Book Description

Design family housing that only looks like it cost a fortune. Discover how America's most creative, resourceful builders and communities are solving affordable housing problems by applying the design and construction techniques detailed in Good Neighbors: Affordable Family Housing by Tome Jones, William Pettus, and Michael Pyotok. Filled with real-life examples ranging from small towns to inner-city locations, this hands-on resource gives you a brief history of affordable housing in the USA and shows you how to develop these units with a mix of government and private financing, you get revealing profiles of people who live in affordable housing. . .essential data on the factors that influence affordable housing design. . .and dozens of illustrated case studies of developments from coast to coast. The book showcases the work of William Tawn Associates, Cooper Robertson Partners, Marquis Associates, Solomon, Inc. and other innovative firms. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

fantastic. Wonderful reference for professional and student
Fantastic. Wonderful reference for the professional and student

This book is indespensable for the design professional.
This book is an indespensable tool for the community design professional - don't leave home without it! Hundreds of color photos of well-designed multi-family housing in 85 case studies from around the US.

An excellent review of good architecture and good programs.
This book provides an excellent summary of the architecture of affordable housing and the best way to design and develop it. It is particularly useful for architects, planners, city staff and developers interested in improving their communities. ... Read more

Book Description

American Vitruvius, originally published in 1922, is considered the classic encyclopedia of urban design. It contains 1203 plans, elevations, and perspective views of both European and American cities, spanning from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. This facsimile edition includes a preface by Leon Krier as well as texts by Alan Plattus and Christiane Collins.

'The variety and originality of the illustrations in Civic Art will no doubt be the greatest attraction of this reedition. It is not only the most complete single-volume survey of the canonical bases of urbanism from ancient Greco-Roman colonnades to the medieval spaces of Siena and Bruges, to the more formal squares such as Pienza or the French Places Royales, to Haussmann's Paris and Burnham's Chicago, but is also inclusive of a scintillating collection of uncommon and forgotten designs....Yet it would be a shame to forgo Hegemann's text in pursuit of the pictures, because it is full of astute historical and formal observations.' Richard Ingersoll, Design Book Review ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Art of Designing Cities
This is an incredible achievement.It absolutely must be in the library of every architect and architecture student in the world, because we have lost contact with the beauty and social glory of living urbanistically. The architecture we produce supports this suburbanized lifestyle, and theanti social results of this new pattern of living can be seen daily on thenews in all manner of bizarre murders and cultist activity.Well then! Without advocating a style of architecture in particular, this bookadvocates a type of planning that, if we are intelligent enough tounderstand this book, could save this country, and save the world.I donot exaggerate.Buy the book.You'll be a different person for havingpurchased it. ... Read more

Book Description

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, Second Edition is a vital book for anyone involved in architectural design, space management, and urban planning. The concepts presented in this book explain the link between design and human behavior. Understanding this link can enable a planner to use natural environmental factors to minimize loss and crime and to maximize productivity.

This practical guide addresses several environmental settings, including major event facilities, small retail establishments, downtown streets, residential areas, and playgrounds. A one-stop resource with explanations of criminal behavior and the historical aspects of design, it teaches both the novice and the expert in crime prevention how to use the environment to affect human behavior in a positive manner.

Fully updated with substantial new material in each chapter
Useful illustrations describe the design and layout concepts in an easy to understand manner
Written by a well-qualified author in the field of crime prevention ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Must Read For Practitioners
The CPTED Strategies introduced and well laid out in this book, establish a foundation for creative target hardening and risk transference.
To suggest as one critic does, that this is "low level" stuff is to miss the point entirely.
As a security consultant, I have applied these concepts to a variety of corporate settings with positive results.
If someone is simply looking for standard "templates" without the capacity to creatively apply the ideals this is not the book.
If you are serious about your work, it is essential.

A pedestrian approach to security design
This book has pretty low level info.

If you are looking for ways to secure a high level executive's office suite using the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, forget it. The examples in this book are more at the level of bus stops.

