The Urban Pattern

The Urban Pattern
Author: Simon Eisner
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 662
Release: 1993-04-16
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780471284284

For more than forty years this text has been educating students about the history of city planning and its contemporary practice. The sixth edition brings students up-to-date with new coverage of computer modeling, the new exurbia and megalopolis, seismic issues, hazardous waste, development vs. no growth, environmental concerns, and participatory planning.

A Pattern Language

A Pattern Language
Author: Christopher Alexander
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1216
Release: 2018-09-20
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0190050357

You can use this book to design a house for yourself with your family; you can use it to work with your neighbors to improve your town and neighborhood; you can use it to design an office, or a workshop, or a public building. And you can use it to guide you in the actual process of construction. After a ten-year silence, Christopher Alexander and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure are now publishing a major statement in the form of three books which will, in their words, "lay the basis for an entirely new approach to architecture, building and planning, which will we hope replace existing ideas and practices entirely." The three books are The Timeless Way of Building, The Oregon Experiment, and this book, A Pattern Language. At the core of these books is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets, and communities. This idea may be radical (it implies a radical transformation of the architectural profession) but it comes simply from the observation that most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by the people. At the core of the books, too, is the point that in designing their environments people always rely on certain "languages," which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate an infinite variety of designs within a forma system which gives them coherence. This book provides a language of this kind. It will enable a person to make a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. "Patterns," the units of this language, are answers to design problems (How high should a window sill be? How many stories should a building have? How much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees?). More than 250 of the patterns in this pattern language are given: each consists of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution. As the authors say in their introduction, many of the patterns are archetypal, so deeply rooted in the nature of things that it seemly likely that they will be a part of human nature, and human action, as much in five hundred years as they are today.

Urban Design Handbook

Urban Design Handbook
Author: Ray Gindroz
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2002-12-31
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780393731064

Based on Urban Design Associates’ in-house training procedures, this unique handbook details the techniques and working methods of a major urban design and planning firm. Covering the process from basic principles to developed designs, the book outlines the range of project types and services that urban designers can offer and sets out a set of general operating guidelines and procedures for: Developing a master plan, including techniques for engaging citizens in the design process and technical analysis to evaluate the physical form of the neighborhood, centered on a design charrette with public participation; Preparing a pattern book to guide residential construction in a new traditional town, including the documentation of architectural and urban precedents in a form that can be used by architects and builders; Implementing contextual architectural design, including methods of applying the essential qualities of traditional architecture in many styles to modern programs and construction techniques. This invaluable guide offers an introductory course in urbanism as well as an operations manual for architects, planners, developers, and public officials.

Cities of the World

Cities of the World
Author: Stanley D. Brunn
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 609
Release: 2020-03-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1538126354

Remarkably, more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, and the numbers grow daily as people abandon rural areas. This fully updated and revised seventh edition of the classic text offers readers a comprehensive set of tools for understanding world regional geography, as seen through the urban landscape, and, by extension, the world's politics, cultures, and economies. Providing a sweeping overview of world urban geography, noted experts explore the major global regions. Each regional chapter considers urban history, economy, culture, and environment, as well as special problems and future prospects. A regional map that shows the major cities, a summary of basic statistical information about the cities and urbanization in each region, and a list of ten salient points about that region’s urban experience frame each region. Chapters conclude with a list of references, including films and webpages, which can be used by the student and instructor for additional information about specific cities. This edition adds the important new themes of climate change and migration, while continuing to focus specifically on sustainability, water, technology, social and environmental justice, security and conflict, the history of urban settlement, urban planning trends, and daily life. Vignettes of key cities give the reader a vivid understanding of daily life and the "spirit of place." The opening chapter presents an overview of key terms and concepts and explores contemporary world urbanization, and a concluding chapter projects the world's urban future. Generously illustrated in full color with a new selection of photographs, maps, and diagrams, the text also includes a rich array of textboxes to highlight key topics ranging from migration and immigration to LBGTQ activism, human security, and climate change. Clearly written and timely, Cities of the World will be invaluable for those teaching introductory or advanced classes on global cities, regional geography, the developing world, and global urban studies.

Urban Quilting

Urban Quilting
Author: Wendy Chow
Publisher: Blue Star Press
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2021-01-19
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 1950968197

Perfect for beginners, this quilting book features simple illustrations and easy-to-follow steps that teach you how to make up to 30 beautiful quilts in a short amount of time! A comprehensive guide for both first-time quilters and those looking for a refresher course, Urban Quilting teaches you everything you need to know about this timeless craft. Each pattern contains instructions for three different quilt sizes, with designs that feature bold colors and geometric shapes that will stand out and look stunning in your home. Urban Quilting includes: 10 quilt designs, each with patterns for 3 sizes, for making up to 30 quilts Beginner-friendly content, including everything you need to know to get started Detailed instructions with clear diagrams so you can learn quickly and easily Insightful information on the history of quilting and how today's quilters are modernizing the craft

The Image of the City

The Image of the City
Author: Kevin Lynch
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 1964-06-15
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780262620017

The classic work on the evaluation of city form. What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formulates a new criterion—imageability—and shows its potential value as a guide for the building and rebuilding of cities. The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller will all want to read this book.

