2 comments about The Ethical Function of Architecture.

1. Harries, a professor of philosophy at Yale, has a long-standing interest in architecture. (Disclosure- I took his course on the Philosophy of Architecture while a grad student in the early 80's.) Himself a student of Heidegger, Harries's work in architecture has largely been a reassessment and continuation of Heidegger's thought on technology and dwelling. The book under review is a summary of Harries's thinking on architecture. The "ethical function" referred to in the title concerns architecture's ability to express the ethos of the society that produces it. Harries effectively demolishes the esthetic and functional approaches to architecture and makes a convincing argument that what distinguishes architecture from mere building is its ethical function.



2. .
   This is simply one of the best books I have ever read.

   On one level it is a critique of contemporary thinking about architecture. In the first part of the book Harries argues that the aesthetic approach to art doesn't do justice to the meaning and power of architecture. In the second part he argues that the semiotic approach to architecture is based on a model of language that cannot fully grasp and illuminate the symbolic dimension of architecture. In the third and fourth parts Harries tries to show that questions of architecture are ultimately questions of dwelling (broadly conceived), that questions of dwelling are irreducibly ethical and political, and that architecture thus has an irreducible ethical and political function.

   On a deeper level the book is a critique of modern philosophies of art. Harries follows thinkers such as Heidegger, Gadamer, and Agamben in criticizing the aesthetic approach to art (which regards artworks simply as beautiful or interesting objects) and theoretical approaches to art (which regard artworks as the expression or illustration of ideas that can best be grasped and articulated with philosophical concepts). Harries argues that artworks have the power to illuminate the world and to call us back to what really matters, and that art is a (nontheoretical) way of responding to basic questions of human existence (How should we live? What does it mean to be human?)

   Unlike Heidegger, Gadamer, and Agamben, however, Harries develops his arguments with a great number of specific, concrete examples drawn from the whole history of Western architecture and art. So while the book is philosophically ambitious, it is also exceptionally clear, sober, and down to earth.

   Finally, I should note that the writing itself is beautiful--it is simple, precise, and conveys a sense of deep concentration and wonder.

   The Ethical Function of Architecture won the American Institute of Architects 8th Annual International Architecture Book Award for Criticism. But it is about more than architecture. I recommend it very, very highly to anyone interested in Heidegger, phenomenology, aesthetics, ethics, poetry, literary theory, modernity and modernism, and the history and philosophy of art.

No comments about Sexuality & Space (Princeton Papers on Architecture).

3 comments about Beneath the Metropolis: The Secret Lives of Cities.

1. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the history and underworkings of the great cities of the world. It gave me a new appreciation for what goes in to the planning, creation and development of a major city.



2. I almost started by stating this book isn't for the average reader. But, I'm an average reader, and frankly I found the information within it fascinating. Coincidentally I lived in N.Y.C., and have a little more experience with its underground infrastructure than just having been a straphanger (subway rider). Mr. Marshall has a no nonsense writing style, and his research has resulted in much interesting information regarding what's buried beneath our feet. The history of how, and why things got, and get buried in the first place makes the book all the more enlightening. Especially the consideration that things get buried as a result of debris that accumulates over time, and how history is lost, and then sometimes rediscovered in the process of modernization.



3. A beautiful book, monumental piece of research, with clear and engaging prose and a great mix of maps, illustrations, capsule histories, lively facts, and timelines. If you ever stood over a manhole or at the dark edge of a subway tunnel and wondered, "What's down there?" then this book will tell you. Beneath the Metropolis describes what's underneath 12 world cities -- New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, London, Rome, Cairo, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow and Sydney. With pith and concision, Marshall details the infrastructure, the archeology and the geology. In Paris, we learn about the fossilized bones and the beautiful sewers and subways. In Rome, we tour the ancient ruins and rickety subway (did you know there was one?). In Beijing, we learn about the vast network of cold war tunnels that few visit. Marshall uses each city's underground to trace its history, politics and economics. It's a pleasure to learn how successful cities, like London or Paris, can take different approaches to infrastructure. As a fellow author and former Columbia classmate, I admire and envy Marshall's success in wrestling such a huge topic into a pleasurable masterpiece. Beneath the Metropolis is destined for many a reader's nightstand as well as planning and political offices and classrooms.
   
