Victorians, Craftsmans, and white picket fences. Modernists and new urbanists around the nation can learn something from the planners and architects in Colorado--how to get along, and how to provide interesting modern design in housing to a wider variety of people.
The Holiday Neighborhood is a community in north Boulder built on the former site of the old Holiday drive-in movie theater. All the design elements of new urbanism are here: pedestrian friendly streets, higher density, mixed-uses, a pleasing streetscape, and front porches--but the front porches are composed of cinder blocks with corrugated metal roofs and the streetscape is created by the brightly painted geometric forms of modern architecture. Asked how people have responded to the design of the neighborhood, David Barrett, owner of Barrett Studio Architects, the firm that developed the master plan and design guidelines for Holiday relates,“The people that I hear love the imagery of it, love the freshness and colorfulness, and the use of more modern materials, and yet still having the front porches and the scale of the sidewalk, and the things that make it a walkable, new urbanist kind of neighborhood”.
The marriage of modernism and new urbanism allows more people access to great modern design. True new urbanist communities always offer a wide variety of housing types of varying price points in the same development. In Holiday, there are rental apartments, condos, townhomes, and single family homes in the neighborhood, all modernist and ranging in price from the 200s to the 900s. Holiday is part of Boulder’s excellent affordable housing program as well. Modern design here isn’t just reserved for those who can afford a custom home of $500,000 and up (in Boulder, which is a very hot housing market, that would most likely start at $1,000,000). Although Holiday is unique in its own way, it definitely owes some of its inspiration to the poster child of modernist and new urbanist détente: Prospect New Town, 13 miles away.
Shattering the continuous blandscape that is Front Range sprawl, the new urbanist community of Prospect New Town explodes from the south side of Longmont directly off Highway 287. Prospect is the community always mentioned whenever the words “modern architecture” and “new urbanist” appear in the same sentence--for good reason. No other new urbanist neighborhood, or likely any neighborhood period, has been as adventurous with modern architecture. Prospect’s town center--an integral part of all new urbanist communities--is composed of a series of three story modern buildings so colorfully urban cool, it’s hard to believe you’re still in the United States, much less the Colorado suburbs. The buildings are smashingly contemporary, but also follow all the new urbanist rules: they meet the sidewalk, are mixed-use, create a sense of shared public space, and are oriented for pedestrians.
“We really pissed them [members of the CNU] off when we started doing modern architecture, they were furious”
Modern architecture isn’t just limited to the mixed-use or multi-family buildings in Prospect, many single family homes in the development are contemporary, fanciful creations; they’re mixed in right next door to the neo-traditional farmhouses and bungalows, and yet the combination still manages to create the cohesiveness new urbanists strive for. This is not to say the addition of modern design to a new urbanist neighborhood which started out with neo-traditional architecture 10 years ago didn’t cause controversy. Even though the CNU charter states new urbanism is irrespective of architectural style, that wasn’t the way it was in reality. “We really pissed them [members of the CNU] off when we started doing modern architecture, they were furious”, says Kiki Wallace, Prospect’s developer. Over time however, things changed, “years ago they invited us to do a presentation and boy they were all just trashing us and then they invited us again [recently], and it had changed to the point where it was a very good debate”, Kiki says. As to why Kiki started adding modern design to his new urbanist community, Mark Sofield, Prospect’s town designer, explains. “Kiki and I took a trip to look at other new urbanist projects, and they all shared one problem, this sense of unreality. All we could come up with to try and dispel that was to really mix up the architecture. We [thought we] would attract the most varied mix of people with the most varied mix of architecture”.
Prospect paved the way in Colorado and now all the new urbanist communities of note in metro Denver include modern architecture: Belmar in Lakewood, Bradburn Village in Westminster, and Stapleton, which is currently the largest new urbanist development in the nation. None of these communities have a problem integrating modern architecture into their new urbanist fabric. Their modern buildings and homes embrace new urbanist planning, and provide something very rare in the American suburbs: interesting and engaging architecture.
An idea central to new urbanism is difference is more interesting than sameness. To this end new urbanist communities include a mix of housing types, a mix of building uses, and a mix of architecture--although frequently only within neo-traditional style. As evidenced well by new urbanist communities in Colorado, modern architecture can add interest, diversity, and pizzazz to new urbanist neighborhoods without compromising new urbanist ideals. Modern design just might further another goal of new urbanism--social interaction--as neighbors routinely gather to converse about how much they love (or hate) that metal and glass box house down the street.
