Favorite books from College of Architecture and Planning faculty and staff.
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Lohren Deeg's Favorite Books
Streetfight by
An empowering road map for rethinking, reinvigorating, and redesigning our cities, from a pioneer in the movement for safer, more livable streets As New York City's transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan managed the seemingly impossible and transformed the streets of one of the world's greatest, toughest cities into dynamic spaces safe for pedestrians and bikers. Her approach was dramatic and effective: Simply painting a part of the street to make it into a plaza or bus lane not only made the street safer, but it also lessened congestion and increased foot traffic, which improved the bottom line of businesses. Real-life experience confirmed that if you know how to read the street, you can make it function better by not totally reconstructing it but by reallocating the space that's already there. Breaking the street into its component parts, Streetfight demonstrates, with step-by-step visuals, how to rewrite the underlying "source code" of a street, with pointers on how to add protected bike paths, improve crosswalk space, and provide visual cues to reduce speeding. Achieving such a radical overhaul wasn't easy, and Streetfight pulls back the curtain on the battles Sadik-Khan won to make her approach work. She includes examples of how this new way to read the streets has already made its way around the world, from pocket parks in Mexico City and Los Angeles to more pedestrian-friendly streets in Auckland and Buenos Aires, and innovative bike-lane designs and plazas in Austin, Indianapolis, and San Francisco. Many are inspired by the changes taking place in New York City and are based on the same techniques. Streetfight deconstructs, reassembles, and reinvents the street, inviting readers to see it in ways they never imagined.
Call Number: HE310.N5 S23 2016ISBN: 9780525429845Publication Date: 2016-03-08
City Comforts by
Explains the few simple rules and shows the many small details which make urban life pleasant: places where people can meet, methods to "tame" cars and to make buildings good neighbors, art that infuses personality into locations and makes them into places. Many of these small details of the cityscape are so obvious as to be invisible to the casual observer.
Call Number: NA9030 .S88 2003ISBN: 0964268019Publication Date: 2003-10-01
Variations on a Theme Park by
America's cities are being rapidly transformed by a sinister and homogenous design. A new Kind of urbanism--manipulative, dispersed, and hostile to traditional public space--is emerging both at the heart and at the edge of town in megamalls, corporate enclaves, gentrified zones, and psuedo-historic marketplaces. If anything can be described as a paradigm for these places, it's the theme park, an apparently benign environment in which all is structured to achieve maximum control and in whichthe idea of authentic interaction among citizens has been thoroughly purged. In this bold collection, eight of our leading urbanists and architectural critics explore the emblematic sites of this new cityscape--from Silicon Valley to Epcot Center, South Street Seaport to downtown Los Angeles--and reveal their disturbing implications for American public life.
Call Number: HT123 .V37 1992ISBN: 0374523142Publication Date: 1992-03-01
Suburban Nation by
For a decade, Suburban Nation has given voice to a growing movement in North America to put an end to suburban sprawl and replace the last century's automobile-based settlement patterns with a return to more traditional planning. Founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are at the forefront of the movement, and even their critics, such as Fred Barnes in The Weekly Standard, recognized that "Suburban Nation is likely to become this movement's bible." A lively lament about the failures of postwar planning, this is also that rare book that offers solutions: "an essential handbook" (San Francisco Chronicle). This tenth anniversary edition includes a new preface by the authors.
