All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity

In this chapter, Breman focuses on the transformative, yet controversial, work of Robert Moses in New York City. The chapter dissects the paradoxical legacy of Moses, a figure synonymous with both the modernization of urban infrastructure and the destruction of community fabric through his expressway projects. Berman begins by illustrating the stark, devastating impact of such projects on neighborhoods, particularly in the Bronx, where vibrant communities were razed to make way for expressways, leading to widespread urban decay.

Moses, portrayed as a modernizing force, leveraged his position to create vast public works that reshaped New York’s landscape. Initially celebrated for his achievements, including the development of parks, beaches, and roadways that promised to enhance city life, Moses’s legacy became increasingly complex. His endeavors, while aiming to facilitate mobility and urban connectivity, often disregarded the social and environmental costs, leading to displacement and community upheaval.

Berman critically examines Moses’s methodologies, highlighting his use of public authorities to amass power and execute his vision with little oversight. This approach, while innovative, also facilitated Moses’s unilateral decision-making, allowing him to prioritize infrastructural development over the needs and wishes of the communities affected.

As Moses’s projects expanded, so did the critique of his approach, with voices from various quarters—ranging from the literary to the grassroots—challenging his disregard for the human element in urban planning. The chapter reflects on the broader implications of Moses’s work, questioning the sustainability and humanity of a vision of progress that sacrifices community for convenience.

Berman explores the profound changes and cultural shifts that characterized the 1960s, particularly in New York City, and the broader implications for modern urban life. This chapter investigates the evolving relationship between modernism and the urban environment, highlighting the era as a pivotal moment when the traditional concept of the street reclaimed its significance as a vibrant, communal space amidst the sprawling expressway world.

Berman begins by positioning the 1960s as a zenith of confidence and ambition for the modern expressway world, a vision embodied by figures like Robert Moses, whose large-scale urban projects reshaped New York’s physical and social landscapes. However, this period also witnessed the emergence of a counter-vision that sought to reconnect with the street as a foundational element of urban life, challenging the prevailing narrative that equated modernity exclusively with physical infrastructure and technological progress.

Jane Jacobs’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) serves as a central text for Berman’s discussion. Jacobs champions the complexity, diversity, and vitality of urban street life, offering a potent critique of the top-down urban planning approaches that threatened these qualities. Her emphasis on the organic social networks and the “sidewalk ballet” of city streets provided a new lens through which to understand and value the urban experience.

Berman also explores the cultural and artistic movements of the 1960s that embraced the street as a source of inspiration and a stage for expression. From the emerging trends in modern dance, where choreographers like Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp blurred the boundaries between performance and everyday movement, to the proliferation of happenings, environmental art, and the infusion of street life into popular music and literature, the decade was marked by a creative reengagement with the urban fabric.

However, Berman acknowledges the inherent contradictions and tensions within this shift toward the street. While celebrating the rediscovery of urban vitality, he also notes the exclusionary aspects of this vision, particularly its neglect of racial and economic disparities that increasingly defined urban realities. The chapter reflects on the complex dynamics of mobility, displacement, and the quest for community, highlighting the street’s role as both a symbol of modernist aspirations and a site of struggle and contestation.

Berman reflects on the 1970s’ shift toward a more introspective form of modernism, influenced by a deepening relationship with the past and a search for identity amidst economic and social upheavals. Unlike the forward-looking modernism of the 1960s, the 1970s experienced a slowing of economic growth and technological progress, prompting a reconsideration of modernity’s trajectory and an exploration of alternative paths.

Berman describes the 1970s as a period where modern societies could no longer afford to ignore their pasts. According to Berman, Various cultural expressions that sought to reconcile historical memories and identities represent this shift. The chapter highlights significant works and movements that illustrate this turn toward remembering and reimagining, such as Jane Jacobs’s advocacy for the preservation of urban communities against the encroachment of modern infrastructure, and the creative endeavors that redefined the relationship between art, community, and environment.

The Bronx, a symbol of urban decay and regeneration, serves as a poignant backdrop for discussing the transformative potential of modernism in confronting and reclaiming spaces marked by decline. Berman envisions a mural along the Cross-Bronx Expressway as a means to narrate the borough’s rich, multifaceted history and its contributions to modern culture. This hypothetical project symbolizes the possibility of art to mediate between loss and renewal, offering a collective memory and a vision for the future.