Reading02_Lynch_The Image of The City PDF

One might infer from this that the images of greatest value are those which most closely approach a strong total field: dense, rigid, and vivid; which make use of all element types and form characteristics without narrow concentration; and which can be put together either...

One might infer from this that the images of greatest value are those which most closely approach a strong total field: dense, rigid, and vivid; which make use of all element types and form characteristics without narrow concentration; and which can be put together either hierarchically or continuously, as occasion demands. We may find, of course, that such an image is rare or impossible, that there are strong individual or cultural types which cannot transcend their basic abilities. In this case, an environment should be geared to the appropriate cultural type, or shaped in many ways so as to satisfy the varying demands of the individuals who inhabit it. IV. We are continuously engaged in the attempt to organize our surroundings, to structure and identify them. Various environ- ments are more or less amenable to such treatment. When reshaping cities it should be possible to give them a form which facilitates these organizing efforts rather than frustrates them. CITY FORM We have the opportunity of forming out new city world into an imageable landscape: visible, coherent, and clear. It will require a new attitude on the part of the city dweller, and a physical reshaping of his domain into forms which entrance the eye, which organize themselves from level to level in time and space, which can stand as symbols for urban life. The present study yields some clues in this respect. Most objects which we are accustomed to call beautiful, such as a painting or a tree, are single-purpose things, in which, through long development or the impress of one will, there is an intimate, visible linkage from fine detail to total structure. A city is a multi-purpose, shifting organization, a tent for many functions, raised by many hands and with relative speed. Com- plete specialization, final meshing, is improbable and undesir- able. The form must be somewhat noncommittal, plastic to the purposes and perceptions of its citizens. Yet there are fundamental functions of which the city forms may be expressive: circulation, major land-uses, key focal points. 90 91  The common hopes and pleasures, the sense of community may be made flesh. Above all, if the environment is visibly organ- ized and sharply identified, then the citizen can inform it with his own meanings and connections. Then it will become a true place, remarkable and unmistakable. To take a single example, Florence is a city of powerful character which has deep hold on the affection of many people. Although many foreigners will at first react to it as cold or for- bidding, yet they cannot deny its special intensity. To live in this environment, whatever the economic or social problems encountered, seems to add an extra depth to experience, whether of delight or of melancholy or of belonging. The city of course has an economic, cultural, and political history of staggering proportions, and the visual evidence of this Figure 34 past accounts for much of the strong Florentine character. But it is also a highly visible city. It lies in a bowl of hills along the Arno River, so that the hills and the city are almost always inter- visible. On the south, the open country penetrates almost to the heart of the city, setting up a clear contrast, and from one of the last steep hills a terrace gives an "overhead" view of the urban core. On the north, small distinct settlements, such as Fiesole and Settignano, are perched visibly on characteristic hills. From the precise symbolic and transportation center of the city rises FIG. 34. Florence from the south Figure 33, page 82 the huge and unmistakable dome of the Duomo, flanked by Giotto's campanile, a point of orientation visible in every sec- tion of the city and for miles outside of it. This dome is the perience. Every scene is instantly recognizable, and brings to symbol of Florence. mind a flood of associations. Part fits into part. The visual environment becomes an integral piece of its inhabitants lives The central city has district characters of almost oppressive The city is by no means perfect, even in the limited sense of strength: slot-like streets, stone-paved; tall stone and stucco imageability; nor does all of the city's visual success lie in this buildings, yellowish-gray in color, with shutters, iron grilles, and cave-like entrances, topped by the characteristic deep Florentine one quality. But there seems to be a simple and automatic eaves. Within this area are many strong nodes, whose distinctive pleasure, a feeling of satisfaction, presence, and Tightness, which forms are reinforced by their special use or class of user. The arises from the mere sight of the city, or the chance to walk central area- is studded with landmarks, each with its own name through its streets. and story. The Arno River cuts through the whole and con- Florence is an unusual city Indeed, even if we no longer nects it to the larger landscape. confine ourselves to the United States, the highly visible city is To these clear and differentiated forms people have made still somewhat of a rarity, Imageable villages or city sections are Strong attachments, whether of past history or of their own ex- legion, but there may be no more than twenty or thirty cities in 92 93  cultivated country below. To the south the Ossipee Mountains the world which present a consistently strong image. Even so, are a final isolated upthrust of hills. Several of the peaks, such nor one of these would encompass more than a few square miles as Mt. Chocorua, are of peculiar individual form. The effect is of area. Although the metropolis is no longer a rare phenom- strongest in the ''intervales" the flat plateaus at the very base of enon, yet nowhere in the world is there a metropolitan area with the mountains, which are entirely cleared and which have that any strong visual character, any evident structure. The famous strange and powerful sensation of special "place," exactly com- cities all suffer from the same faceless sprawl at the periphery. parable to the sensation of strong locale in a city like Florence. One may reasonably ask, then, if a consistently imageable At the time when all the lower ground was cleared for farming, metropolis (or even a city), is in fact possible; and whether it the entire landscape must have had this quality. would be appreciated if it did exist. Given the lack of examples, Hawaii might be taken as another more exotic example: with it is necessary to argue largely on supposition and by the pro- its sharp mountains, highly colored rocks and great cliffs, luxu- jection of past events. Men have increased the scope of their riant and highly individualized vegetation, contrast of sea and perception before, when faced with a new challenge, and there is land, and dramatic transitions between one side of the island little reason to see why it could not happen again. There are, and another. furthermore, existing highway sequences which indicate that such These are, of course, personal examples; the reader can sub- a new large-scale organization might be possible. stitute his own. Occasionally they are the product of powerful It is also possible