Books for Urban Design

A quick guide for the Urban Design Studio. We were introduced to the subject of Urban Design by Razdan Sir when he started taking the ‘The theory of Town Planning’ subject for us and learning from someone like him is like diving into the ocean of information and knowledge. Though we stuck to the syllabus in that semester but Sir kept telling us about good books of Urban Design. But ‘how theory could help us design’, this was another quest, which was answered in eight and ninth semester when we actually started working on an Urban level studio. At this time, Aditya Sir added on few more good reads to the 'list'. Also, Urban Design is an all new language in design and thus to learn and understand a new language you must be aware of its basics, I feel.

Recently, one of you asked me for some inspiration for Urban Design and I realized that I should share the list of books (some I have read myself and some I know are good) with you guys so that you can dig into something right for the subject.

So, here we go, My favorite 10 UD books. (in random order)

1.  The Image of the City – by Kevin Lynch

2. A Pattern Language – by Christopher W. Alexander

3. The timeless Way of Building – by Christopher W. Alexander

4. Urban Design Handbook: Techniques and Working Methods – by Urban Design Associates

5. Good City Form  - by Kevin Lynch

6. Design With Nature – by Ian L. McHarg

7. The Death and Life of Great American Cities – by Jane Jacobs

8. The Theory of Good City Form – by Kevin Lynch

9. Urban Design (Series) – by Cliff Moughtin

10. The Architecture of Town and Cities -  by Paul D. Spreiregen

Well, these will help you for sure. Moreover, you can also look for the How Buildings Learn Series (videos by Stewart Brand) . Those who are interested to read in depth about architecture in ancient India can get a copy of Architecture of Manasara for themselves. There are nine volumes of the same but I have seen and read (partially) the Seventh Volume till now.

All the best. 

Old is Gold!

History has always been considered as one of the most boring subject in any format of education. So much so that now it has become a stereotype to hate history. Thanks to our education system and the way we are taught we find it very un-interesting. No matter what is your subject, be it architecture or even English literature ( I have been through both) the historical aspect remain crucial.

Very often we feel that the 'logics' behind things are not explained well or there is no proper reasoning for the things we are taught. That is where the history comes in. Knowledge of history of any subject provides you with the answers for "why?". Why it happened, how it happened and why it is still done this/that way, all such queries find their answers in the 'background'.

History of architecture, thus doesn't only mean to study the ancient or medieval structures, but also to find answers to whys and hows. If a structure is built with some particular materials why it was done so and why we don't use it now? How the concept behind behind building certain 'types of buildings' came up? Why we needed cultural centers, community centers, libraries, etc.? 

These studies should be related with each and every design problem given and not only for 'thesis'. Research is very important part of designing. Once you have gone through the history of a particular topic you are done with 50% of designing. It clears out your concepts.

Just like history is important, it is very crucial to attain it from the right source. There are some Indian books on history of architecture which are enough to get through the exams. But BF (Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture) remains the only 'epic' which everyone must follow (for reference). As far as Indian Architecture is concerned, books like the Manasara Series are the ocean of knowledge. Keeping yourself 'away' from internet and online 'pedias' is another thing one should follow. Refer to different libraries, of state or other colleges. There are people who have already done research on almost everything, take some help from them. Visit the libraries of other architecture schools and dig into the dissertations and thesis projects they have. 

All this might seem a bit outdated in the times of internet, but the 'originality' of the source should always be kept in mind especially when one is looking for the answers for 'why' and 'how'.