Recombinant Urbanism

This book provides a simple but comprehensive framework for the emerging academic discipline of urban design, from its origins in Europe and America, to contemporary issues of imagery, finance and marketing in an age of globalisation There is currently no contemporary textbook for urban design that includes a general history and theory of the subject. Internationally, urban design is more and more becoming a core subject taught in architecture schools. The AIA (US) and the RIBA (UK) both require undergraduates and graduates to study the urban dimension of architectural design. On a wider scale, in Europe, the EU is developing a common architectural curriculum, which includes an urban component for under-graduates. The situation is similar in schools across Asia and Australia. Aimed at both students and teachers, this book provides a simple and accessible framework, from the origins of urban design and the main techniques developed to deal with the design of fragments of cities, to participatory planning processes, codes, imagery, finance and marketing. Finally, it proposes an innovative vision of contemporary practice based on the work of leading actors and projects in the field. This book is set to become the key textbook at undergraduate and graduate levels It is written in an accessible and direct tone, and highly illustrated with many colour and black and white diagrams It includes a general history and theory of urban design and provides an up-to-date account of contemporary urban conditions Praise for Recombinant Urbanism: "Documents a major intellectual advance…eagerly awaited by academics and practitioners all around the world… should become a standard text for schools of architecture and urbanism." Leon Van Schaik, Innovation Professor of Architecture, RMIT, Australia " …both unique and instrumentally positive. The book is the result of many years of research and writing, and is a small masterpiece in urban studies. It has already proved its worth in the teaching of urban studies, at Columbia, the AA, the Bartlett School, and Cooper Union, to mention only a few of the universities where Dr Shane has had a powerful influence...It is, indeed, one of the very best manuscripts I have read in the field in the last few years." Anthony Vidler, Professor and Dean, Irwin S Chanin School of Architecture, Cooper Union, New York, USA "I can say without hesitation that I fully endorse Grahame’s work…the issues it covers are highly topical and such a book would indeed be widely read by architecture students, urban designers and planners." Colin Fournier, Professor of Architecture &Urbanism, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, UK "Of great necessity for undergraduate and postgraduate students, scientists and professionals in urban planning and design [This] publication will certainly inspire work with city models in a wide range of practice." Henrik W Jensen, Associate Professor in Town Planning, Aarhus School of Architecture, The Netherlands "A very important book. Shane … has made legible and sensible the reams of recent urban discourse for a general college reader. Because of this labor-intensive effort, this book will be accessible by undergrad architecture programs as well as graduate seminars in urban design and planning. Additionally there is a big interest in UD and UP theory in ecology and social science now, and because of Grahame’s generous writing style the book will cross over to these other disciplines. … I can also speak to the international interest in this book; … again Shane has made important urban theories and thinking more widely available to an international student audience. … The legacy the book will have (will be in) convincing people that the design of cities matters, not in the overbearing and over-controlling sense of new urbanism, but in reinforcing the multiple possibilities of contemporary life. Brian McGrath, Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture, Columbia University, USA

In The Landscape Urbanism Reader Charles Waldheim—who is at the forefront of this new movement—has assembled the definitive collection of essays by many of the field's top practitioners. Fourteen essays written by leading figures across a range of disciplines and from around the world—including James Corner, Linda Pollak, Alan Berger, Pierre Bolanger, Julia Czerniak, and more—capture the origins, the contemporary milieu, and the aspirations of this relatively new field. The Landscape Urbanism Reader is an inspiring signal to the future of city making as well as an indispensable reference for students, teachers, architects, and urban planners.

Models are an essential component of the architect's design process. As tools of translation, models assist the exploration of the possible and illustrate the actual. While models have traditionally served as representational and structural studies, they are increasingly being used to suggest and solve new spatial and structural configurations. Models, the eleventh volume of the highly regarded journal 306090, explores the role of the architectural model today in relation to the idea, the diagram, the technique, and the material. Models includes contributions from engineers, scientists, poets, painters, photographers, historians, urbanists, and architects both young and experienced.

Whilst recognising that distinctly different traditions exist within the study and practice of urban design, this book advances an interdisciplinary and innovative approach, which is of direct importance to understanding the urban forms, conditions, practices and processes. It enthuses and inspires users who are grappling with urban design research problems, but who need inspiration to move from idea to methodological approach. Through the work of 32 urban researchers from the arts, sciences and social sciences, it demonstrates a wide range of problems and approaches and shows how the diverse range of complementary approaches can come together to provide a holistic understanding to the design of cities. While each of the contributors presents a particular approach to researching the field, sometimes focusing centrally on particular research methodologies, others cutting across methods, or focusing on theory, all include discussion of actual research projects to illustrate their application to 'real world' problems. This book will be valuable to everyone from the informed undergraduate student about to embark on their first dissertation, to PhD students and seasoned researchers immersed in methodological and conceptual complexity and wishing to compare available and appropriate methodological paths.

Urban design continues to grow as an increasingly important and expanding field of study, research and professional endeavour. Distinguished by its broad scope and comprehensiveness on the subject of urban design, this new collection combines selected essays from both practitioners and academia. Writing Urbanism is the ideal volume for both students, architects and urban designers.

Serenity is becoming alarmingly absent from our daily existence, especially within the urban context. Time is dense and space is tumultuous. The idea of the serene has gained currency in postmodern discussions, and when combined with urbanism conjures questions, even contradictions, as the two ideas seem improbable yet their correspondence seems so inherently desirable. Integrated, these two constructs present design challenges as they manifest in differing ways across the rural–urban transect. In response, Part I of this book establishes the theoretical framework through different contemporary perspectives, and concludes with a clear explanation of a theory of serene urbanism. The positive characteristics of urbanism and beneficial qualities of the serene are explored and related to sustainability, biophilia, placemaking and environmental design. Both principles and examples are presented as compelling portraits for the proposal of these new urban landscapes. Part II of the work is an in-depth exploration and analysis of serene urban ideas related to the intentional community being created outside of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. "Serenbe" is the name given to this place to commemorate the value and nuance between the serene and urban.

Foreword by Leon van SchaikIncomplete Urbanism is a dynamic, hybrid interactive concept, which destabilizes the current architectural and urban theories and practices. Its main characteristics are indeterminacy, inconsistency and changeability, which are particularly challenging in the context of the New World Order and the fast emerging global digital network. It is a concept that can be effectively applied to any sizeable section of existing cities without the need for major readjustments and can be implemented at different rates in response to specific local conditions. As for the word ?critical?, I use it deliberately in order to convey the essential need to think creatively and positively in a controversial contesting and social-orientated manner about what we do, as it will constructively influence the way we do things that impact our values and social environment.

Who shapes our cities? In an age of increasing urban pluralism, globalization and immigration, decreasing public budgets, and an ongoing crisis of authority among designers and planners, the urban environment is shaped by a number of non-traditional stakeholders. The book surveys the kaleidoscope of views on the agency of urbanism, providing an overview of the various scholarly debates and territories that pertain to bottom-up efforts such as everyday urbanism, DIY urbanism, guerilla urbanism, tactical urbanism, and lean urbanism. Uniquely, this books seeks connections between the various movements by curating a range of views on the past, present, and future of bottom-up urbanism. The contributors also connect the recent trend of bottom-up efforts in the West with urban informality in the Global South, drawing parallels and finding contrast between social and institutional structures across the globe. The book appeals to urbanists in the widest sense of the word: those who shape, study, and improve our urban spaces.