Call Number: HT384.U5 D83 2010ISBN: 9780865477506Publication Date: 2010-09-14
Invisible Cities by
"Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else." -- from Invisible Cities In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo -- Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts his host with stories of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. As Marco Polo unspools his tales, the emperor detects these fantastic places are more than they appear. "Invisible Cities changed the way we read and what is possible in the balance between poetry and prose . . . The book I would choose as pillow and plate, alone on a desert island." -- Jeanette Winterson
Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780544133204Publication Date: 2013-08-12
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by
A revised edition of the classic drawing book that has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the United States alone. Translated into more than seventeen languages, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the world's most widely used drawing instruction book. Whether you are drawing as a professional artist, as an artist in training, or as a hobby, this book will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception, as well as foster a new appreciation of the world around you. This revised/updated fourth edition includes: a new preface and introduction; crucial updates based on recent research on the brain's plasticity and the enormous value of learning new skills/ utilizing the right hemisphere of the brain; new focus on how the ability to draw on the strengths of the right hemisphere can serve as an antidote to the increasing left-brain emphasis in American life-the worship of all that is linear, analytic, digital, etc.; an informative section that addresses recent research linking early childhood "scribbling" to later language development and the importance of parental encouragement of this activity; and new reproductions of master drawings throughout A life-changing book, this fully revised and updated edition of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is destined to inspire generations of readers to come.
Call Number: NC730 .E34 2012ISBN: 9781585429196Publication Date: 2012-04-26
Close-Up by
"Grady Clay looks hard at the landscape, finding out who built what and why, noticing who participates in a city's success and who gets left in a 'sink,' or depressed (often literally) area. Clay doesn't stay in the city; he looks at industrial towns, truck stops, suburbs?nearly anywhere people live or work. His style is witty and readable, and the book is crammed with illustrations that clarify his points. If I had to pick up one book to guide my observations of the American scene, this would be it."?Sonia Simone, Whole Earth Review "The emphasis on the informal aspects of city-shaping?topographical, historical, economic and social?does much to counteract the formalist approach to American urban design. Close-Up...should be required reading for anyone wishing to understand Americans and their cities."?Roger Cunliffe, Architectural Review "Close-Up is a provocative and stimulating book."?Thomas J. Schlereth, Winterthur Portfolio "Within this coherent string of essays, the urban dweller or observer, as well as the student, will find refreshing strategies for viewing the environmental 'situations' interacting to form a landscape."?Dallas Morning News "Clay's Close-Up, first published in 1973, is still a key book for looking at the real American city. Too many urban books and guidebooks concentrate on the good parts of the city....Clay looks at all parts of the city, the suburbs, and the places between cities, and develops new terms to describe parts of the built environment?fronts, strips, beats, stacks, sinks, and turf. No one who wants to understand American cities or to describe them, should fail to know this book. The illustrations are of special interest to the guidebook writer."?American Urban Guidenotes
Call Number: HT153 .C585 1980ISBN: 0226109453Publication Date: 1980-04-15
The Urban Design Handbook by
The go-to guide for the practice of sustainable urbanism, updated to include new case studies and analytic tools. This invaluable guide, brought up to date in its revised edition, offers an introductory course in urbanism and provides an operations manual for architects, planners, developers, and public officials. Based on Urban Design Associates' in-house training procedures, this unique handbook details the techniques and working methods of a major urban design and architecture firm. Covering the process from basic principles to developed designs, the book outlines the range of project types and services that urban designers can offer and sets out general operating guidelines and procedures for: developing master plans, including techniques for engaging citizens in the design process and technical analysis to evaluate the physical form of regions, cities, and neighborhoods; preparing implementation tools such as pattern books, form-based codes, and design guidelines to guide the development of projects throughout the life of construction; implementing contextual architectural design, including methods of designing culturally and environmentally appropriate buildings that reinforce the urban design intent within specific areas of the master plan. 400 color illustrations
Call Number: NA9105 .U73 2013ISBN: 9780393733686Publication Date: 2013-09-30
Design Drawing 2000 by
An essential reference that clarifies the role of drawing in the design process. A text that has been tested in architectural studio courses over twenty-five years and two editions, Design Drawing establishes the theoretical basis for differentiating design drawing from art or drafting in its uses, techniques, and attitudes. It relates drawing to experience, context, and the design process rather than media and form. A tool for students and professionals, the book emphasizes the step-by-step depiction of reality through perspective, shadow-casting, and entourage.
