Peter Seidel
Peter Seidel (December 2, 1926, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American architect-planner turned writer.
Background
Before obtaining a MS in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology 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 institutions 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 towns 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 called 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. In 1998, he addressed this problem in the non-fiction book, "Invisible Walls". Since then, Seidel has devoted his time to producing books and articles related to this problem of inaction.
Books
- 1998, Invisible Walls: Why We Ignore the Damage We Inflict on the Planet ... and Ourselves. Amherst New York, Prometheus Books, 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 Laszlo. 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 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 York, 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 sprawl.
- 1968, A Proposal for Urban Development, 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 Park Designed for Use in the Central City," August–September 1972, Inland Architect, Chicago, pp.22-3.
- 1972, "One Man's, Dream," The Cincinnati Enquirer, 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 writer 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. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2009.07.003