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To the Editor:

I enjoyed your article in [the December 2002] SCT about architectural design issues surrounding the new town center retail projects (“Town Center Look Loved by Some, Scorned by Others”).

Given the perception that the general public is more comfortable with the familiar, clothing these new Main Streets with historical forms is one way to minimize controversy during the entitlement phase. Whereas architectural design review boards are quick to criticize projects for being too modern, they are generally easily seduced by elevations depicting the Main Streets that live on in our nostalgia-infused imaginations.

Matisse once said that “art should be like a comfortable armchair,” and this seems to be the approach taken by some of the proponents of the “New Main Streets.”

People want modern sneakers and cars; why not modern furniture and architecture? The fact of the matter is that a number of the new “traditional” Main Street projects are actually quite drab and uninteresting, and characterized by formulaic planning and formulaic “historicist” expressions. If the ever-changing world of retail is supposed to be fun and creative, why can’t Main Street follow suit?

Yann Taylor, AIA
Principal
Field Paoli Architects
San Francisco

Letters to the editor may be e-mailed to emander@icsc.org, faxed to (212) 589-5530, or mailed to SCT, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10020-1099