Josep Lluís Sert: Footprint on Roosevelt Island

In 1947, Josep Lluís Sert produced a blueprint for reform alarmingly titled “Can Our Cities Survive?” This deeply democratic document contends that the only remedy for city dwellers’ unhappiness is a focus on neighborhoods and on four principles: dwellings, work, recreation, and transportation. To quote Sert, “Considered on its smallest scale, the neighborhood unit would be composed of the dwellings required to house a sufficient number of people to support an elementary school.”

Roosevelt Island defines such a neighborhood unit. This workshop will do a rapid-fire overview of the origins of Sert’s thinking and the principles behind his building practices, paying particular attention to his two high-density housing projects on Roosevelt Island. Then three questions about the present-day relevance of these practices will be posed for workshop participants to consider.
Speakers: Edward Baum on Sert in Europe and America; Theodore Liebman on Sert in NY and Roosevelt Island; Lance Brown, moderator; Ignacio Alonso and Laia Celma on Sert’s ideas in 2019.