No Shadows On The Beach

I leaned forward in my chair.

"It will not be important to worry about some rotten tomatoes and lettuce leaves lying around. This is how Palmas will differ from other projects. We are counting on the rotten tomatoes. I may have to throw some around myself."

" 'The joy of human commerce,' " I said.

"What?"

"Something I read once. How do you categorize amenities?"

"Amenities are not separate things. They are an interplay of things. Buildings. Spaces. People. They are inseparable. They may include the lady in red—a red bikini—walking across the plaza. She becomes part of an interplay that generates an excitement of its own. An overall thing. Like—here, come with me."

We went outside into the darkened alleyways between the villas.

"What we want basically is a series of visual delights," he said as we picked our way along, "a vocabulary of sights and sounds. Things that will encourage people to walk. Changes in the texture of the pavement. A different quality of light caused by a trellis overhead with a vine. An unexpected trickle of water. The plazas will be carefully oriented to the long view. You might start here in this alley and suddenly come upon a plaza, an explosion of sound and color seducing you into walking further. Here the hard edges will be cut by a green wall or an archway. Here a waterfall that can be natural because of the changing elevations or"—he smiled again—"made to seem that way by a strategically placed pump. We will have six entrances to this plaza, like the one on Capri. When you are in it, you must walk between the tables. If you are at a table you will be turning your head to see the people.

"Even if you are so shy you can't speak up, you will be able to experience your fantasies vicariously. You will also get the opportunity and the permission to break through that barrier of loneliness, to be a part."