Place Of Belonging (1972)

[Music] cities are a place to live and to love the new malls an American blueprint of City Beauty stimulate a feeling of belonging some space enhanced by nature and art is provided for the pleasure of The Pedestrian who has been driven off our streets by cars and the services needed for ever more cars the architecture though serving a functional purpose is exquisitely designed in contrast to Main Street drabness the storefronts models of good taste are friendly and inviting what a welcome relief from the spectacle of kingsi advertising [Music] the overall design radiates imagination while the scar of mediocrity impoverishes any neighborhood having experienced ugliness and its Soul destroying effect we now realize cities need Beauty to a place of belonging [Music] beauty comes to cities in many different forms it is as unlimited as man's imagination it takes shape in great architectural [Music] structures it is conceived in the peripheral works of art that Adorn buildings and cities [Music] civilizations have risen and Fallen but ideals of beauty have survived and are still meaningful to us now how do we as a nation measure up to these standards we are lifting our view toward a modern expression of [Music] form awareness stimulates creativity and our city streets are acquiring architectural landmarks buildings that excite the imagination they compare in their own way with the famous landmarks of history but we have had a long search for beauty of course Styles and ideas are always changing the great grandmother of today was once the bell of the [Music] neighborhood not everything was distinguished by originality rows of houses built as lookalike boxes rolled off an assembly line [Music] but people liked pump and still more pump showing off a fluency in bulging homes loaded with too many Frills ah yes Nostalgia for the rip roaring days of the past fading images still arouse storms of controversy the question is to restore our Vanishing Heritage or to tear it [Music] down the new elegant simple streamlined is rising higher and higher [Music] New York's soaring skyscrapers our modern classic are a true image of the Space [Music] Age San Francisco what elegant changes highrise buildings widely spaced streets and a touch of the Exotic from the hearts and souls of our diverse [Music] Heritage smaller towns are going modern space is devoted to Artistic effects when advertisements are limited and kept in Good Taste Main Street is distinctive [Music] as the drifting clouds in the sky so numerous are the faces of our land a tapestry of beauty a joy to [Music] admire let's not scar it by mediocre city blocks we have the ability to create [Music] greatness skyscrapers born without end are the American contribution to the 20th century like life itself our cities are in the grip of continual change trillions of dollars have been poured into new [Music] construction technology is tearing down yesterday it is building up today day for a beautiful tomorrow while America gears toward the future Europeans keep alive their Treasures of the past these buildings are 400 years old in America we are concerned with function and progress [Music] steel skeletons rise quickly and are quickly covered with pre-cast facades entire city blocks are being rebuilt the landscape itself is continually [Music] changing some styles are bizarre and strange but they are new the variety of architecture reflects our diversity at last we have come to realize cities are the mirror of people's dreams and aspirations [Music] a fountain a park a spacious Avenue only the beautiful is worthy of Any Nation Without Beauty cities are but empty walls that imprison the soul viewing the Panorama of our cities with a drive toward growth and expansion the history of our nation [Music] unfolds only last century this was a continent of Wide Open Spaces to cross and to [Music] conquer suddenly we were faced with the challenge of the Gold [Music] Rush as the old 49er opened up the West he passed through a country of Rich Beauty but he was seeking the wealth locked in nature and spilled over by [Music] streams crude Machin was erected for immediate material gain what else did the prospector need a place to weigh his gold and a place to spend [Music] it just a few walls Bare Necessities to be abandoned without regret today the scars of functional environment are still with us hideous city blocks piled up indiscriminately around industry Choice land unavailable for beautification of City entrances or downtown areas what a curious shifting of values this lack of care can be traced to our early history when Mobility opened up the continent and trans transformed it into an engine of production Mobility was the vehicle of an incredible progress and progress sped us onto the roadway of grand material comfort and Grand visual discomfort a threatening physical pollution what about the pollution of the Mind why do we blindfold our aesthetic senses our Countryside lost to Beauty as it was crisscross