CNU 20 Saturday Morning Plenary Featuring Leon Krier

The Charter of the New Urbanism has proven to be a durable, living document throughout its existence. However, two issues have been left unresolved, leaving the Charter incomplete: the limit of high density and related number of floors, and the issue of style, building technology, methods and materials.

Even if there were no limit on energy consumption, no limit on the mechanization of transport, horizontal or vertical, and even if there existed no limit on production of more and better-performing synthetic building materials, we should still design and build to walkable building heights (a maximum of five floors), and use natural building materials and traditional building methods and styles. Even if we are in a situation of extreme mechanization and synthetic building materials, we should still build walkable building heights and use traditional building typology, vocabulary, styles and methods. The humanness of building-scale, methods and styles is dependent on these points of doctrine.

Previous CNU Athena Medal honoree, architect, and planner Leon Krier will discuss these issues, their interrelation, and why they need to be faced.

Léon Krier, Architect and Urban Planner
Dhiru Thadani, AIA, Architect + Urbanist