Hopefully the authors will update their information with modern design scenarios. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A Perfect Sequel
If you don't have the first Civic Art, originally published in the twenties, you ought to buy it immediately. Having said that, this book is reiterates many of the same ideas, principles, and messages of the first Civc Art, but from a perspective including all of the developements (and learning from all of the problems) introduced into urban design in the last 80 years. It should be in the library of every architect and of those interested in architecture and urban design. I couldn't recommend it more highly. ... Read more

Book Description

Sprawling commercial and residential development in outer suburbs and exurban areas has for a number of years masked increasingly severe socioeconomic problems in suburban America. In recent decades, income declines, crime increases, and tax base erosion have affected many suburbs to an extent previously seen only in central cities.

In Confronting Suburban Decline, William H. Lucy and David L. Phillips examine conditions and trends in cities and suburbs since 1960, arguing that beginning in the 1980s, the United States entered a "post-suburban" era of declining suburbs with maturation of communities accompanied by large-scale deterioration. The authors examine:

• why suburban decline has become widespread
• how the "tyranny of easy development decisions" often results in new housing being built outside of areas that people prefer
• how strategic planning can help assess dangers
• how some suburbs have stabilized or revived
• how interactions between residential mobility and the age, size, and location of housing can help policy makers anticipate dangers and opportunities facing neighborhoods and jurisdictions

In-depth case studies are provided of Richmond, Virginia and Washington, D.C., along with examples from Minnesota, Oregon, Maryland, Tennessee, and other locations. In addition, the book offers information and statistics on income, population, and racial transitions in 554 suburbs in the nation's twenty-four largest metropolitan areas.

Confronting Suburban Decline provides a detailed look at the causes of and responses to urban and suburban decline. Planners and policymakers as well as students and researchers involved with issues of land use, economic development, regional planning, community development, or intergovernmental relations will find it a valuable resource. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great work
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. ... Read more

Book Description

Transit-oriented development (TOD) seeks to maximize access to mass transit and nonmotorized transportation with centrally located rail or bus stations surrounded by relatively high-density commercial and residential development. New Urbanists and smart growth proponents have embraced the concept and interest in TOD is growing, both in the United States and around the world.

New Transit Town brings together leading experts in planning, transportation, and sustainable design -- including Scott Bernstein, Peter Calthorpe, Jim Daisa, Sharon Feigon, Ellen Greenberg, David Hoyt, Dennis Leach, andShelley Poticha -- to examine the first generation of TOD projects and derive lessons for the next generation. It offers topic chapters that provide detailed discussion of key issues along with case studies that present an in-depth look at specific projects. Topics examined include:

• the history of projects and the appeal of this form of development
• a taxonomy of TOD projects appropriate for different contexts and scales
• the planning, policy and regulatory framework of "successful" projects
• obstacles to financing and strategies for overcoming those obstacles
• issues surrounding traffic and parking
• the roles of all the actors involved and the resources available to them
• performance measures that can be used to evaluate outcomes

Case Studies include Arlington, Virginia (Roslyn-Ballston corridor); Dallas (Mockingbird Station and Addison Circle); historic transit-oriented neighborhoods in Chicago; Atlanta (Lindbergh Center and BellSouth); San Jose (Ohlone-Chynoweth); and San Diego (Barrio Logan).

New Transit Town explores the key challenges to transit-oriented development, examines the lessons learned from the first generation of projects, and uses a systematic examination and analysis of a broad spectrum of projects to set standards for the next generation. It is a vital new source of information for anyone intersted in urban and regional planning and development, including planners, developers, community groups, transit agency staff, and finance professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

The "Silver Bible" -- thoroughly revised, updated and redesigned

Interior designers, architects, and other design professionals can still turn to the field’s beloved "Silver Bible" for a wealth of information related to the design and planning of residential and commercial interiors. But now, Time-Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planning, Second Edition goes even further to truly make the classic interior design reference the standard in its field.

From standard furniture dimensions to architectural woodwork details, you’ll find a vast array of time-saving data and details. Editors Joseph DeChiara, Julius Panero, and Martin Zelnik have brought together contributions from well-known architectural and interior design firms to give you details derived from actual designs and working drawings, showing various solutions for typical design problems encountered in interior architecture.

You get a wide range of typical layouts and residential spaces, offices, conference rooms, and reception areas, in addition to details of bars, restaurants, and public toilets. This exciting new edition includes new international examples and metrification – and provides you with full coverage of healthcare spaces, educational spaces; home offices; videoconferencing spaces; green design; project forms and schedules.Two outstanding sections cover historic styles and woodworking. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Time Saver Standards for Interior Design and Space Planners
This is a a "must have" for anyone in the interior design industry. The best book since Architectural Graphic Standards for the Interior Design Profession. Very Specific and all inclusive, excellent details for just about every application.

