The Architecture Of Urbanity

From one of today’s most inspired architects and urban advocates, a manifesto for architecture as a force for addressing our biggest social challenges The world is facing unprecedented challenges, from climate change and population growth, to political division and technological dislocation, to declining mental health and fraying cultural fabric. With most of the planet’s population now living in urban environments, cities are the spaces where we have the greatest potential to confront and address these problems. In this visionary book, Vishaan Chakrabarti argues for an “architecture of urbanity,” showing how the design of our communities can create a more equitable, sustainable, and joyous future for us all. Taking readers from the great cities of antiquity to the worldwide exurban sprawl of our postindustrial age, Chakrabarti examines architecture’s relationship to history’s greatest social, technological, and environmental dilemmas. He then presents a rich selection of work by a global array of practicing architects, demonstrating how innovative design can dramatically improve life in big cities and small settlements around the world, from campuses and refugee camps to mega-cities like São Paulo, Lima, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. Lavishly illustrated with a wealth of original graphics, data visualizations, photographs, and drawings, The Architecture of Urbanity eloquently explains why cities are the last, best hope for humanity, and why designers must, alongside political, business, community, and cultural leaders, steward the healing of our planet.

This book aims to provide a cross-sectorial assessment in a multidisciplinary and trans-cultural context onto the innovations in urban and architectural approaches in designing next human environments within the Albanian context. The continuous concentration of the world population in the urban areas and their consequent densification require even more quantity of quality spaces and places, integrated resources and energies, alternative modalities of mobility and transports, demand of social inclusion and need for a circular economy. These have become the major challenges for this 21st Century and some of the greatest problems facing humanity in most of current vision for the future. The main objective is to feed a debate about the emerging trans-cultural (and trans-national) approaches in the whole designing field, from Albanian context and its current good practices, attempts and faults, both formal and informal. Thus, the Albanian experience may represent an opportunity through which we all may reflect about how designing is evolving in the Mediterranean arena of “praxis and experiments” aimed to a better quality of life at the human scale and in expanding the concepts of “place and space” such as it has improved by the effects in designing innovations. This book represents a useful read of theories, experiences and case studies, which can help in enlarging reflection on how the designing practice is evolving in the arena of forthcoming development strategies and tactics, all addressed to improve the quality of life, places and spaces. Additionally, it provides a range of architecture and urban design rationales and strategies for reinforcing identities and creating memorable places within the quality of contemporary architecture and urbanism. It addresses the unique needs of architects and planners to deal with topics that cut across social, economic and environmental issues and shows readers how to explore methods, theoretical frameworks and techniques to address the complex needs of architecture, urban and cultural development.

Existing histories of modern architecturetypically give their highest praise to private houses and their most severecondemnation to architect-authored urban plans, often neglecting the builtworks that are no smaller than a single building and possibly as large as anurban block, the middle or institutional scale, where culturally significanturban transformation actually takes place. Urban architecture is a timely topic as todaycities worldwide are suffering accelerated urbanisation, which is oftendehumanising and destructive, especially to the unbuilt environment, airs,waters and soils. The middle or institutional scale is shown to activate andactualise latent potentials for cultural experience and environmentalintelligence, allowing the city to surprise itself and delight in itsdiscoveries. In ProjectingUrbanity, David Leatherbarrow, via author-architect texts by his formerdoctorate students, lays out the basis for a revision of modern architecture'scontribution to cities and their culture. Presenting a series of textsfeaturing buildings or their parts of various scales - from the constructiondetail, to the room or garden, to ensembles within a neighborhood - thecontributors introduce concepts for contemporary and future urbanarchitecture, together with richly indicative examples from the past severaldecades. While architecture cannot "solve" today'surban problems, it certainly has a role to play in their productivetransformation, articulating opportunities for life and culture that are morehumane, less wasteful, and more beautiful.

