Brand and his projects were a considerable influence upon me. Viewed from an English provincial town, 50s/60s California seemed the smartest place on Earth. The energy there was going into innovation, whereas in England it was going into overturning the Establishment - the strangled innovation bit came later (white heat of technology).

Working in CA for the first time in '68, it seemed to me that that flowering - if it ever existed - was over. Because my wonderful picture of California had been so selective. What I thought was a revolution was only an infinitesimal part of the State culture.

If I had to choose a place today (using the same selectivity), I would choose Uudenmaa - the southern state of Finland. If quasi-Rawlsian ethics and Qualitativism are 2 things we stand for, then they stand for Uudenmaa too.

Disclaimer: the state is a sometime client of mine.

You can't be me, I'm taken