Peter Seidel
Encyclopedia
Peter Seidel is an American architect-planner turned writer.
as a student of architect Mies van der Rohe
and planner Ludwig Hilberseimer
, Seidel worked as a farmhand, factory worker, Alaska salmon fisherman, and carpenter. In 1957, while working in Chicago on the most environmentally damaging office and institutional buildings, he read a book entitled "The Challenge of Man’s Future," by Harrison Brown. It described the dangers of excessive population growth, food and mineral shortages, and over consumption that threatened our future.
It was clear his work bore a heavy impact on these problems, he changed direction and became a committed environmental architect planner. During this period, and after, he spent time teaching at five tuitions of higher learning including one in China and one in India. His work at the University of Michigan
on directing urban expansion into a system of pedestrian oriented new town
s led to his being hired as the master planner for an environmentally sound socially integrated community of 80,000 to be built outside of Cincinnati. When this failed to materialize, he took to developing, designing, and building eco-friendly
, urban infill condominiums in Cincinnati.
When Ronald Reagan
became president, and the Arab oil boycott was call off, public interest
in conservation evaporated. It was clear that his efforts, and those of others, were directed toward a dead end. A question kept haunting him: “When we see that our future is threatened and we know what we can do about it, why don’t we act?” Thinking about this led to another abrupt change in his career. He turned to writing. After failing to obtain production funding for a television documentary
, "Invisible Walls" addressed to this problem, in 1998 "Invisible walls" came out as a book . Since then Seidel has devoted his time producing books and articles, related to examining this problem of inaction.
(This book is based on a proposed new discipline by eminent political scientist John H. Herz
to be called Survival Science. Chapters written by scholars from various disciplines explain how their field relates to the subject of human survival. If we are to confront survival seriously, we must look at the broad range of subjects that affect it.)
Background
Before obtaining a MS in Architecture from Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
as a student of architect Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and planner Ludwig Hilberseimer
Ludwig Hilberseimer
Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer was a German architect and urban planner best known for his ties to the Bauhaus and to Mies van der Rohe, as well as for his work in urban planning at Armour Institute of Technology , in Chicago, Illinois.-Life:Hilberseimer studied architecture at the Karlsruhe Technical...
, Seidel worked as a farmhand, factory worker, Alaska salmon fisherman, and carpenter. In 1957, while working in Chicago on the most environmentally damaging office and institutional buildings, he read a book entitled "The Challenge of Man’s Future," by Harrison Brown. It described the dangers of excessive population growth, food and mineral shortages, and over consumption that threatened our future.
It was clear his work bore a heavy impact on these problems, he changed direction and became a committed environmental architect planner. During this period, and after, he spent time teaching at five tuitions of higher learning including one in China and one in India. His work at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
on directing urban expansion into a system of pedestrian oriented new town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
s led to his being hired as the master planner for an environmentally sound socially integrated community of 80,000 to be built outside of Cincinnati. When this failed to materialize, he took to developing, designing, and building eco-friendly
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, urban infill condominiums in Cincinnati.
When Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
became president, and the Arab oil boycott was call off, public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
in conservation evaporated. It was clear that his efforts, and those of others, were directed toward a dead end. A question kept haunting him: “When we see that our future is threatened and we know what we can do about it, why don’t we act?” Thinking about this led to another abrupt change in his career. He turned to writing. After failing to obtain production funding for a television documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, "Invisible Walls" addressed to this problem, in 1998 "Invisible walls" came out as a book . Since then Seidel has devoted his time producing books and articles, related to examining this problem of inaction.
Books
- 1998, Invisible Walls: Why We Ignore the Damage We Inflict on the Planet ... and Ourselves. Amherst New York, Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
, ISBN 1-57392-217-X. http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=1116 - 2006, Global Survival: The Challenge and its Implications For Thinking and Acting, edited with Ervin LaszloErvin LászlóErvin László is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, originally a classical pianist. He has published about 75 books and over 400 papers, and is editor of World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution...
. New York, Select Books,, ISBN 1-59079-104-5.
(This book is based on a proposed new discipline by eminent political scientist John H. Herz
John H. Herz
John H. Herz was an American scholar of international relations and law.He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. He received a diploma from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1938, fled Europe for the USA and found a temporary position at Princeton University...
to be called Survival Science. Chapters written by scholars from various disciplines explain how their field relates to the subject of human survival. If we are to confront survival seriously, we must look at the broad range of subjects that affect it.)
- 2009, 2045: a Story of our Future. Amherst, New YorkAmherst, New YorkAmherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 122,366. This represents an increase of 5.0% from the 2000 census. The town is named for Jeffrey Amherst, a British Army officer of the colonial period...
, Prometheus Books, ISBN 978-1-59102-705-8. (In the form of a novel, 2045 brings to life the kind of world we will have 35 years hence, if current trends continue.) http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=51&products_id=1899
Significant Projects and Writing
- 1964, Central–Linear City, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Virginia Engineering Extension Series Circular No. 2. An environmentally and sociologically sound alternative to urban sprawlUrban sprawlUrban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. - 1968, A Proposal for Urban DevelopmentUrban planningUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, a further development of Central-Linear City done at the University of Michigan with the help of a Horace R. Rackham Faculty Research Grant. - 1968, "Peter Seidel's Model City,” one hour documentary, University of Michigan Television.
- 1971, Winter, “New Cities of Man: a Proposal,” Technology and Human Affairs, pp. 19-22, Illinois Institute of technology
- 1972, “‘Idustructure,’ a Vertical Industrial ParkIndustrial parkAn industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
Designed for Use in the Central City,” August-September 1972, Inland Architect, Chicago, pp.22-3. - 1972, “One Man's, Dream,” The Cincinnati EnquirerThe Cincinnati EnquirerThe Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Kentucky. The...
, The Enquirer Magazine, July 30, 1972, pp. 14 -- 20. (About an unrealized eco-community). - 1974, Proposal for an Integrated Energy System for Buildings, Utilizing Solar Energy, The Eco-Tech Foundation, Inc.
- 1979, “Six Units on 7, 600 sq. ft.,” cover and pp. 60-63, February, 1979, Housing, a McGraw-Hill publication. (An exemplar of energy conserving, high density, urban infill housing.)
- 1981, “Stacked Condos at 27 Units per Acre,” Dec. 1981, Housing, pp. 38-39, a McGraw-Hill publication. (An exemplar of energy conserving, high density, urban infill housing.)
- 1982, “Developing Increased Density Condominiums,” Commercial Investment Journal, vol 1, Summer 1982, 34-37.
- 1985, "Mies today: Thoughts of a Former Student" March/April 1985, Inland Architect, p. 45, Chicago.
- 1989-90, "Invisible Walls." Preproduction funding for one-hour television documentary obtained, internationally recognized experts agreed to advise and/or appear, script writerScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and director, both Emmy award-winners, were lined up, and a script was produced. Production funding could not be obtained. - 1994, “Cities and the Real World,” World Futures, The Journal of General Evolution, Vol. 39, No. 4, 1994, pp. 183-195, Taylor and Francic, Yverdon, Switzerland
- 1998, “The Cost of Wealthy Modern Cities,” Indian Journal of Applied Economics, July-September, 1998, pp. 291–301, Bangalore.
- 2002, “What to Know,” unpublished
- 2009, September, “Is it Inevitable that Evolution Self Destruct?” Futures, Vol.41, No. 10, December 2009, pp. 754-759, Elsevier LTD, Amsterdam. Available on line at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2009.07.003