   --Christopher D. Ringwald, author of A Day Apart: How Jews, Christians, and Muslims Find Faith, Freedom, and Joy on the Sabbath (Oxford, 2007)

No comments about Smart Growth in a Changing World.

No comments about Urban Open Space: Designing For User Needs (Landscape Architecture Foundation Land and Community Design Case Study Series).

1 comments about Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People.

1. For the price, this book is a great overview to designing greenways. I use this as a reference in my studies frequently--I am a student of Landscape Architecture and see this resource as highly valuable.

4 comments about Community Planning: An Introduction To The Comprehensive Plan.

1. A textbook for public planners of various ilks. Provides an overview rather than an in depth analysis of particular issues. For that reason, it is liable to be pertinent for awhile yet. Good for what it is.



2. This book was a great help in the projects that my instructor assigned. It was very detailed.



3. Planning in the 21st Century

   BY MARY R. ENGLISH

   Part of a growing series on land use planning published by Island Press, Community Planning is modestly titled. It provides much more than an introduction: it gives the reader a working acquaintance with community planning.

   In the United States, the concept of comprehensive local planning dates back to the City Beautiful movement spawned by the 1892 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In the late 1920s, the concept took off on a grand scale with the Standard City Planning Enabling Act published in 1928 by the U.S. Department of Commerce as a companion to its 1926 Standard Zoning Enabling Act. Both were the culmination of the work of a commission appointed in 1921 by Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce.

   While the Department of Commerce's model acts were simply that-models-they provided helpful guidance to states. In 1926, local land use zoning had received the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., which sanctioned the use of public regulatory power to specify how private land may be used. To enable and provide direction for local zoning and planning, states passed legislation patterned on the Department of Commerce models.

   Now more than 70 years old, these models have been scrutinized and alternatives have been proposed-by the American Law Institute and the American Planning Association, for example-but virtually all state zoning and planning legislation harkens back to these two standard acts. They are premised on the idea that good government requires professionalism grounded in fact-based analysis and dispassionate forecasting.

   Just as you can take a trip without an itinerary, you can zone without a comprehensive plan. Properly done, however, a comprehensive plan brings logic, foresight, and defensibility to zoning and other community decisions. Sometimes called a master plan or a general plan, a comprehensive plan is, as Kelly and Becker note, "a tangible representation of what a community wants to be in the future."

   Today, full-blown comprehensive plans typically include inventories of existing conditions, statements of needs and goals, and implementation strategies. Comprehensive plans also broach topics such as population, housing, land use, economic development, public facilities and infrastructure, natural resources, and cultural resources. These are often described in some detail, accompanied with maps and information on historic trends and projections. The comprehensive plan may also detail more specific plans for special areas such as a city's downtown, or special topics such as open space and recreation.

   Community Planning is contemporary in its orientation. Kelly and Becker frequently note the need for early and continued involvement of citizens and elected officials in community planning processes. Nevertheless, the book is in keeping with the rationalist, "good government" spirit that motivated the U.S. Department of Commerce's model acts. It provides a systematic, well-thought-out guide to the community planning process.

   Kelly and Becker's book was written to serve as a text for introductory classes in planning at the undergraduate or graduate level, and it moves from the general to the specific of tangible plans, the nuts and bolts of developing and implementing plans. The book wraps up with practical information useful not just to students, but also to community leaders with no formal training in planning on what work to expect from planners and on ethical issues to consider in planning. To assist the teacher or the self-taught reader, each chapter concludes with exercises, discussion questions, and annotated suggestions for further reading. The book also has an extensive bibliography.

   Over the past few decades, debates have arisen about the utility of comprehensive plans. Are they worth the effort? Is the process of planning really more important than the document itself? Does anyone actually use the plan? As federal subsidies for local comprehensive planning processes dwindled in the 1980s, the popularity of massive plans waned.

