Urban Composition: Designing: Developing Community though Urban Design (Architecture Briefs) - Softcover

Childs, Mark C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616890525 ISBN 13: 9781616890520

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 2012

Synopsis

Cities and towns are among humanity's largest and most complex achievements. The buildings, public works, plazas and parks of even a small town embody substantial amounts of capital, energy, natural resources, history and aspirations. Cities are among our greatest creations, yet typically no single individual creates them. Rather they arise from the dialog between multiple designers, clients, regulators, citizens, critics and users. Sometimes the cities and towns that emerge are glorious places. Too frequently they have only fragments of greatness or are soul-deadening and environmentally unhealthy. Just as private doctors have responsibilities to their individual patients and for public health, project designers are accountable to their clients and for a set of public goods such as environmental stewardship, fostering civil society, and inspiring joy. Urban Composition introduces essential ways in which the architects, planners, artists and engineers of individual projects can fulfil their public trust to help make great urban places.

About this title

About the Author

Mark C. Childs has worked on building designs, urban designs and community plans throughout the west and has won awards for design, teaching, public art, heritage preservation and poetry.

From the Back Cover

Cities and towns are among humanity's greatest achievements, yet no single individual or organization creates them. The buildings, streets, and gardens of even a small town embody substantial investments of money, natural resources, and political capital. Much more than the sum of its parts, a settlement's vitality comes from its collective composition. Sometimes the cities and towns that emerge are glorious places, but too frequently they have only fragments of greatness or are soulless and environmentally unhealthy. Our new Architecture Brief Urban Composition shows architects, planners, artists, and engineers of individual projects how they can best fulfill their public trust to help make meaningful urban places. Each chapter contains a set of design queries followed by a discussion, illustrations, and references for further research. This accessible primer on urban design provides guidelines for designing buildings or plans for large cities or small towns. Urban Composition showcases projects across the United States and internationally, in metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Seattle, and London, and small communities such as Marfa, Texas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1616890525
• ISBN 13: 9781616890520
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144