Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Sacred

by Philip Bess

“The city comes into existence . . . for the sake of the good life.” So wrote Aristotle nearly 2,400 years ago, articulating an idea that prevailed throughout most of Western culture and the world until the environmental consequences of the Industrial Revolution called into question the goodness of traditional urban life. Urban history ever since—from England’s early-nineteenth-century hygiene laws to mid-twentieth-century modernist architecture and planning to today’s New Urbanism—has consisted of efforts to ameliorate the consequences of the industrial city by either embracing or challenging the idealization of nature that has followed it.

Architect Philip Bess’s Till We Have Built Jerusalem puts forth fresh arguments for traditional architecture and urbanism, their relationship to human flourishing, and the kind of culture required to create and sustain traditional towns and city neighborhoods. Bess not only dissects the questionable intellectual assumptions of contemporary architecture, he also shows how the individualist ethos of modern societies finds physical expression in contemporary suburban sprawl, making traditional urbanism difficult to sustain. He concludes by considering the role of both the natural law tradition and communal religion in providing intellectual and spiritual depth to contemporary attempts to build new—and revive existing—traditional towns and cities, attempts that, at their best, help fulfill our natural human desires for order, beauty, and community.

Genres: Architecture, Urban Design, Christianity, Art, Theology

325 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lori Van Houten · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to learn about the Kansas-Missouri border conflict, through the eyes of a reporter moved West from St. Louis. In the vein of Paulette Jiles' liteature, this is just the book for lovers of historical fiction about American settlers in the Westward expansion.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting test for a book is to read it aloud and see how it stands. Since we have to take the occasional long car ride, my husband and I have picked through quite a few books this way.

We saw Professor Bess give a presentation on Georgism at the annual Front Porch Republic Conference. He was erudite, witty, and engaging.

Unfortunately, the style of the lecturer carries over into the structure of the book. I could feel myself growing impatient, repeating aloud the same sentiment. This happened numerous times, and eventually we decided to just read it on our own. Even then we were both frustrated with the didactic style. It works as a professor; as a reader, I was hungry for more information, and less icing.

He may be a great professor of architecture, but his book could have used some archit-editing! A-bum-bum.

[Joshua Gentzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very good compilation of a series of essays and talks about Urbanism and how to approach the development of cities from a traditional perspective.

[Nate Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a powerful example of applied philosophy, and is truly inspiring. It is a bit disjointed and repetitive since it is a collection of essays, but I didn't mind that too bad.

[Jeff]

Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Sacred is a collection of essays (masquerading as a book) by Catholic architect and Notre Dame professor Philip Bess. Overall, I'm not recommending this book - I really liked the first two sections and could get behind the thesis of the book, really disliked the third and forth sections (especially the digressions contrasting Nietzsche with Chesterton and dissecting the nuances of modernist architects I've never heard of), got lost in the architectural and philosophical lingo that I felt was highbrow and over my head (but maybe that's just a product of my South Carolina public education), and was frustrated with the repetition that is the inevitable outcome of combining over a decade's worth of essays.

Negative criticism aside, there were a few great chapters of the book (especially in the first two sections). The main thesis of these sections is that “[t]he city comes into existence . . . for the sake of the good life," (an Aristotle quote), and that a "New Urbanist" approach, which seeks "a renewal of the historically pedestrian-scaled, mixed-use city" is the present day embodiment of that idea.

[Sandy Mcnamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good ideas for urban revitalization. Reminded me of what the Hellenistic city states were trying to do with beautification and places for community activities. I really liked the practical concepts for urban neighborhood that attempted to give real, workable suggestions for avoiding gentrification. One big idea sticks out: how to have multi-use housing and retail incorporated into neighborhoods so residents going to and from have constant interactions with one another. Elderly can walk to get groceries, for example, which puts them in contact with neighborhood kids and young families. In this way people get to know their neighbors and elderly get a greater sense of purpose than being isolated in "nursing" homes. Seems like a way to restore "real" neighborhood.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book wanting to explore New Urbanism and the Christian's life in community and in the city. Bess carefully crafts his position for traditional cities with walkable neighborhoods as the best means for human flourishing. I had a good feeling what to expect, in part, from the "architecture and urbanism" content of this book, but didn't know what to expect regarding the the "Sacred" portions of this book. Here, discussion of natural law, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, etc. are introduced and the content becomes dense. Looking for an "undergrad" introduction, I instead jumped into the master's level program. I should like to revisit this book in a year or two to give time for the ideas to settle in and at a time when the content will hopefully be more approachable.

[Jonathan]

Paperback

[Nathan Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of essays on New Urbanism...