The art of classic planning : building beautiful and enduring communities / Nir Haim Buras.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Buras, Nir Haim, 1952- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture, Modern--20th century.

Architecture, Modern.

City planning.

Civic improvement.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (497 pages)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [2019]

Summary:

"An accomplished architect and urbanist goes back to the roots of what makes cities attractive and livable, demonstrating how we can restore function and beauty to our urban spaces for the long term. Nearly everything we treasure in the world’s most beautiful cities was built over a century ago. Cities like Prague, Paris, and Lisbon draw millions of visitors from around the world because of their exquisite architecture, walkable neighborhoods, and human scale. Yet a great deal of the knowledge and practice behind successful city planning has been abandoned over the last hundred years—not because of traffic, population growth, or other practical hurdles, but because of ill-considered theories emerging from Modernism and reactions to it. The errors of urban design over the last century are too great not to question. The solutions being offered today—sustainability, walkability, smart and green technologies—hint at what has been lost and what may be regained, but they remain piecemeal and superficial. In The Art of Classic Planning, architect and planner Nir Haim Buras documents and extends the time-tested and holistic practices that held sway before the reign of Modernism. With hundreds of full-color illustrations and photographs that will captivate architects, planners, administrators, and developers, The Art of Classic Planning restores and revitalizes the foundations of urban planning. Inspired by venerable cities like Kyoto, Vienna, and Venice, and by the great successes of L’Enfant’s Washington, Haussmann’s Paris, and Burnham’s Chicago, Buras combines theory and a host of examples to arrive at clear guidelines for best practices in classic planning for today’s world. The Art of Classic Planning celebrates the enduring principles of urban design and invites us to return to building beautiful cities."

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Glossary

Preface: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Sense of Place

Introduction: Creating a Legacy of Beauty

Part I: How Did We Get Here?

Chapter 1 : the Romantic Modernist Gutting of Cities

Camillo Sitte and Medieval Cities as Archetype

Glass Architecture and Workers' Housing

Le Corbusier, CIAM, Brasília, and Pruitt-Igoe

Raymond Unwin, Hegemann and Peets, and Pierre Lavedan

The English Park as Paradigm for the Car Suburb

Chapter 2 : Modernist Critique of Modernist Planning

Jane Jacobs and Lewis Mumford

Kevin Lynch and Gordon Cullen

La Tendenza, Bacon, and Rowe

Pattern Language and Space Syntax

Postmodernism

Segregating Pedestrians to Make "People-Friendly Cities"

Alien Bigness and Strangeness

New Urbanism

Chapter 3 : What Now?

Part II: Classic Planning Fundamentals

Chapter 4 : Classic Planning Was Always There

Out of Africa

The Origin of Cities

Classic Plans

"Organic" Fabric

Grand Manner Plans

International Haussmannization

Bigness without Beauty: Sublime Urbanism

Utopian Impositions on the Landscape

Chapter 5 : Learning From What We Have

L'Enfant's Plan for Washington, DC

Making a City Beautiful

The McMillan Plan

Paris on the Anacostia

Chapter 6 : Urban Form and Your Experience

The People's Choice

Community Aspiration and Urban Reason-for-Being

Urban Happiness

Beauty and Holism

Perception and Beauty

Perception Is Fractal

Fractal Is Classical

Phenomenological Confirmation

Fractal Is Classic Urban

The Beauty Scale

Asset Allocation, Durability, and Time

The Purpose of Urbanism

Part III: Classic Planning Applied

Chapter 7 : Classic Planning Knowledge Base

Architectural Literacy

A "Cloud" of Ideas

Archetypes and Building Blocks.

Precedents: Imitation, Invention, and Judgment

Chapter 8 : Classic Planning Tools

Sun, Wind, and Water

Classic Traffic Planning

Classic Streets

Psychological and Behavioral Models

Toward Intuitive Driving

Applying Precedents in Parking

Transport

Chapter 9 : Designing a City

Grid Plans

Law of the Indies

Blocks and Alleys

Streets

Arcaded Streets

Street Trees

Urban Landscaping

Plazas

Boulevards and Avenues

Chapter 10 : Building a City

Buildings

General Fabric Buildings

Density

Tall Buildings

Stations and Terminals

Airports

Markets

Durable Infrastructure

Building Community Infrastructure

Disaster Resilience

The Skyline

Chapter 11 : A Plan Is a Legacy, Not a Solution

Metropolitan Planning

Country

Urban Homeostasis

Cities of Refuge

Classic-Plan Code

Long-Term Plans

A City of Makers

Epilogue

The High-Tech City

The Feral City

Muddling Through

Learning from Isfahan, Rome, and Angkor Wat to Understand Detroit

Notes

Credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674272897

0674272897

OCLC:

1291508187