The Beloved City: Descartes' Discourse on the Method and Creative Perfection

 Nothing is ever created for only a single reason. In almost every project or undertaking, the creator or creators have multiple motives. However, most creators also have a single motive that takes precedence over the others. For example, in building a city, one person might build with mainly beauty in mind. Another person might build with functionality as his top priority. A third person might build the city as quickly as he can so that he can start earning income from it. Oftentimes, those goals are most easily achieved when the operation is run by a single person. Occasionally, multiple architects are able to collaborate and create a city just as beautiful as the one that is organized by a single man with a single vision. Most of the time, however, the best cities are created under the thought and direction of one master architect. Cities that are beautiful, functional, and profitable, whether they are designed by one man or many, are almost always created with love and great intention. Because of that love, the city lasts for many years and is loved in turn by many different people. Organization, time, and mutual stylistic decisions help create more perfect cities by uniting ideas and people, as René Descartes describes in his Discourse on the Method.

“At that time I was in Germany,” Descartes begins, “...[and] I spent the whole day shut up in a small room… in which I could converse with my own thoughts at leisure” (12). Many of his first thoughts during his German excursion were on the construction of a good city. He states, “[I realized] that things made up of different elements and produced by several master craftsmen are often less perfect than those on which only one person has worked” (12). A single architect often has a more organized and cohesive vision of a city than can be achieved by a group of architects. Each architect has his own tastes and ideas, and it can be difficult to form many creators’ ideas into a single, unified plan of action. As Descartes observes, “This is the case with buildings which a single architect has planned and completed, that are usually more beautiful and better designed than those that several architects have tried to patch together” (12). Creators do their best work when they define all elements of the project themselves. Even so, multiple architects can create a beautiful and well-made city if they have similar enough visions or a similar love for what they are creating. Descartes says that cities are “often” more perfect when a single man plans them, but he does not say “always” (12).

Another factor in the creation of a good city is time. If part of a city is built one year for a specific purpose, and then many years later it is expanded to suit a different purpose, that city is often far less organized than the original. Descartes writes that “This is… the case with those ancient cities, that in the beginning were no more than villages and have become, through the passage of time, great conurbations” (12). The more ideas and architecture that are merged over time, the less “perfect” the city becomes. It can still be beautiful and functional, but that beauty and function is split by the time gap in construction, which often results in a somewhat chaotic design. Descartes describes such chaos as follows: “[such cities] are usually so badly laid out that, even though their buildings viewed separately often display as much if not more artistic merit as those of orderly towns… they look more like the product of chance than the will of men” (12). The cities that are created over a great span of time are special in their own right, but they are not as “perfect” as the cities that are built with one vision and one purpose.

One of the most important factors in any creative project is the style used. All architects have different styles and different ideas for what is best for their project. Therefore, it is easiest for a single architect to use a single style and create a beautiful, well-organized city. Operating on his own vision and analysing what style best fits the particular project, he can build a city that is both functional and objectively beautiful. Others’ ideas and stylistic choices would often clash with the cohesive idea that he already has in his head. However, a group of men can also come to a single stylistic decision if they are guided well and can communicate effectively. Descartes observes that “there have always been officials whose task it was to ensure that the design of private buildings should contribute to the beauty of the town as a whole” (12). As long as some sort of organization is in place, multiple men over a long period of time can create a good, well-organized city. The beauty and functionality is retained through the pre-implemented regulations. However, even though multiple men are participating in the city’s creation, there must still be a single man or a very small group of men to lead that operation and ensure that all architects follow the guidelines that are in place. In conclusion, someone must always oversee the choices that are made.

Organization, time, and mutual vision are all important factors in the creation of a city. One must have an organized plan to be able to design an organized city. The passage of time and later additions can skew the original function and style of the city. In connection, a mutual stylistic understanding between architects helps to keep a city organized despite the passage of time. Descartes concludes, “it [is] clear how difficult it is to carry anything through to completion when working only with what others have produced” (12). A creator’s originality and personal creativity, combined with a good plan, can one day result in a truly perfect city.

Works Cited

Descartes, Rene. A Discourse on the Method. Oxford University Press, 2006.