Which town?

*

Among the units – varied enterprises – that were created and blossomed at the service of Her city, several were already dedicated to construction, whether for community projects or for outside clients – their profits then accruing to the Central Fund – and one of those units took charge of the larger works, the fabrication of the panels for the shell and the construction of the twelve petals, bringing on site a sizeable labor force and its own methods of management and supervision, that had nevertheless to be harmonized with the rest. All of these factors combined in a single venture of materialization composed a situation the complexity of which was often disconcerting, for one had to administer this ensemble in a manner at once coherent and acceptable to the Government, while preserving the community’s autonomy of decision. Clashes, incomprehension, misunderstandings, slips of weakness and individual shortcomings, each one proceeded as on a minefield where almost diverging approaches were pursued.

*

R., as he took back the reins, somewhat made more relative, that were handed to him, had already shown impatience at the presence of tall trees on the edge of the Amphitheater; little by little his intention to return to a pared down visual concept of the central temple’ architecture became clear. One of the earlier versions of the Galaxy, instead of a vast parkland surrounding the Oval from the other side of a meandering water-body, figured a large lake, so that nothing would obstruct the view of the Symbol.

254