The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History
By:
Spiro Kostof
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List Price: $50.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Description:
Cities are among the most enduring and remarkable of human artefacts. This study explains how and why cities took the shape they did. Professor Kostof focuses on a number of themes - organic patterns, the grid, the city as diagram, the grand manner and the skyline - and interprets the hidden order of urban patterns. Photographs, historical views and specially commissioned drawings depict a global mosaic of citybuilding: the shaping of medieval Siena; the creation of New Delhi as the crown of the Raj; the remodelling of Moscow as the self-styled capital of world socialism and the transformation of the skyline as religious and civic symbols yield to the towers of corporate business.
Publisher: Bulfinch Pr
Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Don't marry the person who thinks this book is of great value - This book is definitely not a casual read. Unfortunately, our professor chose this book for our History or Urban Planning course. Kostof wrote this book using big words, sometimes incorrectly, trying to prove his mastery and great command of the English language. Making it worst is his inference from numerous examples that baffles the beginning learner with no previous historical knowledge of urban forms. Thank you Kostof for having me take four hours to read something that should only take one and only understand 25% of what was read. Don't get me wrong, the thoughts and theories are profound thus the one star but the way it was communicated is absolutely horrible.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Add to "City" library - This field of study has been a lifelong interest. It is a worthy addition to a basic library, and I bought it as a Xmas gift to a young friend who shares my interest.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
A well-written foray into urban formation - Spiro Kostof's book is a fantastic and intelligent foray into urban form. What I found most appealing about the book was his approach in grappling with the WHY of things; in describing how certain urban forms have come to pass, he offers the requisite determined factors as any architect of the City ought to do and then manages the neat trick of gracefully acknowledging that these factors do not necessarily lead to a single outcome. But he is intrepid in his analysis and his approach. Beginners may find this book difficult because it does assume a basic understanding of cities and city planning; however, ambitious readers should give it a try. Mr. Kostof's cultural and historical references and his non-linear style are extremely appealing and intriguing, so much so that I will continue on to "The City Assembled", the companion piece, with great eagerness.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
excelent - este livro possui indicacoes excelentes para um pesquisador da forma urbana e da historia da cidade trilhar seus conhecimentos.
pesquisa seria e escrita magnifica.
boa escolha.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A classic - Well written, consistently interesting and structured around the challenges of topography and the urban form demands invoked by market needs, political architectures and cultural expectations through history, this beautifully illustrated book delivers the promise of its title and a lot more.
Because the author, Spiro Kostof, organized his book by patterns and topological relationships, the text compresses history and geographies into a comparative perspective. This presents a disadvantage to the reader if he/she is interested in only one time, one culture or even just one architectural movement.
On the other hand, the comparative perspective lends authority to Kostof's overarching theoretical approach of connecting urban forms to content and how those relationships persist across the spectrum of the human experience. A must for any architect's or planner's library.
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