with highways our city streets functioning to keep motorists on Wheels loss to The Pedestrian loss to all who care as progress engulfs us the early simple way of life seems like a dream there are not many streets people know each other and have the feeling of [Music] belonging the school centrally located is lovingly restored an Old Faithful Church stands nearby homes blend harmoniously with their surroundings [Music] Main Street is alive with trees and Greenery the Old Railway Station at one end of town is promoted to an historical [Music] site the theater at the other end of Main Street is still in use in the heart of town a little Park radiates [Music] friendliness Main Street of today here we are foremost in progress a high standard of living is our pride not taking time to be aware of beauty we lost the feeling of belonging to our cities [Music] being part of man's cultural heritage since the times of ancient Greece we cherish ideals of beauty we visit ancient Rome gazing at ruins that Express the Grandeur of a past [Music] civilization so much of its lifestyle has survived who would think that the Roman marketplace is the ancestor of our American Mall we Americans look to the Future but we feel the dreams and ideals of History still visible in Ruins now not everything in Europe is on an exalted scale Holmes so much older than ours are short of ultimate material Comfort cities inadequate to Modern demands have grown since Medieval Times why then are European cities beautiful to us because the extraordinary is preserved next to the ordinary beautifully landscaped parks are usually within walking distance [Music] the loveliness of nature is combined with the inspiration of art and [Music] culture The Villa Borges Park in Rome centuries old and still thriving in the center of the city [Music] in the United States the same joy in creating things of beauty is enlarging our perspective art is necessity not luxury [Music] [Applause] [Music] the motion of water giving life to static buildings is as refreshing as a sunlet stream in nature cascading fountains and liven dark Street Canyons a sculpture complements the Simplicity of modern building styles [Music] the Contemporary work its bulbous intertwining forms seem inspired by [Music] Nature modern sculpture and modern painting belong outoors bringing color to city streets and giving them individuality [Music] personal accomplishment shifts the mass environment back to a human [Music] scale art even displayed in the neighborhood park brings people together as a community is as vital for a city as the touch of nature [Music] We Tour our Parks conveniently and naturally on Wheels does it matter driving walking painting photographing studying relaxing the whole purpose is to enjoy the Beauties nature offers especially in the cities [Music] nature and its Eternal rhythm is in is essential to man's happiness and must not be hidden from him in this Modern World parks be they large or small placed wherever possible en rich cities and enrich our lives in Europe people relax in the middle of the city either in an oasis of nature or the Pavements of the sidewalk will do nicely landmarks perpetuate Beauty and culture in Rome a square was planned around an ancient temple in [Music] theater squares were designed by the greatest artists of the time this one on the capitaline hill was created by Michelangelo chosen to beautify the city as he had glorified art with his paintings in the cistin chapel Michelangelo centered the square around the ancient statue of Marcus Aurelius the emperor more interested in philosophy than in Conquest 2,000 years ago this Obelisk ancient even then was brought from Egypt to enrich the city of Rome and for centuries art was placed right in the open for the people a commonplace Corral having outlived its purpose is transformed into a Charming little square in salsburg [Music] Austria modern land marks are always being added to cityscapes in Berlin The New National Gallery of Art created by me vandero he had given shape to the new American Glass and steel [Music] skyscraper his classic Berlin work gathers the view of the church into the composition uniting the old with the new [Music] these squares large or small older new retain the balance between the functional the ordinary and the Beautiful the [Music] extraordinary the latest American creation of beauty is the m our modern version of the the European Square this mall in Newport Beach California is a showpiece of American ingenuity [Music] inspirational surroundings enhanced by Art displays sculptures murals fountains ponds adults feel at home in their City once again and children become acquainted with beauty [Music] the functional can be beautiful these sculptural storefronts are so imaginatively designed that they are transformed into a work of art [Music] the time of awareness is now let us create new standards of excellence cities filled with beauty and warmth inspiring a feeling of belonging a sincere hope for the future [Music]