No comments about Shrinking Cities: Volume 1.

2 comments about Great City Parks.

1. First of all let me state catagorically that this book is hella overpriced..it's a VERY thorough book on the parks the author decided to cover..quite an eclectic selection. Where was the Bois de Bologne, Hyde Park, Fairmont Park, Hermann Park, Golden Gate Park...???..For this amount of money, I would expect every major urban park in the world to be included..certainly more of the great American Parks...and frankly Hyde Park and the Bois are arguably the most famous in the world, the great Central Park, Prospect Park, and the Teirgarten are included thankfully, but this is hardly comprehensive, the parks he does cover, he goes very indepth and the images are adequate..but get real, the price of this book is in a word: outrageous



2. An invaluable reference book for those interested in urban park design. Tate has surveyed 20 city parks in Western Europe and North America ranging from tiny Paley Park New York to the whole of the Minneaplois Park system. He has described each systematically under the heads of History, Development, Planning and Design, Management and Usage, and Plans for the future, and then drawn conclusions.

   He knows his stuff; he sent out questionnaires to the parks managers in 1987 and 1998 and the book is generously illustated in colour with photographs by the late Martin Jones, again taken over two decades. This is a bit of a labour of love, Tate's magnus opus is a must for any academic landscape or planning library. It is not a light read, nor is it a historical account of park design (though the the page 1 thumbnail ouline of two centuires of park design on page 1 is a model of its kind). But it does give a fair and impartial landscape architect's critique.

   Each park is accompanied by a line plan. It's a bit pricey and very Anglo-Saxon in world view, but if this is really your subject then do buy it or order a copy for your library. Pity to mix metric and imperial, and Richard Haag's Gasworks Park in Seattle (see p.114) was not the source of the Latzs' design for Duisburg Nord Landschaftspark (Latz's Hafeninsel Burgerpark, Saarbrucken from the 1980's was the source).

3 comments about Arcosanti Archetype::The Rebirth of Cities by Renaissance Thinker Paolo Soleri.

1. This book is the perfect introduction to the concept of arcologies in general and Arcosanti in particular. It tells just enough about the history of arcologies, background on Paolo Soleri, and the social and ecological roles that arcologies can and should play in our future to whet the appetite for more. (The word arcology is formed from the words architecture and ecology.) The great and plentiful photos help to turn a concept into a real place where readers can imagine-or dream of-living and working. If you have an interest in arcologies, trends in architecture, the future of city design, or ways people can live more harmoniously with nature, this book is a wonderful place to start.



2. Arcosanti Archetype accomplishes what the author, Marie Wilson, set out to do. That is, provoke thought in people about issues related to urban sprawl. The book features the ideology of Paolo Soleri who has dedicated his life to environmental issues through his innovative project located between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. Wilson has depicted the project and people through colorful photographs and interviews including quotes from Soleri. Even if you have not visited Arcosanti, you will find that this reasonably priced book is a worthwhile read with facts about the world population, quotes from Aldo Leopold's, A Sand County Almanac, and thoughts from philosopher Teilhard de Chardin on happiness and "our task to turn the physical universe into a divine universe". A great book to give students or teachers interested in architecture and lifestyles.



3. This is an introduction to one of the very few new urban experiments being performed in the western world. It's an intimate portrait of a great vision that is in the birthing process. The Arcosanti vision attempts to solve the problem of urban sprawl and high consumption of resources, while embracing the fundamental human needs to develop and to be social. Cities have developed in response to these fundamental drives. Urban living allows us to arrange our lives so that we can interact to provide for our mutual needs in efficient ways, to enjoy social activities, and to promote our human inventiveness and creativity. But it has led to urban sprawl, high resource consumption and serious pollution.

   Arcosanti is an alternative that appears to have promise. But why has the Arcosanti experiment, in existence for thirty years, not yet created the movement needed to attract the support it needs to be completed, much less be a major force in our society? I liked the book because it examines the personalities that have given the experiment life, and lets us make judgements on how personalities have helped -- and may have hurt -- the promulgation of the vision. It includes a portrait of Paolo Soleri, the reticent genius behind its creation. I wished it probed the visions a little deeper, because all of Soleri's books are out of print. However, the potential of the vision is clear and made goose bumps rise on my arm. It locked the architectural vision in my mind, and has sparked many conversations about it. Hopefully it will open the vision to many more people.

No comments about Technology Place & Architecture.

No comments about City Edge: Contemporary Discourses on Urbanism.

No comments about Making a Middle Landscape.

No comments about Methods of Regional Analysis: An Introduction to Regional Science.

No comments about Álamos, Sonora: Architecture and Urbanism in the Dry Tropics (Southwest Center Series).

No comments about Loose Space: Possibility and Diversity in Urban Life.

No comments about Brussels: A Manifesto Towards the Capital of Europe.