JANUARY 2009 » book review

Changing Scene at the Waterfront

Views of Seaside: Commentaries and Observations on a City of Ideas
by Seaside Institute, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, et al.
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, NY; 2008
207 pages; hardcover; 120 color illustrations; $45
ISBN 978-0-8478-3120-3

Reviewed by Eve M. Kahn

Who doesn't love Seaside, the 26-year-old resort on the Florida Panhandle? The world's first major New Urbanist development, it proved that tight street grids and limited materials palettes could make money for owners, and accommodate architectural modes as disparate as ginger-breaded cottages, Modernist stucco shoeboxes, and corrugated-metal faux shanties designed in homage to hippie communities.

There are a few people who haven't loved it, or at least have misunderstood its sources and influence. According to sprawl-hating journalist James Howard Kunstler, Seaside's foes and under-estimators over the years have included "pretty cretinous" magazine writers plus "the 'cutting-edgista' architects [who] denounced it for being nostalgic, that is, for attempting to make people feel comfortable in their surroundings instead of fibrillating with anxiety. It was sneered at as 'elitist' by the political progressives who send their kids to private boarding schools and vacation on Martha's Vineyard."

Kunstler's entertaining rant is a highlight of this perplexing collection of essays about Seaside's evolving image and reality. None of the brief introductory texts quite explain how Rizzoli (with the Seaside Institute, a nonprofit that offers symposia, classes, and other programs fostering New Urbanism) chose the three dozen authors. Architects dominate the pack, including the site's master planners, Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, as well as designers who have frequently built there (Alexander Gorlin, Braulio Casas) and some big-name fans who seem to have only occasionally dropped by (Jaquelin T. Robertson, Stefanos Polyzoides). The book also includes the opinions of developers – Seaside's own Robert Davis, plus Peter S. Rummell, a mastermind of Disney's Celebration and Seaside's compatible neighbor, WaterColor – and an assortment of loving homeowners, environmentalists and pro-New Urbanist politicians (The Prince of Wales; Charleston, SC, mayor Joseph Riley; and Milwaukee, WI, ex-mayor John Norquist).

None of the "commentaries and observations" run longer than a few paragraphs. In some cases the author bio, listing prizes won and offices held, is practically longer than the thoughts about Seaside. (The captions on the full-bleed photos are equally laconic, often just noting names of architects and streets.) Despite the essays' brevity and diversity of authors, the content can be repetitive and obvious. Contributor after contributor praises Davis' courage and humanism, Duany and Plater-Zyberk's foresight, and the charm of Seaside's beach pavilions and mom-and-pop stores. At least one entire sentence – "Seaside's place in history is secure" – recurs in two different essays, just three pages apart.

There are some buried gems of insight and advice that might be worth your investment. Many authors are blunt about Seaside's most glaring fault: its real-estate prices. "Too bad for affordability," Duany himself laments, and urban-planning historian Emily Talen describes the downtown as "awash with rich white people browsing in pet boutiques and sipping lattés."

The book reveals controversies over the resort's carbon footprint, too: "Everybody who works in Seaside still has to drive for miles," notes San Francisco-based architect Daniel Solomon. Duany counters, however, that long before LEED credits were available, the master plan protected the dunes and channeled breezes inland. Low-thirst scrub oaks shade streets paved with permeable gravel and beveled bricks. Porches and eaves facilitate cross-ventilation, and metal roofs reflect heat. But as green-architecture specialist Douglas Farr points out, the prevalent wood sidings "require complete repainting every five to seven years to survive the salt spray." Also vulnerable to sea air are the metal air-conditioner condenser boxes, which are "shoehorned in the slots between buildings" and emit so much noise and heat that their spring awakening "triggers the sound of slamming windows" across Seaside.

The book allows for some point-counterpoint about aesthetics as well. Is WaterColor just one of Seaside's "lifeless imitators," as architect Walter Chatham opines, or should it, as architect Robert Orr insists, "be recognized for its consistently pleasing aura," Seaside-inspired high standards of craftsmanship, "sensible proportion" and "fluent detailing that welcomes our visual discourse"?

Let's not dwell too much on how much more interesting this book could have been if the puffery had been cut and informed skeptics given more room. Seaside will no doubt have many more anniversaries and occasions for books. In a decade or so, restorers will likely have tales to tell of dealing with unwise or sturdy original construction techniques. Business owners in the now-expanding Central Square will be able to evaluate the commerce-friendliness and utility of that "modern-day agora." And young writers who grew up in Seaside will be working on memoirs about the attractions and underbellies of the scrub-oak shaded streets.  

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