Required purchase for my Interior Design Students to use through out their educational and professional careers.

Not great but the only thing like it.
This is a compilation of materials from other sources, most of which are readily available to everyone but it's very convenient to have all the information in one place. However, some of the information is inaccurate, some of the illustrations are out of date, and many are poor copies of photocopies that aren't legible. I find this inexcusable in a book intended for designers and one that is $100+. Unfortunately, it is the only book of its kind. I recommend double checking any information that you take from it. Reznikoff is the only comparable book and that is even more out of date. At least Reznikoff was well produced though. ... Read more

Book Description

A primer that covers the gamut of preservation issues, from underlying philosophy to rehabilitation economics. Historic Preservation provides a thorough overview of the theory, technique, and procedure for preserving our architectural heritage. The perfect introduction for both architecture students and the interested layperson, it covers preservation philosophy, the history of the movement, the role of government, the designation and documentation of historic structures, establishing a historic district, sensitive architectural design and planning, and the economics of building rehabilitation. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Excellent for any beginner.
Provides an easy-to-read introduction to the field of historic preservation and the key issues. Bibliography is so-so, but would recommend for students and those interested in a clear and concise overview.

Most readable and comprehensive preservation book
For the past seven years I have worked full time as a historic preservation professional, compiling historic resource surveys, writing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, and a wide variety of other preservation related projects. I serve on our local historic district commission and have just completed a city-wide survey of Kalamazoo's historic resources. Currently I am also teaching Historic Preservation at Western Michigan University and I was delighted to find Norm Tyler's book. This book is an excellent resource for the beginning preservationist, whether they be a student in a formal academic setting or someone who just likes old buildings. My students find it to be very readable and comprehensive. I am especially pleased to find the variety of real-life examples Tyler presents reflecting the way preservation is practiced and not just idealistic theory. This book was the preferred Christmas gift among preservationists in my area in 2000. I can recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone interested in preserving our history.

Historic Preservation: A Fresh View
Norm Tyler's new book is a much needed addition to the literature on Historic Preservation. Loaded with fresh examples of the myriad preservation activities taking place across the nation, it also details the context of the movement through analysis of the icons, both human and idealogical, of historic preservation. Clear, concise, and very readable, it will appeal to both the professional and avocationist alike. The inclusion of basic economic, social, and architectural impacts in historic preservation are welcome contributions, and the various charts and lists are extremely useful. I use it at the graduate level as the companion to Fitch's classic: "Historic Preservation." ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of Kevin Lynch's widely used introductory textbook has been completely revised; and is also enriched by the experience of Lynch's coauthor, Gary Hack. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Whoa!
I'm amazed that people didn't like this book more... I am also a Land Arch student who had it as an assigned book that was rarely actually assigned. I was thumbing through it in hopes of generating ideas for another class and was amazed at the amount of usable information it contained. Perhaps it is better digested in chunks instead of the whole. I found it great as a reference book.

An okay book - required textbook
Being a new student of a landscape architecture program, this was a required textbook for one of my classes. After reading between the lines and through the wordiness of the book, I finally understood the point the author was making and found the point interesting. It took a couple of times to finally understand what he was saying, but it was interesting once I understood it. It was on the dry side.

Dull disengaged preaching
The book is much weaker than Lynch's classical piece "The Image of the City". Text sometimes gets dull and too dry, like in many of reference books. In fact, the "referential" quality of "Site Planning" is the only positive feature of the book. When authors pursue the singular goal to create a comprehensive textbook, the liveness of arguments suffers a lot. The book becomes rather a dull close-minded disengaged preaching that requires a lot of effort on the side of a reader to understand and utilize it.

Photographically splendid. The pictures are breath - taking.
It was the best book I have ever read. I recommend to people who are involved, or want to be involved in the field of landscape architecture. ... Read more

Book Description

This book, part of a series of four, offers a detailed analysis of urban design, covering the streets, squares and buildings that make up the public face of towns and cities. It outlines the theory of the principal features of urban design from which method is developed and provides a better understanding of the main elements of urban design. This includes the arrangement, design and details of the streets and squares, and the roles they play in city planning.