to cite examples of visible form at this natural events such as on Hawaii; more often, as in Tuscany, larger scale which are not urban examples. Most people can they are the product of human modification working for con- call to mind a few favorite landscapes which have this differen- sistent purposes and with common technology on the basic tiation, this structure and clear shape that we would like to pro- structure provided by a continuous geologic process. If success- duce in our living environments. The landscape south of Flor- ful, this modification is done with an awareness of the inter- ence, on the road to Poggibonsi, has this character for mile after connectedness, and yet the individuality, of both natural resources mile. The valleys, ridges, and little hills are of grear variety, but and human purposes. lead down in a common system. The Appenines bound the As an artificial world, the city should be so in the best sense: horizon in the north and east. The ground, visible over long made by art, shaped for human purposes. It is our ancient habit distances, is cleared and intensively cultivated for a great variety to adjust to our environment, to discriminate and organize of crops—wheat, olive, grape—each clearly discernible for its perceptually whatever is present to our senses. Survival and own particular color and form. Each fold of the ground is mir- dominance based themselves on this sensuous adaptability, yet rored in the lay of the fields, plants, and paths; each hillock is now we may go on to a new phase of this interaction. On crowned by some little settlement, church, or rower, so that one home grounds, we may begin to adapt the environment itself to could say: "Here is my town, and there is that other." Guided the perceptual pattern and symbolic process of the human being. by the geological structure of the natural features, men have achieved a delicate and visible adjustment of their actions. The Designing the Paths whole is one landscape, and yet each part can be distinguished from its neighbor. To heighten the imageability of the urban environment is to facilitate its visual identification and structuring. The elements Sandwich, New Hampshire, might be taken as another example, isolated above—the paths, edges, landmarks, nodes, and regions— where the White Mountains sink down into the rolling head- are the building blocks in the process of making firm, differenti- waters of the Merrimac and the Piscataqua Rivers. The forested ated structures at the urban scale. What hints can we draw mountain wall is sharply contrasted with the rolling, half- 95 94  from the preceding material as to the characteristics such elements tion toward which it goes A street is perceived, in fact, as a might have in a truly imageable environment. thing which goes toward something. The path should support The paths, the network of habitual or potential lines of move- this perceptually by strong termini, and by a gradient or a ment through the urban complex, are the most potent means by directional differentiation, so that it is given a sense of pro- which the whole can be ordered. The key lines should have gression. and the opposite directions are unlike. A common some singular quality which marks them off from the surrounding gradient is that of ground slope, and one is regularly instructed channels: a concentration of some special use or activity along to go "up" or "down" a street, but there are many others. A their margins, a characteristic spatial quality, a special textore progressive thickening of signs, stores, or people may mark the of Hour or facade, a particular lighting pattern, a unique set of approach to a shopping node, there can be a gradient of color smells or sounds, a typical detail or mode of planting. Washington or texture of planting as well; a shortening of block length or Street may be known by its intensive commerce and slot-like a funneling of space may signal the nearness of the city center. space; Commonwealth Avenue by its tree-lined center. Asymmetries may also be used. Perhaps one can proceed by These characters should be so applied as to give continuity k e e p i n g the park on the left," or by moving "toward the to the path. If one or more of these qualities is employed golden dome." Arrows can be used, or all projecting surfaces consistently along the line, then the path may be imaged as a facing one direction might have a coded color. All these means continuous, unified element. It may be a boulevard planting of make the path an oriented element to which other things can trees, a singular color or texture of pavement, or the classical be referred. There is no danger of making a "wrong-way'' continuity of bordering facades. The regularity may be a mistake. rhythmic one, a repetition of space openings, monuments, or If positions along the line can be differentiated in some corner drugstores. The very concentration of habitual travel measurable way. then the line is not only oriented, but scaled along a path, as by a transit line, will reinforce this familiar, as well. Ordinary house numbering is such a technique. A continuous image. less abstract means is the marking of an identifiable point on the This leads to what might be called a visual hierarchy of the line, so that other places may be thought of as "before" or streets and ways, analogous to the familiar recommendation of a "after." Several check points improve the definition. Or a functional hierarchy: a sensuous singling out of the key channels, quality (such as the space of the corridor) may have a modula- and their unification as continuous perceptual elements. This is tion of gradient at a changing rate, so that the change itself the skeleton of the city image. has a recognizable form. Thus one could say that a certain The line of motion should have clarity of direction. The place is "just before the street narrows down very rapidly," or human computer is disturbed by long successions of turnings, or "on the shoulder of the hill before the final ascent." The mover by gradual, ambiguous curves which in the end produce major can feel not only "I am going in the right direction," but "I am directional shifts. The continuous twistings of Venetian calli almost there" as well. Where the journey contains such a or of the streets in one of Olmsted's romantic plans, or the series of distinct events, a reaching and passing of one sub-goal gradual turning of Boston's Atlantic Avenue, soon confuse all after another, the trip itself takes on meaning and becomes an but the most highly adapted observers. A straight path has experience in its own right. clear direction, of course, but so does one with a few well-defined Observers are impressed, even in memory, by the apparent turns close to 90 degrees, or another of many slight turns which "kinesthetic" quality of a path, the sense of motion along it: yet never loses its basic direction. turning, rising, falling. Particularly is this true where the Observers seem to endow a path with a sense of pointing or path is traversed at high speed. A great descending curve irreversible direction, and to identify a street with the destina- which approaches a city center can produce an unforgettable 96 97  image. Tactile and inertial senses enter into this perception of motion, but vision seems to be dominant. Objects along an irregular but approximately right-angled crossing is prefer- the path can be