Cities of the West

I discovered the United States through the West, in 1978. I expected cities of tall buildings; I found a far more open, horizontal and luminous America, where architecture blends with the great open spaces.
I was particularly taken by the wooden houses, their warm architecture and their interiors, which often amazed me. From San Francisco to Los Angeles, from Santa Cruz to Las Vegas, Phoenix or Denver, I found the same impression of a modern, pragmatic and remarkably functional society.
In everyday life, this simplicity is found in habits, social relations, shops and facilities. A way of living that sometimes contrasts with the older, denser cities of the East, while keeping everywhere the same American spirit, made of freedom, space and mobility.
Back in France, this material modernity had struck me. Without in any way diminishing the riches of our country, I had discovered another way of living and inhabiting a place.