This third edition includes chapters on "Sustainable Urban Design" and "Visual Analysis", introducing the latest theories and influences in the field and bringing greater practical significance to the book. Cliff Moughtin explores the street and square in terms of function, structure and symbolism and examines fine examples in their historical context. These are set against the background of the laws of urban design composition, culled from Renaissance and modern writers.

*Gain an understanding of the detail of urban design from towns and buildings to squares and streets
*Learn from examples in their historical context and see the evolution of urban design
*New case studies help relate theory to practice ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Even within chaos, the mind can envision patterns
Rem Koolhaas has invented a set of theories in S,M,L,XL that transcends and show progression from his earlier work, Delirious New York. What a glory it is for a man of his vision and talent to spend the time in documenting his works. For one man to maintain his practice as an architect and planner, and also produce this epic anti-coffee table book with such vigor is indispensable. The novel's greatest asset is in the way it moves the architect from the coffee table or decorative bookcase, to the mind. Koolhaas is a genius, and I congratulate him as being the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

S,M,L,XL
Possibly one of the many great books on architecture of today with plenty of references and clean graphics. A must have for all architecs or if you just want a wonderfully beautiful book for your home or office.

S,M,L,XL
Quite simply, the Bible of architecture.

S.M.L.XL in Reprint soon
The bible of architecture, S.M.L.XL seems to be reprinted in fall 2002, at least this is the information I have from Monacelli:
"Monacelli are planning to reprint it and it should be availed in the fall."

Greetings from Austria,

Patrick

Review by an architect...
This is one of the finest books dealing with Architectural concerns of the last few years. A book which will be read again and again and used as a reference for a lot of parrallel issues a student may come across. I enjoyed the book for the different essays esp. the one on Singapore and Atlanta. that is the beauty of the book. Rather than simply talking about his work He explains the city, site imp. historical references and this is such an important aspect of process today. I also enjoyed his style of writing. serious issues coloured with a lot of wit and humour. A must buy. ... Read more

Book Description

How have urban planning policies contributed to racial injustices in American cities? Does contemporary urban planning really address and attempt to solve the social and economic problems of African Americans in cities, or does it just perpetuate ghetto conditions? What have African Americans done to confront injustices in planning? Historically, race and city design are linked, and Urban Planning and the African American Community aims to clarify the historical connections between the African American population and the urban planning profession and to suggest means by which cooperation and justice may be increased. The book focuses on the areas of zoning and real estate, planning and public policy, African American initiatives and responses to urban planning, and urban planning education. Individual chapters examine the racial origins of zoning in American cities; how Eurocentric family models have shaped planning policies applied to African American families; the rise of equity planning and its effects; the role of race and empowerment in the Model Cities experiment; African American experiences with shaping the planning of such cities as Los Angeles, Greensboro, and Birmingham; and provides a plan for diversifying planning education in order to advance the profession. The editors also include a chapter of excerpts from important court cases and government reports that have shaped or reflected the racial aspects of urban planning. This important new volume bridges the gap between urban planning and issues of race and will be an essential resource for academics and students in urban studies, urban planning, and race/ethnic studies. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

groundbreaking and intriguing
This book shows how injustice has affected the black community.Eachessay underscores the contradictions and the sad impact of racism on theurban conditions of blacks.

The book is groundbreaking.It is pivotalbecause many of the most important urban policies, e.g., urban renewal, thewar-on-poverty, model cities, have been used in the black community. Unfortunately the policies have enjoyed only a modium of success. Moreover, the planning professional and many of the voices in the academyhave continued to deny the significance of this community as well as thecontributions of blacks who had an indelible impact as urban and communityplanners.

The essays are accessible and poignant.While they wouldcertainly need to be discussed in urban planning schools, they should alsobe of real interest to the general public who would profit from the vitalinformation and sagas described in the book.One of the best planningvolumes to be published recently. ... Read more

Book Description

Focusing on large-scale waterfront renewal, the most dynamic area of urban design today, this cutting edge review of award-winning waterfront designs explores the successful redevelopment of oceanfront, lakefront, and riverfront in urban centers around the world. Showcasing more than 100 international projects in maginificent full color, this beautifully produced design survey presents a rich and diverse portfolio of redevelopment work, including museums, restaurants, historic monuments, parks, housing, government facilities, trade centers, ship terminals, and retail stores. An ideal companion to the authors' highly praised Waterfronts: Cities Reclaim Their Edge, the book is an invaluable source of ideas, inspiration, and practical design guidance. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It's a beautiful and helpful book for architects
I like this book because it show the poetic and the force on the meet between the land and the water

