With more than 200 illustrations, all prepared by the author, along with analysis and statistics, Great Streets offers a wealth of information on street dimensions, plans, sections, and patterns of use, all systematically compared. It also reveals Jacobs's eye for the telling human and social details that bring streets and communities to life.An extensive introduction discusses the importance of streets in creating communities and criteria for identifying the best streets. The essays that follow examine 15 particularly fine streets, ranging from medieval streets in Rome and Copenhagen to Venice's Grand Canal, from Parisian boulevards to tree-lined residential streets in American cities. Jacobs also looks at several streets that were once very fine but are less successful today, such as Market Street in San Francisco, identifying the factors that figure in their decline.To broaden his coverage, Jacobs adds briefer treatments of more than 30 other streets arranged by street type, including streets from Australia, Japan, and classical antiquity in addition to European and North American examples. For each of these streets he has prepared plans, sections, and maps, all drawn at the same scales to facilitate comparisons, along with perspective views and drawings of significant design details.Another remarkable feature of this book is a set of 50 one square-mile maps, each reproduced at the same scale, of the street plans of representative cities around the world. These reveal much about the texture of the cities' street patterns and hence of their urban life. Jacobs's analysis of the maps adds much original data derived from them, including changes of street patterns over time.Jacobs concludes by summarizing the practical design qualities and strategies that have contributed most to the making of great streets.

    The Geography of Nowhere tallies up the huge economic, social, and spiritual costs that America is paying for its car-crazed lifestyle. It is also a wake-up call for citizens to reinvent the places where we live and work, to build communities that are once again worthy of our affection. Kunstler proposes that by reviving civic art and civic life, we will rediscover public virtue and a new vision of the common good. "The future will require us to build better places," Kunstler says, "or the future will belong to other people in other societies."The Geography of Nowhere has become a touchstone work in the two decades since its initial publication, its incisive commentary giving language to the feeling of millions of Americans that our nation's suburban environments were ceasing to be credible human habitats. Since that time, the work has inspired city planners, architects, legislators, designers and citizens everywhere. In this special 20th Anniversary edition, dozens of authors and experts in various fields share their perspective on James Howard Kunstler's brave and seminal work.

    As the world’s population has grown, our cities have burgeoned, and their impact on the environment worsened. Meanwhile, from the isolated, gated communities within Houston and Los Angeles, to the millions of residents of Bombay living in squalor, the city has failed to serve its ideal function—as the cradle of civilization, the engine of culture, and the inspiration for community and citizenship. In Cities for a Small Planet, Sir Richard Rogers, one of the world’s leading architects and the designer of the Pompidou Center in Paris, demonstrates how future cities could provide the springboard for restoring humanity’s harmony with its environment.Rogers outlines the disastrous impact cities have had and will continue to have on our world, from waste-saturated Tokyo Bay, to the massive plumes of pollution caused by London’s traffic, to the depleted water resources of Mexico City. He traces these problems to the underlying social and cultural values that create them—unchecked commercial zeal, selfish individualism, and a lack of community. Bringing to bear concepts such as that of “open-minded” space—places within cities that serve multiple functions such as markets, parks, and sidewalk cafes—he explains how urban design can be used to give citizens a sense of shared experience. The city built with comfortable and safe public space can bring diverse groups together and breed a sense of tolerance, awareness, identity, and mutual respect. He calls for a new theoretical shift in the way cities do business and interact with the environment, arguing that many products come to market and are sold without figuring their social or environmental cost.Rogers goes on to describe the city of the future: one that is sustainable within its own environment; that can make a positive impact on its surroundings; that encourages communication among its citizens; that is compact and focused around neighborhoods; and that is beautiful, a city whose buildings and spaces spark the creative potential of its inhabitants.As our population grows larger, our planet grows smaller. Cities for a Small Planet is a passionate and eloquent blueprint for the cities we must create in response, cities that provide for the needs of both their residents and the earth on which they live.

