How to plan in music ?

Source: joshuafrankel.net

While Monash Architecture Studio researchers envisaged what Melbourne could look like at 8 million by layering the footprint of Manhattan over the city, the duo formed by Judd Greenstein (composer) and Joshua Frankel (director) have depicted (in an unconventional format) the battle fought by the acclaimed Jane Jacobs and renowned Robert Moses over the fate of Lower Manhattan.

A lot has been written on these two fellows and their contribution to urban planning however I doubt any commentator would ever have dared to do so in an Opera!

Greenstein and Frankel are not novices when it comes to telling a story about cities. They collaborated to produce an animated short film featuring an ensemble performing as actors. The result, Plan of the City, is a musical journey from New York to outer space.

If you get the chance, make sure you have a look and a listen.

        Plan of the City by director Johsua Frankel    
                

This project is another way to approach the issues faced by urban planning today. Both Moses and Jacobs fought for their visions of what the city should be and that has now been reinterpreted to tell “a story about the people who live in those cities and how the decisions made on their behalf, by those with authority and those who resist that authority, tangibly impact their lives. It's a story about two brilliant, visionary urban theorists, each of whom turned their theory into practice, and in so doing changed the landscape of New York and the field of urbanism forever. And it's a story that continues to this day, in New York City and beyond” (Greenstein and Frankel).

Could it be that music is the best way to create awareness of urban planning issues?

Read more:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/provocative-images-imagine-a-manhattan-melbourne-at-8-million-20140504-zr4e3.html#ixzz30oMb1uYb

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2014/04/robert-moses-vs-jane-jacobs-opera/8942/