The spread of newly 'invented' places, such as theme parks, shopping malls and revamped historic areas, necessitates a redefinition of the concept of 'place' from an architectural perspective. In this interdisciplinary work, these invented places are categorized according to the different phenomenological experiences they are able to provide. The book explores how such 'cloning spaces' use placemaking and placemarketing in attempt to replicate the characteristics found in urban spaces traditionally viewed as successful, and how these places can affect society's environmental perception. A range of international empirical studies illustrates how such invented places can be perceived as legitimate urban spaces, and contribute towards the quality of life in today's cities.

Cross-cultural relations are spatial relations. Enclave to Urbanity is the first book in English that examines how the architecture and the urban landscape of Guangzhou framed the relations between the Western mercantile and missionary communities and the city’s predominantly Chinese population. The book takes readers through three phases: the Thirteen Factories era from the eighteenth century to the 1850s; the Shamian enclave up to the early twentieth century; and the adoption of Western building techniques throughout the city as its architecture modernized in the early Republic. The discussion of architecture goes beyond stylistic trends to embrace the history of shared and disputed spaces, using a broadly chronological approach that combines social history with architectural and spatial analysis. With nearly a hundred carefully chosen images, this book illustrates how the foreign architectural footprints of the past form the modern Guangzhou. “Enclave to Urbanity is a study of one of China’s most important cities at the most exciting time in its history. This carefully researched work not only offers an in-depth look at Canton (Guangzhou), it narrates history through anecdotes and personalities associated with the city. The superior illustrations combined with the excellent choice of quotes will be appreciated by audiences who are familiar with the city as well as those who have never been there.” —Nancy S. Steinhardt, Professor of East Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art, University of Pennsylvania “Cross-cultural exchanges draw a lot of attention across various disciplines today. Painting a fascinating picture of the multiple ways in which Western traders and their families transformed Guangzhou/Canton together with local Chinese people from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century, Farris provides a finely illustrated, close reading of life and building in a global context.” —Carola Hein, Professor and Head of History of Architecture and Urban Planning, Delft University of Technology

Open City: Existential Urbanity is an anthology of architecture created and advocated by the students of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union in studios conducted by the Architect Diane Lewis, Professor, with a team of notable colleagues from 2001-2014. The drawings and models are accompanied by project descriptions that regard any contemporary intervention into the city as an integral work of architecture, art, and sustainable infrastructure. This volume extends the legacy of Cooper Union's seminal Education of an Architect: A Point of View (1972) and Education of an Architect (1988). This compendium of 14 years of architectural education is published in part with the gift of the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation's Young Kiesler Award. This grant is in the recognition of a philosophical bond between the work of Frederick Kiesler and the spirit of these studio endeavors. Essays by Anthony Vidler, Peter Schubert, Francois de Menil, Karen Wong, Monika Pessler, Mary Stieber, David Gersten, Calvin Tsao, Samuel Anderson, Catherine Ann Somerville Venart, Roger Duffy, Mack Scogin, Merrill Elam, Daniel Sherer, David Turnbull, Guido Zuliani, Francesco Pellizzi, Diane Lewis and others.

This book is a useful reference in the field of urbanism. It explains how the contemporary city and landscape have been shaped by certain twentieth century visions that have carried over into the twenty-first century. Aimed at both students and professionals, this collection of essays on diverse subjects and cases does not attempt to establish universal interpretations; it rather highlights some outstanding episodes that help us understand why the planning culture has given way to other forms of urbanism, from urban design to strategic urbanism or landscape urbanism. Compared with global interpretations of urbanism based on socioeconomic history or architectural historiography, Urban Visions. From Planning Culture to Landscape Urbanism, aims to present the discipline couched in international contemporary debate and adopt a historic and comparative perspective. The book’s contents pertain equally to other related disciplines, such as architecture, urban history, urban design, landscape architecture and geography. Foreword by Rafael Moneo.

This volume investigates urbanity as a cultural form. The essays illustrate the real and imaginary ways that we interact with the cities through the portal of the arts.