arranged to sharpen the effect of motion paral- able to a precise trisection. Examples of such simple structures lax or perspective, or the course of the path ahead may be made are parallel sets or spindle forms; one-, two-, or three-barred visible. The dynamic shaping of the movement line will give crosses; rectangles; or a few axes linked together. it identity and will produce a continuous experience over time. Paths may also be imaged, not as a specific pattern of certain Any visual exposure of the path, or its goal, heightens its individual elements, but rather as a network which explains the image. A great bridge may do this, an axial avenue, a concave typical relations between all paths in the set without identifying profile, or the distant silhouette of the final destination. The any particular path. This condition implies a grid which has presence of the path may be made evident by high landmarks some consistency, whether of direction, topological interrela- along it, or other hints. The vital line of circulation becomes tion, or interspacing. A pure gridiron combines all three, but palpable before our eyes, and can become the symbol of a directional or topological invariance may by themselves be fundamental urban function. Conversely, the experience is quite effective. The image sharpens if all paths running in heightened if the path reveals the presence of other city elements one topological sense, or compass direction, are visually dif- to the traveler: if it penetrates or strikes them tangentially, if ferentiated from the other paths. Thus the spatial distinction it offers hints and symbols of what is passed by. A subway, between Manhattan's streets and avenues is effective. Color, for example, instead of being buried alive, might suddenly pass planting, or detail might serve equally well. Naming and through the shopping zone itself, or its station might recall by numbering, gradients of space, topography, or detail, differen- its form the nature of the city above it. The path might be tiation within the net may all give the grid a progressive or even so shaped that the flow itself becomes sensuously evident: split a scaled sense. lanes, ramps, and spirals would allow the traffic to indulge in There is a final way of organizing a path or a sec of paths, self-contemplation. All these axe techniques of increasing the which will become of increasing importance in a world of great visual scope of the traveler. distances and high speeds, ft might be called "melodic" in Normally, a city is structured by an organized sec of paths. analogy to music. The events and characteristics along the The strategic point in such a set is the intersection, the point path—landmarks, space changes, dynamic sensations—might be of connection and decision for the man in motion. If this can organized as a melodic line, perceived and imaged as a form be visualized clearly, if the intersection itself makes a vivid which is experienced over a substantial time interval. Since image and if the lie of the two paths with respect to each the image would be of a total melody rather than a series of other is clearly expressed, then the observer can build a satis- separate points, that image could presumably be more inclusive, factory structure. Boston's Park Square is an ambiguous joining and yet less demanding. The form might be the classical intro- of major surface streets; the junction of Arlington Street and duction-development-climax-conclusion sequence, or it might Commonwealth Avenue is clear and sharp. Universally, subway take more subtle shapes, such as those which avoid final con- stations fail to make such clear visual joints. Special care must clusions. The approach to San Francisco across the bay hints be taken to explain the intricate intersections of modern path at a type of this melodic organization. The technique offers a systems. rich field for design development and experiment. A joint of more than two paths is normally quite difficult Design of Other Elements to conceptualize. A structure of paths must have a certain simplicity of form to make a dear image. Simplicity in a Edges as well as paths call for a certain continuity of form topological rather than a geometrical sense is required, so that throughout their length. The edge of a business district, for example, may be an important concept, but be difficult to dis- 98 99  background. It may be a tower silhouetted over low roofs, cover in the field because it has no recognizable continuity of flowers against a stone wall, a bright surface in a drab street, a form. The edge also gains strength if it is laterally visible for church among stores, a projection in a continuous facade. Spatial some distance, marks a sharp gradient of area character, and prominence is particularly compelling of attention. Control of clearly joins the two bounded regions. Thus the abrupt cessa- the landmark and its context may be needed: the restriction of tion of a medieval city at its wall, the fronting of skyscraper signs to specified surfaces, height limits which apply to all but apartments on Central Park, the clear transition from water one building. The object is also more remarkable if it has a to land at a sea-front, all are powerful visual impressions. clarity of general form, as does a column or a sphere. If in When two strongly contrasting regions arc set in dose juxta- addition it has some richness of detail or texture, it will surely position, and their meeting edge is laid open to view, then invite the eye. visual attention is easily concentrated. A landmark is not necessarily a large object, it may be a Particularly where the regions bounded are not of contrasting doorknob as well as a dome. Its location is crucial: if large or nature, then it is useful to differentiate the two sides of an tall, the spatial setting must allow it to be seen; if small, there edge, to orient the observer in the "inside-outside" sense. It are certain zones that receive more perceptual attention than may be accomplished by contrasting materials, by a consistent others: floor surfaces, or nearby facades at, or slightly below, concavity of line, or by planting. Or the edge may be shaped eye-level. Any breaks in transportation—nodes, decision points— to give orientation along its length, by a gradient, by identifiable are places of intensified perception. Interviews show that ordi- points at intervals, or by individualizing one end with respect nary buildings at route decision points are remembered clearly, to the other. When the edge is not continuous and self-closing, while distinctive structures along a continuous route may have then it is important that its ends have definite termini, rec- slipped into obscurity. A landmark is yet stronger if visible ognizable anchors which complete and locate the line. The over an extended range of time or distance, more useful if the image of the Boston waterfront, which is usually not mentally direction of view can be distinguished. If identifiable from continuous with the Charles River line, lacks a perceptual anchor near and far, while moving rapidly or slowly, by night or day, at either end, and is in consequence an indecisive and "fuzzy it then becomes a stable anchor for the perception of the com- element in the total Boston image. plex and shifting urban world. An edge may be more than simply a dominant barrier if Image strength rises when the landmark