No comments about Anonymous (20th century).

No comments about Planning a Pluralist City: Conflicting Realities in Ciudad Guayana.

1 comments about The Renaissance City.

1. Giulio Argan's work is "concerned only with the those urbanistic factors which in Italy, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries brought about a transformation of the medieval city" (pg 9). He examines how the rise of Humanistic culture shaped a new conception of the historical and political values of the city. Medieval cities lacked a wide range of political functions, the streets were narrow, and monuments were secondary and rarely planned around. This changed drastically in the Renaissance when divisions began to be made within the city for housing, public affairs, and productive activity. This occurred by 1) opening up streets 2) addition of new sections of the city 3) erection of monuments that were to affect the development of structures in new areas. Also, the advent of new military tactics and advances in cannons and the science of cannonading turned many towns into new cities as bulwarks for the most important cities. For example, a ring of new cities were constructed inland to protect a land invasion of Venice.
   
   By far the most interesting (to me) part of this long essay was his look at the rise of architectural treatises, which were another advent of the Renaissance. Many of these treatises influenced by Vitruvius, such as Leon Battista Alberti's 'De re aedificatoria' had the idealistic aim to try to bring about the rebirth of the ancient city. Single buildings became an element in a natural urban context subordinate to the norms of symmetry, perspective, and proportion. Argan also looks at idealized cities of Francesco Sforza and how many of these Renaissance ideals were applied to existing cities, such as Rome, Pienza, etc.
   
   Although this is only an extended essay, half the pages are wonderful photographs, plans, diagrams, etc all connected by number with the essay, which greatly help reader comprehension. This is a brief read that fulfills Argan's stated thesis comprehensibly and perhaps most importantly, inspires further research and reading.

No comments about Walter Gropius: Rebuilding our communities.

No comments about Downtown strategic plan.

No comments about Disclosing Horizons: Architecture, Perspective and Redemptive Space.

2 comments about Confronting Suburban Decline: Strategic Planning For Metropolitan Renewal.

1. This book has tons of statistics gathered in one place on the impacts of sprawl on older communities, and how shifts in development (including mushrooming house sizes) have put older suburbs and their smaller homes at a disadvantage. This is the best book on outlining the problems faced by older suburbs and why decline is happening. Perhaps the most intriguing finding is that communities with older homes don't necessarily decline, but that homes built between 1940 and 1970 are most vulnerable. Home renovation expenditures are not keeping pace with the rate at which homes depreciate and need major systems replacements. Urbanists should be paying more attention to these neighborhoods, which are often neither the stereotypical exclusionary privileged suburbs, nor are they usually filled with the poorest of the poor (though they may have concentrations of poverty). They face perhaps a more challenging road to recovery than more urban neighborhoods closer to various city amenities-- unless their decline can be addressed sooner rather than later. Current public policies are not structured to tackle these communities, and jurisdictions may be in denial or challenged by a limited tax base and sentiment against raising taxes.



2. Some think of sprawl as a simple zero sum game: suburbs win, cities lose. But this book explains (with quantitative analysis from numerous regions) that sprawl, like the French Revolution, devours its own children: that older suburbs decline as newer suburbs suck away their elites. That fact is of course common knowledge in the Rust Belt. But Lucy and Phillips add another level of detail, explaining how some places have survived the rising tide of sprawl while others go into meltdown. Suburbs (and city neighborhoods) with historic housing and pedestrian-friendly features have often managed to keep up with the rest of their metro areas, while typical 1950s suburbs are the biggest losers from sprawl because they are stuck with the worst of both worlds: their housing is too small for 21st century tastes, yet they lack the urban amenities that lead to gentrification.

No comments about Architecture and the spirit of the place.

No comments about Building Planning, 2006 Edition.

2 comments about The Art of Revitalization: Improving Conditions in Distressed Inner-City Neighborhoods (Garland Reference Library of Social Science).

1. This book offers a detailed look at the agents of change in two Chicago neighborhoods. By rigorously analyzing the measures of improvement in the quality of life of these neighborhoods, the author increases our awareness and knowledge of how neighborhood change and stability occurs. I would recommend this book to anyone working in this field who wishes to broaden their knowledge and increase their effectiveness.



2. Through statistical and qualitative analysis, this book illustrates the importance of community-wide development as a key to the economic rejuvenation of the inner city. The analysis is comprehensive and provides an excellent resource for individuals and entities involved in community development.