For urban designers it show that to work in the situation and context is to work in the most important urban's place because it there is public space

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Reviews (9)

Misses the Point
Stan Allen is one of the self-styled theorists who see architecture and urbanism as an abstract set of geometries, Allen fails to understand that most cities are living organisms and that relationships and form are pointless without comprehending the viltal, human function. Anyone who has experienced the great urban spaces of Italy or Paris will know that urban design is not a graphic exercise. Allen's lacks the mental facility to adress this component of design and his diagrams are more ignorant that one can imagine. This book is rubbish of the very worst sort. - Recommend you read Jane Jacobs 'Life and Death of Great American Cities' instead.

Forcing Form/Forming Force
This book addresses a universal question in regards to understanding and, more importantly, presenting an abstract, yet more comprehensible reference between architecture and other contextual elements. Stan Allen proposes that they are all fractions of a common system, the most complex order of 'the city' in this case. He has eloquently woven various aspects of these manifold connections through his writings, and validated them in extremely stimulating diagrams. The results are projects that are filters for seeing figures of architecture in exchange with the background of the city. Architecture is complicated; not by itself, but because it is a component in a complicated network. This condition in the city can be manipulated by (and through) architecture--in the form (and force) of a point, other times of a line, but most of the time both.

Enjoying in Singapore
Stan Allenfs gPoints and Linesh explores architectural design methods after post modern and deconstruction. His architectural and urban design in the book clearly show the contemporary problems and his unique approach to the problems. Although many of the theoretical issues are implicated, they are expressed through his design process. In addition, his comprehensive research out of architecture gives us fresh viewpoints. Therefore I think, the book is useful not only for architects and students, but also for people who are interested in cultural issues generally. Even in Singapore whose culture is different from the US, many architects and students are enjoying this book.

potential energy
This book contains some of the more useful thoughts published on diagrams to date. Although many architects frequently refer to diagrams as a methodology, Stan Allen has made them one of the focal points of his work. This book and his lectures often excite controversy over the way in which architects use diagrams. Diagrams have a kind of potential energy which can be interpreted in a number of ways to generate a piece of architecture. The book Points + Lines introduces ideas with which every student should be familiar and which each architect should address. Stan Allen makes a refreshingly clear delivery of his ideas in a contemporary architecture culture of overcomplication, vacant formalism, and thoughtless commercial production. We can only hope that the author's relatively young age will privelege us with the production of more written work.

Diagrams and thoughts
I got this book since I was attendding my first semester in graduate school. The book helps me find ways to communicate thoughts and ideas in architecture. I did research parallel to the architectural design process. Diagrams and text from the book was articulately showing a possibility to use the information for exchange. Diagrams and drawing techniques help me to weave the complex thoughts, information and propose further the other potential dimensions. ... Read more

Book Description

Practical ideas on every major aspect of airport design and construction.Moving beyond the FAS's and ICAO's standard models, Airport Planning & Development Handbook: A Global Survey helps planners develop the infrastructure for efficiently and cost-effectively moving the global village's people and commodities. Author Paul Stephen Dempsey, a renowned expert on airports, airlines, and transportation law - has packed this guide with eye-opening case studies that draw on the experience of the planners and developers of projects on every continent. The Handbook takes you through each planning step, including organization and design, touching on all essential questions so you can... *See the future of airport growth as a result of air traffic pattern changes and other factors *Work through issues such as noise abatement and air pollution, siting constraints, and the politics of airport development *Analyze airport financing and support issues *Integrate connecting transportation modes *And much, much more ... Read more

Book Description

Cities of Tomorrow is a critical history of planning in theory and practice in the twentieth century, as well as of the social and economic problems and opportunities that gave rise to it. Trenchant, perceptive, global in coverage, this book is an unrivalled account of its crucial subject.