coincides with a some visual or motion penetration is allowed through it—if it concentration of association. If the distinctive building is the is, as it were, structured to some depth with the regions on scene of an historic event, or if the bright-colored door is your either side. It then becomes a seam rather than a barrier, a own, then it becomes a landmark indeed. Even the bestowal line of exchange along which two areas are sewn together. of a name has power, once that name is generally known and If an important edge is provided with many visual and accepted. Indeed, if we arc* to make our environment mean- circulation connections to the rest of the city structure, then ingful, such a coincidence of association and image-ability is it becomes a feature to which everything else is easily aligned. necessary. One way of increasing the visibility of an edge is by increasing Single landmarks, unless they are dominant ones, are likely its accessibility or use, as when opening a waterfront to traffic to be weak references by themselves. Their recognition re- or recreation. Another might be to construct high overhead quires sustained attention. If they are clustered, however, edges, visible for long distances. they reinforce each other in a more than additive way. Familiar The essential characteristic of a viable landmark, on the observers develop landmark clusters out of most unpromising other hand, is its singularity, its contrast with its context or 100 101  material, and depend upon an integrated set of signs, of which paths. The traveler must see how he enters the node, where each member may be too weak to register. The marks may the break occurs, and how he goes outward. also be arranged in a continuous sequence, so that a whole These condensation points can, by radiation, organize large journey is identified and made comfortable by a familiar suc- districts around themselves if their presence is somehow signal- cession of detail. The confusing streets of Venice become ized in the surroundings. A gradient of use or other character- traversible after one or two experiences, since they are rich in istic may lead up to the node, or its space may occasionally be distinctive details, which are soon sequentially organized. Less visible from outside; or it may contain high landmarks. The usually, landmarks may be grouped together in patterns, which city of Florence focuses in this manner around its Duomo and in themselves have form, and may indicate by their appearance Palazzo Vecchio, both standing in major nodes. The node may the direction from which they are viewed. The Florentine emit characteristic light or sound, or its presence be hinted at landmark pair of dome and campanile dance about each other by symbolic detail in the hinterland, which echoes some quality in this way. of the node itself. Sycamores in a district might reveal the The nodes are the conceptual anchor points in our cities. proximity of a square noted for a heavy plantation of these Rarely in the United States, however, do they have a form trees, or cobblestone pavements lead up to a cobbled enclosure. adequate to support this attention, other than a certain concen- If the node has a local orientation within itself—an "up" or tration of activity. "down," a "left" or a "right," a "front" or a "back"—then it The first prerequisite for such perceptual support is the achieve- can be related to the larger orientation system. When recog- ment of identity by the singular and continuous quality of the nized paths enter in a clear joint, then the tie can also be made. walls, floor, detail, lighting, vegetation, topography, or skyline In either case, the observer feels the presence of the city structure of the node. The essence of this type of element is that it be around him. He knows in what direction to move outward a distinct, unforgettable place, not to be confused with any to reach a goal, and the particularity of the place itself is enhanced other. Intensity of use strengthens this identity, of course, and by the felt contrast with the total image. sometimes the very intensity of use creates visual shapes which It is possible to arrange a series of nodes to form a related are distinctive, as in Times Square. But our shopping centers structure. They can be linked together by close juxtaposition and transport breaks which lack this visual character are legion. or by allowing them to be intervisible, as are the Piazze S The node is more defined if it has a sharp, closed boundary, Marco and SS. Annunziata in Florence. They may be put in and does not trail off uncertainly on every side; more remark- some common relation to a path or edge, joined by a short able if. provided with one or two objects which are foci of linking element, or related by an echo of some characteristic from attention.. But if i it can have coherent spatial form, it will be one to the other. Such linkages can structure substantial city irresistible. This is the classic concept of forming static outdoor regions. spaces, and there are many techniques for the expression and A city district in its simplest sense is an area of homogeneous definition of such a space: transparencies, overlappings, light character, recognized by dues which are continuous throughout modulation, perspective, surface gradients, closure, articulation, the district and discontinuous elsewhere. The homogeneity patterns of motion and sound. may be of spatial characteristics, like the narrow sloping streets If a break in transportation or a decision point on a path of Deacon Hill; of building type, like the swell-front row houses can be made to coincide with the node, the node will receive of the South End; of style or of topography. It may be a typical even more attention. The joint between path and node must building feature, like the white stoops of Baltimore. It may be visible and expressive, as it is in the case of intersecting be a continuity of color, texture, or material, of floor surface. 102 103  scale or facade detail, lighting, planting, or silhouette. The Such links heighten the character of each district, and bring more these characters overlap, the stronger the impression of together great urban areas. a unified region. It appears that a "thematic unit" of three or It is conceivable that we might have a region which is run four such characters is particularly useful in delimiting an area, simply characterized by homogeneous spatial quality, but is in Persons interviewed usually held together in their minds a fact a true spatial region, a stroctured continuum of spatial form. small cluster of such characters: such as the narrow sloping In a primitive sense, such large urban spaces as river openings streets, brick pavements, small-scale row houses, and recessed are of this nature. A spatial region would be distinguished from doorways of Beacon Hill. Several such characters can be held a spatial node (a square) because it could not be scanned fixed in a district, while other factors are varied as desired. quickly. It could only be experienced, as a patterned play of spatial changes, by a rather protracted journey through it. Per- Where physical homogeneity coincides with use and status, haps the processional courts of Peking, or the canal spaces of the effect is unmistakable. The visual character of Beacon Hill Amsterdam, have this quality. Presumably they evoke an image is directly reinforced by its status