Town Spaces: Contemporary Interpretations in Traditional Urbanism

by Rob Krier

Softcover edition of the popular book on tradition-oriented town planning Neotraditional town planning responds to the crisis of the contemporary city with clear and well-organized spaces whose atmosphere is marked by public spirit, identification, and order. In four parts, this book articulates guidelines for the planning of new cities, the development of new urban neighborhoods, the restructuring of city centers, and the expansion of cities and urban neighborhoods. Drawing on firsthand experience and examples from the work of the firm Krier Kohl, it offers a detailed account of the path that leads from morphological conception through the various phases of the town-planning design process all the way to execution. A broad spectrum of architectural realizations by practitioners as varied as Michael Graves, Cesar Pelli, and Kohn Pedersen Fox demonstrates that neotraditional town planning can work together productively with architectural conceptions that are stylistically very different. "The accompanying essays round off a well-designed and well-printed volume." (DISP, ETH Zurich) Auf die Krise der heutigen Stadt antwortet der neotraditionelle Städtebau mit dem Entwurf überschaubarer Orte, deren Atmosphäre von Gemeinsinn, Identifikation und Ordnungsangeboten geprägt ist. In den vier Teilen des Buches werden Leitlinien für die städtebauliche Komposition von neu gegründeten Städten, den Neubau von Stadtquartieren, die Umstrukturierung von Stadtzentren sowie Erweiterungen von Städten und Stadtvierteln dargestellt. Aus erster Hand wird an Beispielen des Büros Krier Kohl detailliert der Weg vom morphologischen Konzept über die verschiedenen Phasen des städtebaulichen Entwurfs bis hin zur Ausführung gezeigt. In der architektonischen Umsetzung durch so unterschiedliche Architekten wie Michael Graves, Cesar Pelli und Kohn Pedersen Fox wird deutlich, dass der neotraditionelle Städtebau mit stilistisch sehr unterschiedlichen Architekturauffassungen fruchtbar zusammenwirken kann. "Die ergänzenden Essays runden einen gut gestalteten und gut gedruckten Band ab." (DISP, ETH Zürich)

Genres: Urbanism, Architecture

288 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published March 2, 2002

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a miss for several reasons that may be important to other readers. The premise is that historic principals of planning can be combined with contemporary settings and architecture. Most of the work is in the Netherlands and Germany and predates the New Urbanist movement. The projects covered in the book include plans (without scale or north arrow), text that does not also clearly connect the plan, and fluid graphics. These project overviews are one or two pages so there is no depth. If I was more familiar with the sites discussed, perhaps there would have been more to take away. Also, I am reading this as a landscape architect with experience planning, not as a planner. But, if the text is only accessible to planners who have traveled extensively in these countries, then maybe the audience is a bit too narrow.