    It also contains a color plate of the City Hall that was omitted from the 1909 edition. A new introduction by Kristen Schaffer details those parts of Burnham's draft that were excluded from the published book. The most visible document of the City Beautiful movement, this reprint still holds valuable lessons for today's architects and planners.Princeton Architectural Press's Reprint Series was established in 1981 to make rare volumes on architecture available to a wider audience. The books' beautiful reproductions and finest quality printing and binding match those of the originals, while their 9-by-12-inch format makes them accessible and affordable. New introductions bring a modern voice to these classic texts, updating them to become invaluable contemporary resources. These critically acclaimed books are an essential addition to any library.

    Whyte, Jane Jacobs, Francis Bello, Seymour Freedgood, and Daniel Seligman address the problems of urban decline and suburban sprawl, transportation, city politics, open space, and the character and fabric of cities. A new foreword by Sam Bass Warner, Jr., and preface by Whyte demonstrate the relevance of The Exploding Metropolis to urban issues in the 90s.

    The sixth edition brings students up-to-date with new coverage of computer modeling, the new exurbia and megalopolis, seismic issues, hazardous waste, development vs. no growth, environmental concerns, and participatory planning.

    In this intriguing portrait of the city in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, he assembled almost 150 archival photographs of buildings that had been destroyed or significantly defaced in the intervening years, and discussed them in engrossing detail.

    For junior architects and kids curious about house design, Glenn's text should become a standard resource. . . " -- Booklist ." . . will prove useful for tomorrow's architects and builders (or even for historically minded adult home buyers of today). Under Every Roof introduces children to serious study and concern about the preservation of America's built environment. Most readers, even grown-ups, will be able to recognize building types found in their own hometown and take pride in mastering the argot of architectural description and criticism. With some effort, such crusty categorical terms as 'Jefferson Classicism (or Roman Revival)' and 'Richardsonian Romanesque (or Vernacular)' can be tamed and worked into your everyday vocabulary. Joe Stites's drawings keep up the pace in this lively handbook." -- The Washington Post." . . an in-depth, lively introduction to American architecture. . . will motivate readers to become 'house watchers.' Joe Stites's cartoonish illustrations add humor to the text and encourage even the most artistically shy to try recording architectural sightings." -- The Times-Picayune, New Orleans"Patricia Brown Glenn has coupled the basic concept of a style guide with an extended discussion of the factors which affect the appearance of a building, using Joe Stites's cleverly executed drawings. Aiming to reach children still in elementary school, Glenn does not, however, 'talk down' to her readers. Thus, she provides a text that speaks to both the child and the parent, while the expressive illustrations should readily engage the curiosity of children and charm those adults who elect to investigate this 'book for kids.'" -- Historic Kansas City Foundation GazetteWhy do houses look the way they do? Have you ever wondered why A-frames are popular in snowy regions? Or why wraparound porches and large windows are prevalent in warm climates? Why do some houses hug the landscape while others are tall and narrow with very steep roofs?Can you imagine a house that looks like an elephant or a shoe? Can you send away for a house from a mail-order catalog? What does a flounder house look like?What about the house you live in? Why was it built that way? What style is it? In Under Every Roof, Patricia Brown Glenn answers all of these questions and many, many more. She makes explaining architectural history, its styles and terms, informative for both you and your child. Over 170 engaging and often hilarious watercolor illustrations vividly bring everything to life.First, you'll explore the many influences on house design--from location, climate, and available materials to personal taste, economics, and efficient energy use. You'll find out how the adobe block house, first built in the 1500s, helped people keep cool in the hot, dry, climates of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Did you know that people have even built houses out of sod? They did--in central Nebraska around one hundred and fifty years ago. You'll see houses constructed of everything from California redwood to New England shake shingles to Pennsylvania fieldstone to stainless steel and even glass.Under Every Roof also gives you a style guide to help you and your child easily identify different types of houses. Starting with Colonial Style (1600-1820), this captivating guide takes you through Revival Styles (1820-1920) to the Modernistic Style of the early to mid-twentieth century. Colorful illustrations point out different elements of a house, including roof types and materials, floor plan shapes, brick patterns, wall sidings, window types, porches, and much more.This delightful resource features over 60 houses from 30 states and the District of Columbia that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You'll get a list of all of the houses used as examples in the book so that you can visit any of your favorites that are open to the public. A special Field Guide even allows your child to look at the houses in your neighborhood and determine their style.Under Every Roof is sure to create a lifelong appreciation of the fascinating world of architecture for your child.