as upper-class residence. The of great power. more usual American case is the reverse: use-character receives little support from visual character. Form Qualities A district is further sharpened by the definiteness and closure of its boundary. A Boston housing project on Columbia Point These clues for urban design can be summarized in another has an island-like character which may be undesirable socially way, since there are common themes that run through the whole- but is perceptually quite clear. Any small island, in fact, has set: the repeated references to certain general physical character- a charming particularity for this reason. And if the region istics. These are the categories of direct interest in design, is easily visible as a whole, as by high or panoramic views, or since they describe qualities that a designer may operate upon. by the convexity or concavity of its site, then its separateness They might be summarized as follows: is sealed. The district may be structured within itself as well. There 1. Singularity or figure-background clarity: sharpness of bound- may be sub-districts, internally differentiated while conforming.ry (as an abrupt cessation of city development); closure to the whole; nodes which radiate structure by gradients or (as an enclosed square); contrast of surface, form, intensity, other hints; patterns of internal paths. The Back Bay is struc- complexity, size, use, spatial location (as a single tower, a rich tured by its network of alphabetized paths, and usually appears decoration, a glaring sign). The contrast may be to the im- clearly, unmistakably, and somewhat enlarged on most sketch mediate visible surroundings, or to the observer's experience. maps. A structured region is likely to be a more vivid image. These are the qualities that identify an element, make it remark- Furthermore, it tells its inhabitants not simply "you are some- able, noticeable, vivid, recognizable. Observers, as their famili- where in X," but "you are in X, near Y." arity increases, seem to depend less and less on gross physical When suitably differentiated within, a district can express continuities to organize the whole, and to delight more and connections with other city features. The boundary must now more in contrast and uniqueness which vivify the scene. be penetrable: a seam, not a barrier. District may join to dis- 2. Form Simplicity: clarity and simplicity of visible form in trict, by juxtaposition, intervisibility, relation to a line, or by the geometrical sense, limitation of parts as the clarity of a some link such as a mediating node, path or small district. grid system, a rectangle, a dome). Forms of this nature are Beacon Hill is linked to the metropolitan core by the spatial much more easily incorporated in the image, and there is evidence region of the Common, and therein lies much of its attraction. that observers will distort complex facts to simple forms, even 105 104  at some perceptual and practical cost. When an element is not rods, penetrating objects) which visually explain a space; con- simultaneously visible as a whole, its shape may be a topological cavity (as of a background hill or curving street) which exposes distortion of a simple form and yet be quite understandable. farther objects to view; clues which speak of an element other- 3. Continuity: continuance of edge or surface (as in a street wise invisible (as the sight of activity which is characteristic channel, skyline, or setback); nearness of parts (as a cluster of a region to come, or the use of characteristic detail to hint of buildings); repetition of rhythmic interval (as a street-corner at the proximity of another element). All these related qualities pattern); similarity, analogy, or harmony of surface, form, or facilitate the grasping of a vast and complex whole by in- use (as in a common building material, repetitive pattern of creasing, as it were, the efficiency of vision: its range, penetra- bay windows, similarity of market activity, use of common signs). tion, and resolving power. These are the qualities that facilitate the perception of a com- 8. Motion Awareness: the qualities which make sensible to plex physical reality as one or as interrelated, the qualities the observer, through both the visual and the kinesthetic senses, which suggest the bestowing of single identity. his own actual or potential motion. Such are the devices which 4. Dominance: dominance of one part over others by means improve the clarity of slopes, curves, and interpenetrations; give of size, intensity, or interest, resulting in the reading of the the experience of motion parallax and perspective; maintain the whole as a principal feature with an associated cluster (as in consistency of direction or direction change; or make visible the "Harvard Square area"). This quality, like continuity, allows the distance interval. Since a city is sensed in motion, these the necessary simplification of the image by omission and sub- qualities are fundamental, and they are used to structure and sumption. Physical characteristics, to the extent that they are even to identify, wherever they are coherent enough to make it over the threshold of attention at all, seem to radiate their image possible (as: "go left, then right," "at the sharp bend," or "three conceptually to some degree, spreading out from a center. blocks along this street"). These qualities reinforce and develop 5. Clarity of Joint: high visibility of joints and seams (as at what an observer can do to interpret direction or distance, and a major intersection, or on a sea-front); clear relation and to sense form in motion itself. With increasing speed, these interconnection (as of a building to its site, or of a subway techniques will need further development in the modern city. station to the street above). These joints are the strategic 9. Time Series: series which are sensed over time, including moments of structure and should be highly perceptible. both simple item-by-item linkages, where one element is simply 6. Directional Differentiation: asymmetries, gradients, and knitted to the two elements before and behind it (as in a casual radial references which differentiate one end from another (as sequence of detailed landmarks), and also series which are on a path going uphill, away from the sea, and toward the truly structured in time and thus melodic in nature (as if the center); or one side from another (as with buildings fronting landmarks would increase in intensity of form until a climax a park); or one compass direction from another (as by the sun- point were reached). The former (simple sequence) is very light, or by the width of north-south avenues). These qualities commonly used, particularly along familiar paths. Its melodic are heavily used in structuring on the larger scale. counterpart is more rarely seen, but may be most important to 7. Visual Scope: qualities which increase the range and pene- develop in the large, dynamic, modern metropolis. Here what tration of vision, either actually or symbolically. These include would be imaged would be the developing pattern of elements, transparencies (as with glass or buildings on stilts); overlaps rather than the elements themselves—just as we remember (as when structures appear behind others); vistas and panoramas melodies, not notes. In a complex environment, it might even which increase the depth of vision (as on