The third edition of Cities of Tomorrow is comprehensively revised to take account of abundant new literature published since its original appearance,and to view the 1990s in historical perspective. This is the definitive edition, reviewing the development of the modern planning movement over theentire span of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good read and study of planning history!
My university is using this book as a text as part of our study of Planning History. It is a very good read and is unlike a textbook. Outlines planning history from 1880 to 1980. ... Read more

Book Description

America's leading educational architect gives readers the benefit of his decades of experience with award-winning and innovative school design. William Brubaker takes architects and educators step-by-step through the process of planning and building, or rebuilding, the schools of the future, whether large, single-unit high schools, or small, parklike, multi-unit elementary schools, and every permutation in between. The new baby boom and new philosophies of classroom learning have created a great demand for new school designs, and Planning and Designing Schools shows how those challenges can be brilliantly met. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great :o)
Great condition and rather fast delivery. Thanks a lot I needed this for a class.

nursery
kindergarten infant school preschool baby school baby statio ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

"A city is a plane of tarmac with some red hot spots of intensity," Rem Koolhaas, the pathbreaking architect and author of such semiotically seminal books as Delirious New York and the more recent S, M, L, XL, remarked in 1969. More than 30 years later, there are more of those hot spots around the world than ever, and they're getting hotter every day. Globalization, standardization, and the high-speed innovations of our current information age are transforming urban centers from London to Los Angeles to Lagos, and more places are becoming more urban, and at a faster pace, than ever before.

Mutations is an eye-popping atlas-cum-analysis of this new urbanization, and much of it is composed of essays and meditations (from a variety of contributors) on the 21st-century international City (often un-)Beautiful. Most of them are written in language that will be familiar to readers of Koolhaas's past books: in other words, dense, abstract, and chock-full of references to Foucault, Deleuze, and Guattari. If you like that sort of deconstructivist yammering, great; if not, the major small-type essays are best sampled (or, better, skimmed) one at a time, interspersed with the many other more accessible elements of the book that truly do add up to a vivid and fascinating mosaic of postmodern urbanism.

From Koolhaas and Harvard Design School's Project on the City come two engrossing and wholly straightforward explorations: one of the Pearl River Delta, which China has designated as a zone of unrestricted capitalist experimentation, and whose five major urban centers have consequently exploded overnight in all sorts of instructive and often frightening ways; and another of the chaotic, congested and Blade Runneresque megalopolis of Lagos, Nigeria, whose patterns of growth, housing, and commerce defy all conventional wisdom on how cities should develop.There's also a bounty of excellent (and often astonishing) statistics on all aspects of urban growth; a "snapshots" section of phenomena from cities all over the globe; a completely spot-on (and unintentionally funny) analysis of the evolution of shopping as the last truly unifying urban public activity (and the subject of Koolhaas's next full-scale book); and a trenchant look at Kosovo as ground zero in the first major war of the Internet age.(It should be noted that there's a separate section on the U.S., which with all its soulless, tacky consumerist excess gets the drubbing it usually can expect from the European intelligentsia, although the irony here is that more and more of newly urban Europe is starting to look like newly urban America.)

The exhibit-quality photography throughout is great, and, as you could expect from this unofficial successor to S, M, L, XL, the design is satisfyingly outré, right down to its post-Warholian plastic yellow easy-wipe cover with glued-on mousepad. But for all of Mutations's rich trove of facts and insights, and the impression that its high-tech design gives of an ironic embrace of the new urbanization, its deeper tone is one of disappointment and loss. The spirit of Jane Jacobs resides here, with all its yearning for the quirky, quaint beauty of human-scaled townhouses and shops, sidewalks and byways, and for the precorporatized glamour of grand old towns like New York, London, Paris, and Shanghai, before such metallic nouveau hubs as Atlanta and Kuala Lumpur were ever on the world-commerce map.Mutations was written and compiled largely by architects, after all, who hate ugliness as much as the next guy, whatever they may claim otherwise; its precisely for that reason that this densely absorbing new compendium betrays its wistfulness as often as it promotes its own air of cool, ethnographic bemusement. --Timothy Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Empty of Ideas and Full of Itself
This ridiculous book is nothing more and nothing less than a sad example of the disdain these authors feel for the world at large and for their poor readers in particular. Riddled with typos, filled with pictures of the poorest quality and utterly devoid of any original ideas, the book falls back, again and again, on worn, political cliches and pompous, unnecessarily complex phrasings that serve only one purpose: to conceal the fact that there is absolutely nothing of worth or merit being said here (beyond the incredibly, utterly astounding insight that cities, third world cities especially, are growing pretty darn fast!) At certain points it seems that even the writers can't follow their own ramblings. One particularly confused contributor (McKenzie Wark) writes " . . . technologies enclose, they count and rank what they enclose." Then, four sentences later, he/she writes: "Technologies do not enframe. There's no enclosure . . ." And that is about as coherent as that writer gets. One can only conclude that these people never expected anyone to actually read their book, since they obviously didn't take the time to read it themselves. Thank you Rem Koolhaas and your band of incompetent contributors for wasting my time and money on this utter disgrace of a book.

