Design of Cities: Revised Edition

by Edmund N. Bacon

Book Overview

"The major contemporary work on urban design . . . Splendidly presented, filled with thoughtful and brilliant intuitive insights." --The New Republic

In a brilliant synthesis of words and pictures, Edmund N. Bacon relates historical examples to modern principles of urban planning. He vividly demonstrates how the work of great architects and planners of the past can influence subsequent development and be continued by later generations. By...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140042369
• ISBN13: 9780140042368
• Release Date: May 1976
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 2.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.1" x 10.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

the "A B C" of architecture

What is a space? How is made of? What is architecture? "Design of Cities" is an excellent book about perception, space and architecture.

Excellent Book

This book is an excellent introduction to the nature of urban design. It illustrates, in a concise and simple way, most of the major interventions in urban design beginning with early settlements, and finishing with modern cities. E.G the route to the Acropolis, the extension of the garden of Versailles, the reorientation of Georgian London. Every point is explained clearly using great plans, sections and photographs. The book features many references to the conceptual sketches of artist Paul Klee, which Bacon uses as comparisons for urban concepts. This book had a very positive effect on my understanding of architecture and urban design, and i would recommend it to anyone interested in the field. Bear in mind that it is not a standard history book. It is more light-hearted but that is why i enjoyed it so much.

Well designed book

A very informative and well designed book. I am currently a grad. student in architecture and the ideas presented in this book are very intriguing. It takes a very practical approach to urban design. If this book were coupled with Jane Jacob's The Death and Life of Great American Cities, one could get two different but relevant viewpoints regarding this very important debate, especially in the wake of Modernism.

The Quintessential book on Urban Design

This is my favorite book on urban design....how cities work, history of city design, and the key elements that make a city exciting, livable, and functional. A key insight of Mr. Bacon is the potential for the integration of various movement systems (train, car, pedestrian, etc.), and the vitality possible at the intersections and nodes of those systems.

The most important book for my town-planning practice

This book changed the way I looked into the conception of cities. The command of urban spaces, with beatiful examples through history, put me to new design of cities or to renew existing city centers including new perspectives for the citizen or people that just pass by.