Heat and High Rises

In 1923, the modernist architect Le Corbusier pioneered the notion of “towers in the park” – high-rises in parklike settings, connected by superhighways. But a hundred years later, high-density, high-rise living is just part of the car-dependent, socially fractured state of so many cities, including Kingston. The cars themselves emit greenhouse gases, and EVs are stalling (no pun intended) in the market. Young gave this painting a hot red sky and an even hotter red-orange building in shadow. Those “unnatural” hues express how he feels, emotionally and – in the increasingly hot summers – physically. And there’s a loneliness here that matches the anonymity of arterial roads like this one (Bath Rd, near Gardiners Rd).