axial streets, broad be possible to use contrapuntal techniques: moving patterns of open spaces, high views); articulating elements (foci, measuring opposing melodies or rhythms. These are sophisticated methods, 107 106  and must be consciously developed. We need fresh thought on The five elements—path, edge, district, node, and landmark— the theory of forms which are perceived as a continuity over must be considered simply as convenient empirical categories, time, as well as on design archetypes which exhibit a melodic within and around which it has been possible to group a mass sequence of image elements or a formed succession of space, of information. To the extent that they are useful, they will texture, motion, light, or silhouette. act as building blocks for the designer. Having mastered their 10. Names and Meanings: non-physical characteristics which characteristics, he will have the task of organizing a whole may enhance the imageability of an element. Names, for which will be sensed sequentially, whose parts will be perceived example, are important in crystallizing identity. They occasion- only in context. Were he to arrange a sequence of ten land- ally give locational clues (North Station). Naming systems marks along a path, then one of these marks would have an (as in the alphabetizing of a street series), will also facilitate the utterly different image quality than if it were placed singly structuring of elements. Meanings and associations, whether and prominently at the city core. social, historical, functional, economic, or individual, constitute Forms should be manipulated so that there is a strand of an entire realm lying beyond the physical qualities we deal continuity between the multiple images of a big city: day and with here. They strongly reinforce such suggestions toward night, winter and summer, near and far, static and moving, identity or structure as may be latent in the physical form itself attentive and absent-minded. Major landmarks, regions, nodes, or paths should be recognizable under diverse conditions, and All of the above-mentioned qualities do not work in isolation yet in a concrete, rather than an abstract way. This is not to Where one quality is present alone (as a continuity of building say that the image should be the same in each case. But if material with no other common feature), or the qualities are in Louisburg Square in the snow has a shape that matches Louisburg conflict (as in two areas of common building type but of dif- Square in midsummer, or if the State House dome by night ferent function), the total effect may be weak, or require effort shines in a way that recalls that dome seen in the day, then, the to identify and structure. A certain amount of repetition, re- contrasting quality of each image becomes even more sharply dundancy, and reinforcement seems to be necessary. Thus a savored because of the common tie. One is now able to hold region would be unmistakable which had a simple form, a together two quite different city views, and thus to encompass continuity of building type and use, which was singular in the the scale of the city in a way otherwise impossible: to approach city, sharply bounded, clearly jointed to a neighboring region, the ideal of an image which is a total field. and visually concave. While the complexity of the modern city calls for continuity, The Sense of the Whole it also furnishes a great delight: the contrast and specialization of individual character. Our study hints at an increasing atten- In discussing design by element types, there is a tendency to tion to detail and to uniqueness of character, as familiarity skim over the interrelation of the parts into a whole. In such develops. Vividness of elements, and their precise tuning to a whole, paths would expose and prepare for the districts, and functional and symbolic differences, will help to provide this link together the various nodes. The nodes would joint and character. Contrast will be heightened if sharply differentiated mark off the paths, while the edges would bound off the dis- elements are brought into close and imageable relation. Each tricts, and the landmarks would indicate their cores. It is the element then takes on an intensified character of its own. total orchestration of these units which would knit together a Indeed, the function of a good visual environment may not be dense and vivid image, and sustain it over areas of metropolitan simply to facilitate routine trips, nor to support meanings and scale. feelings already possessed. Quite as important may be its role 108 109  as a guide and a stimulus for new exploration. In a complex find perceptual material which is congenial to their own particular society, there are many interrelations to be mastered. In a way of looking at the world. While one man may recognize a democracy, we deplore isolation, extol individual development, street by its brick pavement, another will remember its sweeping hope for ever-widening communication between groups. If an curve, and a third will have located the minor landmarks along environment has a strong visible framework and highly character- its length. istic parts, then exploration of new sectors is both easier and There are, moreover, dangers in a highly specialized visible more inviting. If strategic links in communication (such as form; there is a need for a certain plasticity in the perceptual museums or libraries or meeting places) are clearly set forth, environment. If there is only one dominant path to a destination, then those who might otherwise neglect them may be tempted a few sacred focal points, or an ironclad set of rigidly separated to enter. regions, then there is only one way to image the city without The underlying topography, the pre-existing natural setting, considerable strain. This one may suit neither the needs of all is perhaps not quite as important a factor in imageability as it people, nor even the needs of one person as they vary from once used to be. The density, and particularly the extent and time to time. An unusual trip becomes awkward or dangerous; elaborate technology of the modern metropolis, all tend to obscure interpersonal relations may tend to compartment themselves; it. The contemporary urban area has man-made characteristics the scene becomes monotonous or restrictive. and problems that often override the specificity of site. Or We have taken as signs of good organization those parts of rather, it would be more accurate to say that the specific character Boston in which the paths chosen by interviewees seemed to of a site is now perhaps as much the result of human action spread out rather freely. Here, presumably, the citizen is and desires as of the original geological structure. In addition, presented with a rich choice of routes to his destination, all of as the city expands, the significant "natural" factors become the them well structured and identified. There is a similar value larger, more fundamental ones, rather than the smaller accidents. in an overlapping net of identifiable edges, so that regions big The basic climate, the general flora and surface of a large region, or small can be formed according to taste and need. Nodal the mountains and major river systems, take precedence over organization gains its identity from the central focus and can local features. Nevertheless, topography is still an important fluctuate at the