The Tartarian Empire

Do you prefer Rembrandt or Rothko? The Vatican or The Shard? A Georgian terrace or a 1960s housing estate? Ever wondered why we stopped building beautiful old buildings and how architectural modernism came to dominate our skylines? This week we discuss the theory of the Tartarian civilization. It claims that our most ornate buildings are the work of a lost civilization called the Tartarian Empire and attempts to explain the rise of architectural modernism. We set out the theories for and against modernism, deconstruct survivorship bias and new urbanism and discuss a famously anti-modernist town designed by Prince Charles. Nick presents a taxonomy of theories that may explain divergent tastes in architecture and we share our own architectural predilections. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Whither Tartaria? https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/whither-tartaria - Poundbury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poundbury - Celebration, Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebration,_Florida - Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition https://www.driehauscompetition.com/en/ - Londoners grow fond of the Shard https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2014/04/13/londoners-grow-fond-shard For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Chris Downer via Wikimedia Commons