The Charged Void: Urbanism

by Alison Smithson

The Charged Urbanism is the companion volume to The Charged Architecture; the two together comprise the complete works of Alison and Peter Smithson. For the designers, architecture and urbanism were buildings encapsulate urban ideas; urban systems are the means by which buildings function effectively. This second book collects both urban and architectural designs that have specific implications for city form into fourteen thematic the Team X Doorn Manifesto with its worked examples (Close Houses, Fold Houses, Terraced Crescent Houses); large-scale designs such as the Berlin Hauptstadt, Hamburg Steilshoop, and the Kuwait Urban Form Study; and built manifestations of urban ideas, notably the Economist Building of 1959-64. More than a collection of work, The Charged Urbanism represents a record of a focused thought process concerned with the qualities of urban life―a thoughtful and witty collection of observations, decipherings, and recommendations for understanding and improving the complex nature of the city.

Genres: Urbanism, Architecture

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2005