   Kelly and Becker acknowledge this shift, and they also point out that planning is inevitably political: despite the best efforts of the government reformers, planning remains political with a small p. At its best, it transcends politics and builds consensus across political coalitions. At its worst, it can become so embroiled in local political issues that it loses its credibility and effectiveness.

   Nevertheless, this book is testimony to Kelly and Becker's conviction that planning and comprehensive plans, properly done, can and should make a positive difference.

   Mary R. English, Energy, Environment and Resources Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

   This review originally appeared in the Fall 2000 issue of FORUM for Applied Research and Public Policy.




4. We used this text in our planning course last fall and it was excellent! Eric Kelly is a genius when it comes to writing planning books. This book is a must have for all college planning students. I highly recommend it!

No comments about Pamphlet Architecture 26: Thirteen Projects for the Sheridan Expressway.

No comments about The Chinese Dream: A Society Under Construction.

5 comments about A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb.

1. Langdon describes why modern American suburbs, with typical cul de sacs, feeder roads, and strip malls, rob us of our sense of community and of our connections to our neighbors. He explains how the over-reliance on the automobile is both a cause and a result of these suburban designs. But he goes further, describing why older neighborhoods feel so much better to us-- neighborhoods with grid layouts, houses with front porches, homes placed fairly close to tree lined streets. If you've ever looked around at modern American developments and wondered why they feel alienating and uncomfortable, this book will answer your questions in fascinating detail. Langdon's prose is beautifully clear.



2. There are more books that I can count that address American suburbs, and of the dozen or so that I have read this is by far the most comprehensive, best written, and most illuminating. Far from simply being a 250+ page rant about how bad suburbia is, Langdon offers an immense amount of very specific advice about how it can be made better. You don't have to be a landscape architect or planner to appreciate and enjoy this book. Anyone concerned with ensuring that we all have great places to live will benefit tremendously from reading it.



3. Langdon's book is a gentle and articulate introduction to New Urbanism - the notion that our cities and our suburbs are a mess, and that in their place, we should have higher residential densities, mixed-use zoning, and pedestrian-oriented design. Langdon extols the benefits of the traditional street grid, and bemoans suburban developers' fascination with "pods" (i.e., clusters of cul-de-sacs). The author highlights the design of individual houses, and describes various ways of hiding garages and "granny apartments." Places given special attention include Seaside (Fla.), Kentlands (Md.), Laguna West (Cal.), Portland (Ore.), Kirkland (Wa.), and Bellevue (Wa.). The book is profusely illustrated with well over a hundred photographs and diagrams, a welcome change from authors who feel they can discuss this topic at length without a single illustration.



4. Mr. Langdon has some excellent points in his book. For instance, he makes a very convincing case that modern suburbia is sterile and that it encourages heavy reliance on the motor vehicle. He also offers good solutions, including more mixed-use neighborhoods, higher architectural standards, and different street layouts.

   However, Mr. Langdon never adequately addresses a significant objection to his ideas: they are *expensive* to implement. At times, he does concede that his ideas would require higher expenditures on housing. Usually he counters this with arguments resembling "well, Americans don't need wet bars and a television set in every room. If only they would give that up, we could have more intimate communities." At times it seems as though he is actively encouraging Americans to consume less, an idea that could form the backbone of another book. In this book, it only detracts from his argument.

   Sorry, Mr. Langdon. While Americans may want better communities, you can't force them to give up their television sets and wet bars in order to get them. Come up with a better way to pay for your ideas; otherwise, concede that the market has given modern Americans exactly what they want.




5. Reading this book started out as a requirement for my Urban Planning class. However, I became so interested in what Langdon had to say, and his easy to read diction, that I couldn't put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who lives in the city, in the suburbs or anywhere in between. Everyone can relate to the issues that Langdon brings up, and they are truly interesting and relavent in today's society. A great book to use as an introduction to issues of urban planning and urban improvement.