the human scale

I saw the documentary "The Human Scale" last night and it's definitely worth a watch. Watch the trailer here.

It's a Jan Gehl documentary which explores the modern day city by studying the evolution of select modern cities, including Melbourne, New York, Dhaka, Copenhagen and Christchurch. It makes you realize how much the built environment provides a framework for our everyday life and our daily social interactions.

There's a heavy focus on encouraging public life to create cities that make us feel human and not isolated individuals living in a machine. While I tend to agree with that, I do sometimes wonder if public life is something we all need and crave, or whether it's something architects and urbanists romanticize about and assume people want and need.

If you're in Melbourne, it's showing at ACMI until Friday, July 12th. I have seen it listed in a few International film festivals so if you're not local, keep your ears pricked.

[Image via Gehl with layout by me]