rim. Thus it has an advantage of flexibility element in reinforcing the strength of urban elements: sharp over boundary organization, which breaks down if the shape of hills can define regions, rivers and strands make strong edges, regions must change. It is important to maintain some great nodes can be confirmed by location at key points of terrain. common forms: strong nodes, key paths, or widespread regional The modern high-speed path is an excellent viewpoint from homogeneities. But within this large framework, there should which to grasp topographic structure at an extensive scale. be a certain plasticity, a richness of possible structures and clues, The city is not built for one person, but for great numbers so that the individual observer can construct his own image: of people, of widely varying backgrounds, remperaments, occupa- communicable, safe, and sufficient, but also supple and integrated tions, and class. Our analyses indicate a substantial variation with his own needs. in the way different people organize their city, in what elements The citizen shifts his place of residence more frequently today they most depend on, or in what form qualities are most congenial than ever before, from area to area, from city to city. Good to them. The designer must therefore create a city which is as imageability in his environment would allow him to feel quickly richly provided with paths, edges, landmarks, nodes, and districts at home in new surroundings. Gradual organization through as possible, a city which makes use of not just one or two form long experience can less and less be relied upon. The city qualities, but of all of them. If so, different observers will all environment is itself changing rapidly, as techniques and func- 111  tions shift. These changes are often disturbing to the citizen to a major nude, while all the major nodes are arranged to emotionally, and tend to disorganize his perceptual image. The culminate in a single primary node for the region. techniques of design discussed in this chapter may prove useful The second technique is the use of one or two very large in maintaining a visible structure and a sense of continuity dominant elements, to which many smaller things may be related: even while massive changes are occurring. Certain landmarks the siting of settlement along a sea-coast, for example; or the or nodes might be retained, thematic units of district character design of a linear town depending on a basic communication carried over into new construction, paths salvaged or temporarily spine. A large environment might even be radially related to conserved. a very powerful landmark, such as a central hill. Both these techniques seem somewhat inadequate to the metro- Metropolitan Form politan problem. The hierarchical system, while congenial to some of our habits of abstract thinking, would seem to be a The increasing size of our metropolitan areas and the speed denial of the freedom and complexity of linkages in a metropolis. with which we traverse them raise many new problems for Every connection must be made in a roundabout, conceptual perception. The metropolitan region is now the functional unit fashion: up to a generality and back to a particular, even though of our environment, and it is desirable that this functional unit the bridging generality may have little to do with the real should be identified and structured by its inhabitants. The new connection, It is the unity of a library, and libraries require means of communication which allow us to live and work in the constant use of a bulky cross-referencing system, such a large interdependent region, could also allow us to make Dependence on a strong dominant element, while giving a our images commensurate with our experiences. Such jumps much more immediate sense of relation and continuity, becomes to new levels of attention have occurred in the past, as jumps more difficult as the environment increases in size, since a domi- were made in the functional organization of life. nant must be found that is big enough to be in scale with its Total imageability of an extensive area such as a metropolitan task, and has enough "surface area" so that all the minor region would not mean an equal intensity of image at every elements can have some reasonably close relation to it. Thus point. There would be dominant figures and more extensive one needs a big river, for example, that winds enough to allow backgrounds, focal points, and connective tissue. But, whether all settlement to be fairly near its course. intense Of neutral, each part would presumably be clear, and Nevertheless, these are two possible methods, and it would clearly linked to the whole. We can speculate that metropolitan be useful to investigate their success in unifying large environ- images could be formed of such elements as high-speed highways, ments. Air travel may simplify the problem again, since it is transit lines or airways; large regions with coarse edges of water (in perceptual terms) a static rather than a dynamic experience, or open space; major shopping nodes; basic topographic features; an opportunity to see a metropolitan area almost at a glance. perhaps massive, distant landmarks. Considering our present way of experiencing a large urban The problem is none the less difficult, however, when it comes area, however, one is drawn toward another kind of organiza- to composing a pattern for such an entire area. There are two tion: that of sequence, or temporal pattern. This is a familiar techniques with which we are familiar. First, the entire region idea in music, drama, literature, or dance. Therefore it is may be composed as a static hierarchy. For example, it might relatively easy to conceive of, and study, the form of a sequence be organized as a major district containing three sub-districts, of events along a line, such as the succession of elements that which each contain three sub-sub-districts, and so on. Or as might greet a traveler on an urban highway. With some another example of hierarchy, any given part of the region attention, and proper tools, this experience could be made might focus on a minor node, these minor nodes being satellite meaningful and well shaped. 112 113  It is also possible to handle the question of reversibility, i.e., each other. Intuitively, one could imagine that there might be the fact that most paths are traversed in both directions. The a way of creating a whole pattern, a pattern that would only series of elements must have sequential form taken in either gradually be sensed and developed' by sequential experiences, order, which might be accomplished by symmetry about the reversed and interrupted as they might be. Although felt as a midpoint, or in more sophisticated ways. But the city problem whole, it would nor need to be a highly unified pattern with continues to raise difficulties. Sequences are not only reversible, a single center or an isolating boundary. The principal quality but are broken in upon at many points. A carefully constructed would be sequential continuity in which each part flows from sequence, leading from introduction, first statement, and develop- the next—a sense of interconnectedness at any level or in any ment to climax and conclusion, may fail utterly if a driver direction. There would be particular zones that for any one enters it directly at the climax point. Therefore it may be individual