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<br />2a THE fiayyu Gl-Chtr: nw-sum MMlt•li 9. (�a�
<br />Seaside: A fresh, lovely vision of beaches past
<br />ANGHITUTUR
<br />by Robert Campbell to
<br />Special to the Globe W
<br />SEASIDE, Fla. - Not In many n
<br />years - not since Sea Ranch In i
<br />Callfornta, In 1464 -has an
<br />k
<br />American —)rt design excited so a
<br />much Interest among architecta to
<br />as the little village of Seaside In w
<br />Florida, e
<br />Satotdc. located on what the to
<br />ca I" call the "hadneck Riviera•' on
<br />mt shores of the Florida panharl- u
<br />dlc, to a dellticrale 1lnluttlon Of a g
<br />Victorian town by the era It 15 11 t
<br />erylhing the typical American re' h
<br />sori is not. There are rto tall con- I
<br />dolnlniums Jammed together e
<br />along the beach and there Is no
<br />chaotic Commercial strip behind m
<br />them, Instead. Seaside b r village
<br />With streets and cottages, a r
<br />square and a bandstand, porches
<br />and white picket lencal. a port al 1
<br />lux and a fire station:
<br />Approaching from the east, as 1
<br />did. the content Is lnernorable-
<br />You drive through West Panama
<br />City. a typically incredible stretch
<br />of miniature golf courses with
<br />pink dlncraurr. asphalt parking
<br />loth, T-shirt •hope, and beach-
<br />front condor that wall everyone
<br />but their owners off from the wG-
<br />let• AB you turn, it half hour later.
<br />Into Seaside, the change 1s like
<br />stepping out Of a mrdhPUSe unw a
<br />cool braxy Lawn. Pastel collages.
<br />trimmed in white, •land along
<br />quiet Imes sod brick -pared
<br />alreeta. There are front porches
<br />with swings and rocking chalrs.
<br />ItOols ors pitched, and rum tower
<br />- used as viewing platforms -
<br />poke up from them. And nothing
<br />separates you from the beach: at
<br />Seaside, no one builds on the
<br />beach. Instead, each of 5-10li 's
<br />six north-south atrerela indcu the
<br />beach at a swimming pavilion
<br />that is shared by that stcl d.8 rlsl-
<br />dents
<br />Seaside 1s it reincarnation Of
<br />the toy -like read of the pant, ell
<br />peelslly those of the am around
<br />the auras of the century. Nothing
<br />Could be more radical today than
<br />such eonsavanam. yet when you
<br />Vigil Seaside you Wonder why any,
<br />doe ever thought of long lhinga
<br />any Other way.
<br />Neither quaint nor noaulgle.
<br />Seaside is the result Of long'
<br />thoughtful study by Warn
<br />young arehlux u who believe that
<br />a tradltl0ttal village 1s simply a
<br />much better model for human set
<br />Clement than is r strip. brastdc Is
<br />detiterately modeled on Southern
<br />towns and or► Ouch 11001"+ u Oak
<br />mulls, Pruvinucumn. FAgarfown.
<br />and Chautrtuqur.
<br />Scaalde's creatom are a devel-
<br />O;w named Hobert Davis and a
<br />pair of young Miami archticLa,
<br />A116M Duany and LIMB th Plat
<br />'Lyberk. Leon Kner, an older
<br />ropeiin architect known for his
<br />illke of modern,anl, is an advls-
<br />. The 'team laid out all the
<br />wit's streets and house loll.
<br />herever possible. streets Fernd-
<br />ale In ocean views or In Idenllfl-
<br />ble landmarks. Plenty of room Is
<br />I for the public realm - a town
<br />square, a bcachfront boardwalk,
<br />nd ouch future buildings as a Ito•
<br />I. a syn%Wlic lower (beitlg de-
<br />goad by Krler). a chapel and oth-
<br />n.
<br />Duany and Plater-Zyberk, who
<br />regard Seaside so a model for sub-
<br />rban development everywhere.
<br />rc designing none of the bulld-
<br />ogs themselves. Instead, they
<br />awe creaked a building anti eon•
<br />ng code meant to tic w almpk and
<br />xpitelt that anyone wing It, no
<br />totter flow untalented, will pi'rr
<br />duce an'approprlale deaigm
<br />The code Is perhaps the must.
