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The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History
by
Spiro Kostof
Spanning the ages and the globe, Spiro Kostof explores the city as a "repository of cultural meaning" and an embodiment of the community it shelters. Widely used by both architects and students of architecture, The City Shaped won the AIA's prestigious book award in Architecture and Urbanism. With hundreds of photographs and drawings that illustrate Professor Kostof's inno
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Paperback, 352 pages
Published
May 4th 1993
by Bulfinch
(first published October 1st 1991)
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A Classic, I suppose, textbook for the history of Urban Design, I finally got around to dusting my 14 year old copy off to actually read (and now haltingly going through its sister edition, The City Assembled). This was definitely worth the effort. I constantly found myself scribbling urban diagrams, referencing particular city districts, page numbers, and jotting down solid quotes (the flâneur as the “Parisian compromise between laziness and activity”) that I’ll probably never look at again (in
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Its pretty damned impressive.
Instead of a typical comprehensive "history of the city," Kostof finds simple urban forms, such as "the grid" or "the boulevard," and traces their evolution and interpretation across hundreds of years. Not in any simple and easy to read chronological order, mind-you, but in a sort of inspired free association. In a few heavily illustrated pages he'll jump from the 8th century grid of Chinese capital Chang'an, and its monarchical and imperialistic tendencies, to the d ...more
As a history of urban forms, The City Shaped is full of a lot of interesting insights into how and why various planners (both public and private) have chosen certain layouts for cities, and how human patterns of usage both are and aren't shaped by the forms those planners have tried to choose for them. As an example, the grid pattern has been both praised and criticized for seemingly contradictory things - it supposedly either constrains human behavior and forces them into lifeless, regimented o
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Dec 08, 2015
Theo 'coco'
added it
good
Wow. If you are into the philosophy of urban space and/or planning, this is your shit. Wow. Kostof's appreciation for the allocation of space and the cultural repercussions therein are well worth wading through the reference-like presentation. A great take on urban anthropology.
Jul 24, 2007
Katherine
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in the built environment who hasn't read it
Shelves:
alltimefavorites
-Cities can grow organically or have organizational frameworks, usually a little of both.
-Social ideals are reflected in city planning.
-The grid contains as many deviations as regularities.
-If you understand changes to your environment, your surroundings make more sense.
-Social ideals are reflected in city planning.
-The grid contains as many deviations as regularities.
-If you understand changes to your environment, your surroundings make more sense.
reading for school. is nice base in city form.
read chapters 1-4(or 5)
i would be interested in checking out his "sequel," The City Assembled.
read chapters 1-4(or 5)
i would be interested in checking out his "sequel," The City Assembled.
borrowed for GDP. used briefly in Robson Square Studio.
worth more attention.
worth more attention.
Better illustrations than Mumford's book but not nearly as interesting to read
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Spiro Konstantine Kostof was a leading architectural historian, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His books continue to be widely read and some are routinely used in collegiate courses on architectural history.
In 1993, following his death, the Society of Architectural Historians established the "Spiro Kostof Award," to recognize books "in the spirit of Kostof's writings," pa ...more
More about Spiro Kostof...
In 1993, following his death, the Society of Architectural Historians established the "Spiro Kostof Award," to recognize books "in the spirit of Kostof's writings," pa ...more
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