Sustainable Nation

Sustainable Nation
Author: Douglas Farr
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2018-02-23
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1118415353

PROSE Award Finalist 2019 Association of American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence As a follow up to his widely acclaimed Sustainable Urbanism, this new book from author Douglas Farr embraces the idea that the humanitarian, population, and climate crises are three facets of one interrelated human existential challenge, one with impossibly short deadlines. The vision of Sustainable Nation is to accelerate the pace of progress of human civilization to create an equitable and sustainable world. The core strategy of Sustainable Nation is the perfection of the design and governance of all neighborhoods to make them unique exemplars of community and sustainability. The tools to achieve this vision are more than 70 patterns for rebellious change written by industry leaders of thought and practice. Each pattern represents an aspirational, future-oriented ideal for a key aspect of a neighborhood. At once an urgent call to action and a guidebook for change, Sustainable Nation is an essential resource for urban designers, planners, and architects.

A New Theory of Urban Design

A New Theory of Urban Design
Author: Christopher Alexander
Publisher: Center for Environmental Struc
Total Pages: 263
Release: 1987
Genre: City planning
ISBN: 0195037537

The venerable cities of the past, such as Venice or Amsterdam, convey a feeling of wholeness, an organic unity that surfaces in every detail, large and small, in restaurants, shops, public gardens, even in balconies and ornaments. But this sense of wholeness is lacking in modern urban design, with architects absorbed in problems of individual structures, and city planners preoccupied with local ordinances, it is almost impossible to achieve. In this groundbreaking volume, architect and planner Christopher Alexander presents a new theory of urban design which attempts to recapture the process by which cities develop organically. To discover the kinds of laws needed to create a growing whole in a city, Alexander proposes here a preliminary set of seven rules which embody the process at a practical level and which are consistent with the day-to-day demands of urban development. He then puts these rules to the test, setting out with a number of his graduate students to simulate the urban redesign of a high-density part of San Francisco, initiating a project that encompassed some ninety different design problems, including warehouses, hotels, fishing piers, a music hall, and a public square. This extensive experiment is documented project by project, with detailed discussion of how each project satisfied the seven rules, accompanied by floorplans, elevations, street grids, axonometric diagrams and photographs of the scaled-down model which clearly illustrate the discussion. A New Theory of Urban Design provides an entirely new theoretical framework for the discussion of urban problems, one that goes far to remedy the defects which cities have today.

Human Aspects of Urban Form

Human Aspects of Urban Form
Author: Amos Rapoport
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1483182169

Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man—Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design discusses the man—environment interaction in urban setting. The book is comprised six chapters that provide a broad conceptual framework using a range of disciplines. The text first tackles urban design as the organization of space, time, meaning, and communication. The second chapter talks about environmental quality, while the third chapter deals with environmental cognition. Next, the book tackles the importance and nature of environmental perception. Chapter 5 discusses the city in terms of social, cultural, and territorial variables. Chapter 6 details the distinction between associational and perceptual worlds. The book will be of great interest to urban planners and government policymakers. Researchers and practitioners of sociological and behavioral science will also benefit from the book.

Urban Transformation

Urban Transformation
Author: Peter Bosselmann
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2012-09-26
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1610911490

How do cities transform over time? And why do some cities change for the better while others deteriorate? In articulating new ways of viewing urban areas and how they develop over time, Peter Bosselmann offers a stimulating guidebook for students and professionals engaged in urban design, planning, and architecture. By looking through Bosselmann’s eyes (aided by his analysis of numerous color photos and illustrations) readers will learn to “see” cities anew. Bosselmann organizes the book around seven “activities”: comparing, observing, transforming, measuring, defining, modeling, and interpreting. He introduces readers to his way of seeing by comparing satellite-produced “maps” of the world’s twenty largest cities. With Bosselmann’s guidance, we begin to understand the key elements of urban design. Using Copenhagen, Denmark, as an example, he teaches us to observe without prejudice or bias. He demonstrates how cities transform by introducing the idea of “urban morphology” through an examination of more than a century of transformations in downtown Oakland, California. We learn how to measure quality-of-life parameters that are often considered immeasurable, including “vitality,” “livability,” and “belonging.” Utilizing the street grids of San Francisco as examples, Bosselmann explains how to define urban spaces. Modeling, he reveals, is not so much about creating models as it is about bringing others into public, democratic discussions. Finally, we find out how to interpret essential aspects of “life and place” by evaluating aerial images of the San Francisco Bay Area taken in 1962 and those taken forty-three years later. Bosselmann has a unique understanding of cities and how they “work.” His hope is that, with the fresh vision he offers, readers will be empowered to offer inventive new solutions to familiar urban problems.