Call Number: NA2705 .L62 2001ISBN: 9780393730401Publication Date: 2001-02-17
Google SketchUp for Site Design by
Google SketchUp for Site Design illustrates a holistic approach to SketchUp: how it works and more importantly, what to do with it. Filled with tutorials from front to back, the book focuses on the start and completion of projects that include rich detail and expression. Each part and chapter of the book builds on the previous chapters and tutorial. You will learn how to approach modeling site plans, buildings and site elements: from modeling each of these exterior environment elements to piecing them together to generate a singular and expressive model. The book culminates with tutorials demonstrating effective and simple ways to include grades and terrain using the Sandbox tools and how best to integrate the entire approach with AutoCAD and SketchUp. Also included are links to supplemental on-line resources such as YouTube tutorials and free tutorial and example models from 3D Warehouse. The book is useful for all SketchUp proficiency levels including beginners, hobbyists, and professionals.
Call Number: SB475.9.D37 T35 2009ISBN: 9780470345252Publication Date: 2009-08-24
Drawing Shortcuts by
The updated edition of a contemporary approach to mergingtraditional hand drawing methods with 2-dimensional and3-dimensional digital visualization tools. Jim Leggitt's Drawing Shortcuts shows how communicatingwith hand drawings combined with digital technology can beingeniously simple, and this new edition makes an already populartechnique even better. Completely expanded with new chapters and awealth of supporting images, this Second Edition presents practicaltechniques for improving drawing efficiency and effectiveness bycombining traditional hand drawing methods with the latest digitaltechnology, including 3-D modeling with SketchUp. This book'sstep-by-step approach will sharpen and streamline your techniqueswhether you draw for pleasure, school or your designprofession. Easy-to-follow instructions cover every aspect from the basicsof drawing'such as composition, color, shading, hatching, andperspective'up to the most current technologies Incorporates Google SketchUp, Google Earth, computer generatedrenderings, digital scanners and printers Features new visuals from accomplished drawing experts Special new ?Gallery? section highlights the creative processwith step-by-step examples of drawings Complete coverage of the ?Overlay and Trace Method,? ?SimpleComposite Method,? ?Advanced Composite Method,? and ?Digital HybridDrawings? New matrices show alternative drawing techniques for specificvisual effects such as Linework and Shading, Selecting the RightViews, Perspectives and Paraline Drawings, Drawing Detail, CameraLenses, and Drawing Tools Generously enriched with detailed process drawings, examples, andmore than 500 full-color images, Drawing Shortcuts, SecondEdition will have you creating top-quality drawings faster andmore effectively.
Call Number: NC730 .L44 2010ISBN: 9780470435489Publication Date: 2009-12-30
Great Streets by
Which are the world's best streets, and what are the physical, designable characteristics that make them great? To answer these questions, Allan Jacobs has surveyed street users and design professionals and has studied a wide array of street types and urban spaces around the world. With more than 200 illustrations, all prepared by the author, along with analysis and statistics, Great Streets offers information on street dimensions, plans, sections, and patterns of use, all systematically compared. It also reveals Jacob's eye for the telling human and social details that bring streets and communities to life.
Call Number: NA9053.S7 J23 1993ISBN: 0262100487Publication Date: 1993-10-13
Craig Farnsworth's Favorite Book
A Pattern Language by
"Brilliant....Here's how to design or redesign any space you're living or working in--from metropolis to room. Consider what you want to happen in the space, and then page through this book. Its radically conservative observations will spark, enhance, organize your best ideas, and a wondroushome, workplace, town will result"--San Francisco Chronicle. This classic handbook presents a language which ordinary people can use to express themselves in their own communities or homes, and to better communicate with each other.
Call Number: HT166 .A6147; also available as an eBookISBN: 0195019199Publication Date: 1977-08-25
Cynthia Hunter's Favorite Book
The Devil in the White City by
In The Devil in the White City, the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before. Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America's rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his "World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds--a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson's gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both. To find out more about this book, go to http://www.DevilInTheWhiteCity.com.
Call Number: Bracken Library HV6248.M8 L37 2003ISBN: 0609608444Publication Date: 2003-02-11