might be more intensely felt or organized, but the necessary to look for sequences which are interruptible as well region would be continuous, mentally traversable in any order. as reversible, that is, sequences which still have sufficient image- This possibility is a highly speculative one: no satisfactory con- ability even when broken in upon at various points, much like crete examples come to mind. a magazine serial. This might lead us from the classic start- Perhaps this pattern of a whole cannot exist. In that case, the climax-finish form to others which are more like the essentially previously mentioned techniques remain as possibilities in the endless, and yet continuous and variegated, patterns of jazz. organization of large regions: the hierarchy, the dominant These considerations refer to organization along a single element, or the network of sequences. Hopefully, these tech- line of movement. An urban region might then be organized niques would require no more than the metropolitan planning by a network of such organized sequences, any proposed form controls now sought for other reaons, but this also remains being tested to see if each major path, in each direction and to be seen. from each entry point, was possessed of a formed sequence of The Process of Design elements. This is conceivable when the paths have some simple pattern such as radial convergence. It becomes more difficult Any existing, functioning urban area has structure and identity, to image where the network is a diffuse and intersecting one, even if only in weak measure. Jersey City is a long step upward as in a gridiron. Here the sequences work in four different from pure chaos. If it were not, it would be uninhabitable, directions throughout the map. Although on a much more Almost always, a potentially powerful image is hidden in the sophisticated scale, this is akin to the problem of timing a pro- situation itself, as in the Palisades of Jersey City, its peninsular gressive traffic-light system over a network. shape, and its relation to Manhattan. A frequent problem is It is even conceivable that one might compose in counter- the sensitive reshaping of an already existing environment: point along these lines, or from one line to another. One discovering and preserving its strong images, solving its per- sequence of elements, or "melody," might be played against ceptual difficulties, and, above all, drawing out the structure a countersequence. Perhaps, however, such techniques would and identity latent in the confusion. wait upon a time when there is a more attentive and critical At other times, the designer faces the creation of a new image, audience. as when extensive redevelopment is underway. This problem Even this dynamic method, the organization of a network of is particularly significant in the suburban extensions of our formed sequences, does not yet seem ideal. The environment metropolitan regions, where vast stretches of what is essentially is still not being treated as a whole but rather as a collection a new landscape must be perceptually organized. The natural of parts (the sequences) arranged so as not to interfere with features ate no longer a sufficient guide to structure, because of 114 115  review, and persuasive influence over private design, to strict the intensity and scale of the development being applied to controls at critical points and to the positive design of public them. At the present tempo of building, there is no time for facilities such as highways or civic buildings. Such techniques the slow adjustment of form to small, individualized forces. are not in principle very different from controls used in the Therefore we must depend far more than formerly on conscious pursuit of other planning objectives. It will probably be more design: the deliberate manipulation of the world for sensuous difficult to gain an understanding of the problem and to develop ends. Although possessed of a rich background of former the necessary design skill than it will be to obtain the necessary examples of urban design, the operation must now proceed at powers, once the objective is clear. There is much to be done an entirely different scale of space and time. before far-reaching controls are justified. These shapings or reshapings should be guided by what might The final objective of such a plan is nor the physical shape be called a "visual plan" for the city or metropolitan region: a itself but the quality of an image in the mind. Thus it will set of recommendations and controls which would be concerned be equally useful to improve this image by training the observer, with visual form on the urban scale. The preparation of such by teaching him to look at his city, to observe its manifold a plan might begin with an analysis of the existing form and forms and how they mesh with one another. Citizens could public image of the area, using the techniques rising out of this study which are detailed in Appendix B. This analysis would be taken into the street, classes could be held in the schools and conclude with a series of diagrams and reports illustrating the universities, the city could be made an animated museum of significant public images, the basic visual problems and oppor- our society and its hopes. Such education might be used, not tunities, and the critical image elements and element interrela- only to develop the city image, but to reorient after some dis- tions, with their detailed qualities and possibilities for change. turbing change. An art of city design will wait upon an in- formed and critical audience. Education and physical reform Using this analytical background, but not limited thereby, are parts of a continuous process. the designer could proceed to develop a visual plan at the city scale, whose object would be to strengthen the public image. Heightening the observer's attention, enriching his experience. It might prescribe the location or preservation of landmarks, the: is one of the values that the mere effort to give form can offer. development of a visual hierarchy of paths, the establishment To some degree, the very process of reshaping a city to improve of thematic units for districts, or the creation or clarification of its imageability may itself sharpen the image, regardless of how nodal points. Above all, it would deal with the interrelations unskillful the resulting physical form may be. Thus the amateur of elements, with their perception in motion, and with the con- painter begins to see the world around him; the novice decorator ception of the city as a total visible form, begins to take pride in her living room and to judge others. Substantial physical change may not be justified on this esthetic Although such a process tan become sterile if not accompanied score alone, except at strategic points. But the visual plan by increasing control and judgment, even awkward "beautifica- could influence the form of physical changes which occur for tion" of a city may in itself be an intensifier of civic energy other reasons. Such a plan should be fitted into all the other and cohesion. aspects of planning for the region, to become a normal and integral part of the comprehensive plan. Like all the other parts of this plan, it would be in a continuous state of revision and development. The controls employed to achieve visual form at the city scale could range from general zoning provisions, advisory 117 116