<br />emarkable thing about Searldc,
<br />t consists of only one drawing
<br />and a few pages of text. and It's
<br />written In plain, jargon4rce Eng-
<br />bah, yet It coven everything, Sev-
<br />eral different house type$ are s,I'
<br />{owed, based on ouch models a1'
<br />[he traditional Charlestown house
<br />and the Greek Revival antebellum
<br />mansion. The rulal very depend•
<br />Ing on tike house type• but all have
<br />pitched rods and all are required
<br />to fill enough of their lot fronta to
<br />maintain a sense of enclosure of
<br />the street. Viewing lowers, are en-
<br />couraged so the owners can sae
<br />the beach from •their houses.
<br />Purches are usually required and
<br />4.
<br />—�
<br />1 I IIN
<br />Seaside, Fla. Is it relllcarnatlon of lbe toy -llke resaarts of the
<br />especially thuao around the turn of the century'
<br />herited the 6&acrc stir. He re-
<br />nicinbcrs building sarldcaolles
<br />here as r child and admits he's do•
<br />Ing something slmllar now. Ills
<br />presence is a key to the success of
<br />Seaside. He lives here full tiute,
<br />knows everyone and approves ev-
<br />ery new huuac. An urchl,crlural
<br />amllleur, lie's designed a Ile light -
<br />lul house fur hhnsall and ulru cry
<br />sled the town's little utvl'rlladl•
<br />an Pool 0111CCL He tries hard to
<br />choose interesting architects for
<br />the public bulldmgr.
<br />their minimum dimensions are
<br />specified. Corner houses can be,
<br />extra large• when hourea are re-'
<br />qutred to have tenors. the fences
<br />must, tie dcalgned Individually,
<br />with no two the Game On any
<br />street. The Landscape natural to
<br />the Glee - mare scrub and send -
<br />must be preserved- Construction
<br />must be wood. Windows must Ix.
<br />square or vertical, not horlwntal.
<br />Outdoor colors MLMM be approved'
<br />And so on'
<br />One Is reminded of the slmllar
<br />firm ruler that created bOG1u11'G
<br />flock Wry. Like llle Week Wry. bra -
<br />aide achieves plenty of variety
<br />within ILL tlpht con ttrrinlg. in-
<br />deed. If there a any c"' irlt 11'1'
<br />that some of the houses try Wu
<br />lard -tor wtglnalliy Bred Cad up
<br />cute. Them a a sense. Loo, at the
<br />moment, that Seaside Is tau fresh
<br />and,Ghiny, The proud owners keep
<br />repainting and the vtllagc tootle
<br />any Genre of time having waahed
<br />over It.
<br />Of the town's planned 350
<br />dwellings. Perlu'Pb s 4uilrter ere •
<br />now [wilt, Few of %hie public build-
<br />logs are in place Yet, Thigni
<br />one style to the arcbU=Lurc, all-
<br />though the town is pervaded by it
<br />general sense of the Late 1(111 ten•
<br />lury , the period of Queen Anne
<br />and the Clrrslcal Revival.
<br />. Robert Dev1a, the developer. In-
<br />Most of the people who have
<br />bought lutb. L)MVla says. are
<br />profmaIlunalb in Hoerr late 2W to
<br />early hua, and must of the huusea
<br />they build art' second bonito.
<br />though there are a few permanent
<br />rmiderllb. Prices have risen so li
<br />that ale intended mix of a
<br />groupb hasn't developed and pet
<br />Ably won't.
<br />For arthticcture buffs, r s
<br />clal twist to SCdsldr has to do w
<br />theCLIreer ul Leon Krirr, For six
<br />15 years Krirr, derpne a growl
<br />wurldwldc Irma for hto nla
<br />Imaginary pro)ect1'. hall refused
<br />design my actual buildings, rn
<br />Ing Ilia) corldliluns In the wO
<br />arc tai depraved that good wort
<br />trnpusstbit. Such w history p
<br />nun III all IIICredlllly exposed W
<br />lloil aS Ile flow moves 1st Create
<br />unly the central tower and pax
<br />bison arcjAOeb at Seaside but alp
<br />nuusc lur hunaelt. The rest.
<br />slluuld tee visible in ahuul a ya
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