The Body

My father just had some work done on his knee. He's getting up there in years, which was funnier to mention when I was younger... Now his age isn't looking quite as old-man-like any more. His knees have been through a lot over the course of his life - from football and wrestling in high school to hiking all over the West with the Boy Scouts he lead in later years. He's not really a complainer, but you could tell it bothered him.

The process of surgery has changed dramatically in recent years. What would have required major surgery a few decades ago is now handled on an out patient basis. Dad said they scoped his knee, cut out the offensive and painful bits, and sent him on his way. He was on some pain medication, and probably will be for a few days, but then he'll be back to normal. It's truly nothing short of miraculous.

What, you might ask, has this anything to do with city planning?

The processes of development are necessarily iterative and invasive. People change. Their needs and expectations of the community change. Market conditions change. Residential desires change. The world revolves in a continuous cycle of evolution and (hopefully) improvement. Even setbacks are challenges and learning opportunities.

A development cannot happen without change. This change often involves destroying something or tearing into the earth to make the conditions appropriate for the new development. Just like my dad's knee, in order for the rest of the knee to continue to function properly, the offending material had to be removed. This involved a painful procedure, but one that would ultimately lead to a better outcome.

In Provo, Utah, near where I grew up, there is a fabulous old pioneer-era building called the Provo Tabernacle. Originally designed as a religious meeting place, the building became adapted to house cultural activities and other group gatherings. It is a beautiful building, a fine example of pioneer vernacular adapted to local conditions and needs. Just a few years ago, the building was accidentally involved in a devastating fire. The amazing woodwork that filled the building for over 100 years provided excellent fuel for the fire, and the entire building - except the shell - was consumed. This is absolutely devastating for someone like me who spent hours in the building and years as part of my community awareness. The LDS Church decided to reinforce the shell and repurpose the building as a Temple - which is both good and bad. Good, because the building will continue to retain its place in the community and will be reinforced to meet current seismic and fire safety standards, which means that it will continue to be a viable building for generations to come. The bad is that Temples are necessarily access-restricted structures, and therefore will not be enjoyed by just anyone, as was this building in the past.

What strikes me, however, is how they had to dig deep into the earth to preserve the shell. The masonry construction above ground was literally raised off its foundation on great steel beams, lifting it up so that a new, more sound foundation could be constructed below. then these beams were removed and the building was lowered onto its new base. In order to do this, in order to access the earth where this majestic building would rest, huge holes were dug around the building. These holes would of course later be back-filled and the grade restored to what it was. But for a time, the earth itself is scarred as the building is restored and renovated.

So, sometimes in order to do something great, a drastic step must be taken. In order to preserve something valuable, sometimes other damage must be done.

Our communities, like our bodies, are constantly repairing, evolving, becoming. The hope of every planner is to create and perpetuate a vision for the community that lasts beyond the current time and helps inform the shape of the community for the better long into the future. This hope begins anew every day, stemming from the collective experience and feeling of everyone in the community, and reaching on into the future.