The world of one of Austria’s foremost architects, Peter Lorenz, seems to be a parallel universe, with his statements about how road widening is neither avant-garde nor the solution to traffic and how it is no longer fashionable for youths to drive cars.
A 25-year-old law in Vienna states that if a tree, even the size of the plant pot on the coffee table in front of him, is removed, it would have to be replaced by one of the same diameter. If it is old, that could mean planting as many as 80 young trees, making the Austrian city one of the greenest.
Mr Lorenz, well-known for his humanistic approach to his profession, unconsciously hits one raw nerve after another.
“Everything starts with nature, and I do not know a single good architect, personally, from around the world, who is not a total nature lover. That is, after all, the inspiration for every idea.
“Either you respect nature, the city and human beings together, or you disrespect all three,” he stresses. They go hand in hand.
In Malta to address Sunday’s first Architecture Alive series, organised by studjurban, supported by the Planning Authority and involving regular design talks by world-renowned architects, the founder…
