The Art of Building Cities: City Building According to Its Artistic Fundamentals

by Camillo Sitte, Charles T. Stewart

This classic is organized as follows:

I. The Relationship Between Buildings, Monuments, and Public Squares
II. Open Centers of Public Places
III. The Enclosed Character of the Public Square
IV. The Form and Expanse of Public Squares
V. The Irregularity of Ancient Public Squares
VI. Groups of Public Squares
VII. Arrangement of Public Squares in Northern Europe
VIII. The Artless and Prosaic Character of Modern City Planning
IX. Modern Systems
X. Modern Limitations on Art in City Planning
XI. Improved Modern Systems
XII. Artistic Principles in City Planning— An Illustration
XIII. Conclusion

Genres: Architecture, Urbanism, Nonfiction, Urban Planning, History, Cities, Art

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1889

Reviews

[Ana Ardeleanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

De ce ne plac orașele medievale atât de mult?
De ce căutăm străzile înguste, neregulate, piețele închise? (De ce vrea toată lumea să meargă la Sibiu, la Brașov?)

Importantă pentru oricine e interesat de oraș..o gură de aer proaspăt pentru oricine s-a săturat să trăiască într-un oraș făcut pentru și despre mașini. Deși a fost publicată la 1889, oferă explicații relevante până în zilele noastre și, mai mult decât atât, oferă idei de gândire pentru viitoarele proiecte.
Poate fi radicală în unele momente și, desigur, nu reprezintă adevărul absolut, dar consider că e un pion important în cunoștințele oricărei persoane pasionată de arhitectură și de urbanism.

"...dar, ca regula generala, cu cat spatiul este mai mare, cu atat efectul produs este mai slab, pentru ca edificiile si monumentele nu se mai pot impune."

(despre piete vechi neregulate): "Oricine stie, din proprie experienta, ca aceste neregularitati nu au deloc un efect neplacut ci, dimpotriva, ele accentueaza impresia de natural, stimuland interesul nostru si, mai ales, intaresc pitorescul tabloului."

"A cauta parcele ortogonale pentru pretinse avantaje "arhitectonice" este o grava eroare si aceasta solutie nu va fi adoptata decat de cei care nu se pricep deloc la conceperea planurilor."

[Mad Hab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont know why would anyone in the modern world need to read this book.

[Zack Lofton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The language is dated but the content is excellent.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Malo arhaicen jezik a vseeno zanimivo

[Tanish Jena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kinda trashes all modern city planning.

[Ciuras Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book if you don't know anything about urbanism and want to start. It is entry level so besides being a must read for any architecture student it can be a fun short and easy to read book for the average layman.
Unfortunately I could not read chapters IV and V because I don't have them. I did not check the PDF of the book I got from my teachers before printing it.
So yeah if you have any position of power in the domain of city building don't act before you read this.

[Ela Głogowska · Rating 4 out of 5]

His cynical commentary on the death of public space (frankly long before it was announced in 1970s) is witty, but not hopeless - he still show a great care for the cities and its open spaces, still fights for their quality. Bless him, honestly.

Spoiler alert: “The block” is the culprit of all evil in the modern city planning :D

[Elia Ch R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, a ver, hay cosas que estoy de acuerdo y otras que no, a veces justifica muy bien sus opiniones y otras simplemente expresa lo que siente.

Es uno de esos libros que tiene un siglo pero podría estar escrito ayer y también es bastante ameno.

Aunque creo que el nombre engaña, porque más que de las ciudades, habla de plazas, muchas plazas.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maestro planner

[Ginmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I drew a lot of inspiration and nostalgia for the beauty of old architecture from this. Can't believe how long ago it was written.

[Margot Tustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may have had an orgasm reading this

[Jacob Lipeles · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Vanlilith]

-

[Xavier Boissarie]

Très bon livre

[Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bon guide dont les idées ont réussi à passer le test du passage des années.