Lao Tse didn't oppose high rise

One wonders who Mr Whitfield consulted to divine the views of Lao Tse (more correctly Laozi) on high-rise buildings (Forum, 2 May 2011), given that he lived (if he existed at all) in either the fourth or sixth centuries BCE (authorities disagree on his provenance).

Actually, the philosophical-aesthetic position traditionally attributed to him is that "the reality of a building consists not of (the physical fabric) but of the space within to be lived in".

He makes no mention of how high above the ground this space might be.

Most high-rise buildings are occupied by human beings with character traits remarkably similar to (and almost indistinguishable from) those of people who live in low-rise buildings.

Email, 4 May 2011 Bruce Hyland, Daleys Point