Planning for an Aesthetic City Arto Haapala Professor of Aesthetics University of Helsinki Outline 1) The notion of the aesthetic: what does the expression aesthetic city mean? 2) Aesthetic experience: measure for aesthetic quality? 3) Aesthetic well-being: what does it mean to lead an aesthetically satisfying life? 4) Aesthetic existence 5) Towards a notion of the aesthetic city 1
The Aesthetic, Beauty, and Art Modifications of the aesthetic: beauty, sublime, grace, dignity, comical, tragic (Y.Hirn) Aesthetic properties: elegant, grotesque, pretty, tasteless, harmonious, balanced (F.Sibley) Sensory aesthetics: beauty of the surface - immediately pleasing: surface aesthetics (Greek: aisthanomai) Deep aesthetics: meaning qualities and other intentional qualities of the object; difficult beauty Aesthetic properties and artistic properties Aesthetic properties of the city environment encompass both surface and deep qualities; metaphor: city as a work of art Aesthetic Experience Aestheticism: One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. (O. Wilde) The cult of the aesthetic and the culture of experiences: immediately pleasing qualities for the eye or the ear Deep aesthetics: learning from the arts cognitive and ethical aspects of the arts; learning from the environment Hermeneutic aspect of aesthetic experience: experiencing something other than oneself; respect for the other, dialogue with the other; fusion of horizons (H-G. Gadamer) 2
The Culture of Experiences Sources for experiences: arts, sports, food, travelling, entertainment (magazines, tv, radio), spas, nature, cities everything else except daily work and everyday routines Varieties of experiences: different senses, different magnitudes (extreme experiences) Quality of experience: the more intense, the better danger: over emphasizing intensity The social dimension of the culture of experience: sharing experiences and creating a feeling of community; the relevance of the social dimension fro urban aesthetics shared feeling that something is worth reserving The Aesthetic Culture The core: all the arts and their worlds Lower arts and their worlds: popular music, tv-series, popular literature, comics Man-made environment in the broadest sense: architecture, design, everyday environment, human appearance Nature: positive aesthetics Potentially just about anything can have an aesthetic dimension to it, i.e. can be part of the aesthetic culture City environments include all aspects of the aesthetic culture: the richness of the city aesthetics 3
Aesthetic Well-Being 1 Aesthetic well-being and aestheticism: looking for strong experiences of beauty Havining aesthetic experiences in the sense of surface aesthetics enriches human life, but does not encompass everything there is to the aesthetic; in particular surface aesthetics does not empty aesthetic qualities of the city Wilde: It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man s deeper nature is soon found out. Pleasure is the only thing one should live for. Nothing ages like happiness. Aesthetic Well-Being 2 Works of art as constituents of aesthetic wellbeing: if one does not experience the kinds of experiences that works of art typically raise, his/her aesthetic quality of life is poor The richness of the arts: the varieties of experiences in different arts; emotional force; the relevance of cognitive and moral elements in experience; analogy: the richness of the city: not only beauty, but also negative aesthetic qualities The popular arts can raise similar kinds of experiences as art works 4
Aesthetic Well-Being 3 Aesthetic values in our environment City environment: historical layers, aesthetic integrity, deep aesthetics: meaning and significance of our environment Natural environment: a more immediate experience; controversy, whether scientific knowledge is relevant in experiencing natural environments Urban nature as an element in the city environment: both biotic and abiotic Aesthetic Well-Being 4 Does aesthetic well-being equal to: 1) lots of experiences of surface aesthetic qualities; 2) lots of experiences of different kinds of works of art; 3) experiences of rich urban environments; and 4) experiences of different kinds of natural environs life of an aesthete? Can this kind of life be satisfying: every time I hear the word aesthetician what arises into my mind is an image of a fragile slim lady, dressed conservatively so that all the colours match, who knows a lot about the arts, grows beautiful flowers, buys elegant decorative items and paintings which she displays is different places of her harmonius home. She also talks impeccably without ever raising her voice. 5
Aesthetic Existence (Life) 1 Human existence as an artistic project Richard Rorty: creating oneself and enriching one s life, looking for experiences: A) Curious, intellectual ironist; B) strong poet Rorty s romantic conception, ultra-liberalism Aristotelian conception: good life as a balanced and harmonious whole Aesthetic Existence 2 R. Shusterman: Rorty s conception is too narrow, and does not take into account the social nature of human existence, nor the physical dimension of human existence (soma aesthetics) Rorty s eliticism: not everybody have possibilities (social or econimic) to construe one s life into an interesting art work 6
Aesthetic Existence 3 Human existence, being-in-the-world, is constituted by different factors, such as beingwith-other-humans > human relations constitute harmonius life, aesthetic existence Human existence is also constituted by being alongside non-human entities which are of various kinds: we relate natural objects and to man-made objects > human non-human relations constitute harmonious life, aesthetic existence The Aesthetic City 1 > systematic maltreatment of cultural environment and nature cannot constitute aesthetic existence Aesthetic integrity (comp. Ecological integrity): there should be some kind of a balance in the aesthetic elements both surface and deep of an environment Historical integrity: taking into account the different layers of time in the environment; being sceptical of heroic architects (Aalto) 7
The Aesthetic City 2 Aesthetic integrity should not mean ultra conservatism: cities are changing, buildings are demolished and new ones constructed Pragmatic attitude: takes into account different kinds of considerations, not only aesthetic one; but there are cases in which aesthetic considerations are so obvious and dominant that they overrule other considerations (demolishing a national monument) The Aesthetic City 3 Green areas add to the richness of urban areas, and accordingly to the aesthetic qualities of the city Green areas add also to aesthetic well-being and human well-being in general There are not any specific rules, in terms of aesthetic values, as to how much green areas there should be; this has to be decided on a case by case bases When talking about nature in an urban setting, there are cases in which ecological and aesthetic values do not overlap: nature has to be managed 8
The Aesthetic City 4 Controversies over aesthetic matters: is it only a question of taste? Example: an old building demolished in order to give room for something new and modern: Helsinki, Katajanokka: Alvar Aalto s building for Enso-Gutzeit headquaters How should the Aalto-building be appreciated: is the tension it creates in the surroundings a value or does it violate the principle of integrity? Norrméns House (1897-1960) Theodor Höijer (1843-1910) 9
Enso-Gutzeit Head Quarters Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) Norrméns Castle 10
Enso Gutzeit Headquarters Uspenski Cathedral (1862-68) 11