nice book, far nicer object
this book is packed with info. some of it is relatively hard to get at (your eyes are likely to glaze over at the reams of essays formatted in a narrow, sans-serif OCR-esque font) but the content and data is pretty good. it looks very nice in your bookshelf, but when hitting it up for a re-read, you may find yourself cursing the designers' decisions to go with form over function, IMHO.

Outstanding
This book is to be considered a piece of historical evidence of the tendencies of thought of the new era. Whether you may find the concepts proposed not suitable, every prospective or practicing architect, designer or urban planner must be aware of the latest tendencies of thought in order to be the best-educated he/she can be.

The Pearl River Delta investigation is impecable. For the "reasonably intelligent person" that wrote a comment above, it is a shame that you overlooked the whole analysis on shopping, perhaps because you are so immersed in it in the USA that you cannot see the forest for the trees.

I agree that the language is dense and often martian-like. This is the case of the introductory essay "Telegram from nowhere". But read between the lines. Reading is re-reading said Joyce. You will find a very smart concept regarding the architecture built for the media.

This book is all about cities in different parts in the world. It helps a lot if you are a culturally aware person. If you have had contact with diverse forms of living and thinking, may I highly suggest you get hold of this book. If you are not, you may either feel that the text is just wobbling on things you cannot be empathic with, or you may be on your way to becoming a more educated human being. And do not think by any means that this is a meek and mild pro-globalization text. This book is just rasing questions and proposing concepts, like all masterpiece limit themselves to do.

Difficult to Follow
This book was a required textbook for an urban planning class I took at college. I was very disappointed with the book overall. The photographs were very nice, but the text was utterly confusing, and difficult to follow. I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but I could not grasp most of what the authors were trying to say. The only parts of the book I enjoyed was the sections on the United States, which covered urban sprawl, gangs in cities, generic, look-alike architecture, etc. The rest of the book left much to be desired. The other students in my urban planning class agreed with my opinion of the book. Nobody seemed to get much use out of it except for the professor.

A different point of view
I bought this book because of the Pearl River Delta Study. For me who actually grew up in that part of the world I wanted to see how these "foreigners" look at my home town. It gave me new insights on how to look at cities... in a different way.. in different eyes. To me it is valuable at least in this sense. ... Read more

Book Description

Documents the revival of the traditional architectural pattern book as a means of implementing urban design. From the firm that produced The Urban Design Handbook comes a practical guide to developing and using pattern books—a tradition stretching back to Vitruvius and Palladio, and the source of many beautiful houses—to design neighborhoods today. It describes techniques and working methods for contemporary development and construction processes. 200 color illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description

Aldo Rossi, a practicing architect and leader of the Italian architectural movement La Tendenza, is also one of the most influential theorists writing today. The Architecture of the City is his major work of architectural and urban theory. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

a classic...
The practical work of Aldo Rossi is known to may, and has attracted a great number of followers for its common-sensical approach to architecture, at a time (the 60's) when Modern architecture ran out of steam and fell into a vacuous "play of forms" without sense nor content. Yet the theoretical foundation of the Rossian work remains fairly unknown, and it is distilled into 2 works: the paradigmatic "Architecture of the City", which was a serious attempt to readdress the role of architecture in the urban context [something ignored by most Modernists]; and the "Scientific Autobiography" which is a witty essay of a great architect's discovery and experience of architecture and life... This work,the "Architecture of the City", is definitely the more scholarly of the 2 books translated into English, and despite some of its contestable aspects [the romanticization of the Mietskaserne in Berlin for instance], it still presents itself as one of the key documents on urban thought in the twentieth century, along with Corbusier's "Urbanisme" and Koolhaas's "Delirious New York". Definitely recommended for students of Architecture and Urbanism...

incredible and different
i liked it and would recommend it to a friends family ... Read more