Town Spaces - Contemporary Interpretations in Traditional Urbanism (hardcover)

In response to the sense of crisis in many of today s towns the proponents of new traditionalism offer a form of urban planning which looks back to more traditional styles whilst firmly integrating the requirements of modern life. Their designs are easily accessible and characterized by a sense of public spirit, identification and order. The contributions in this book reveal how these principles relate to the specific European city in the 20th century as well as to the writings of theoreticians from Camillo Sitte up to Rem Koolhaas. The authors reveal why the provocatively conservative approach has enjoyed so much success in the avant-garde Netherlands. They draw comparisons with the New Urbanism found in the USA and above all develop a systematic approach to town planning. New towns, the rebuilding of town areas, the restructuring of city centres and the extension of towns and urban areas are investigated in the chapters on urban composition. All examples in this part are from the Krier Kohl office and demonstrate in details the design process up to the realized buildings in particular the architectural realization by a wide range of architects, including Michael Graves, Cesar Pelli and others, shows that new traditionalism in urban planning can fruitfully work together with a wide range of architectural approaches.