Charter of the New Urbanism

Prince Charles, ever controversial, lays out his vision for a Britain that does not lose its traditional virtues — including its traditional architecture and urbanism — as it embraces the 21st century in an environmentally responsible manner.

This manifesto of the “New Urbanism” lays out a vision for rendering urbanity and the responsible use of resources in an America of suburbs sprawling out of control. The authors draw from their own ground-breaking work as the firm known as DPZ, which has designed all across America scores of new neighborhoods and towns that embrace the human-scale, pedestrian-oriented virtues of traditional urbanism.

Founders of “New Urbanism” provide detailed recipes for creating urbane communities out of the wastelands of suburban America. The authors base their book on Werner Hegemann’s 1922 classic “The American Vitruvius: An Architect’s Handbook of Civic Art,” and present more than a thousand illustrations of sound practices in civic planning and urban design.

Two well-known urbanists, inspired by Jane Jacobs, analyze the prospects for America’s downtowns, and make the case for incremental improvements over grandiose projects.

A New York journalist, urbanist, and follower of Jane Jacobs writes of the small ways in which cities and neighborhoods across America have fought back from the brink to preserve and enhance their urbanity, sometimes in surprising ways and usually at the level of community involvement.

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America and the U. S. Area Office of Habitat for Humanity International have embarked upon a national collaboration, with architects selected jointly by the ICA&CA and Habitat, to design Habitat homes that fit within the context of both local communities and regional architectural traditions. More than building new affordable houses, Habitat for Humanity International’s mission is to help people build new lives.

Available through the ICA&CA. Contact info@classicist.org

This is THE 1961 classic that attacked the orthodoxies of modernist planning. In some of the most eloquent and commanding prose of the 20th century, Jacobs argued for the virtues of the row house and tenement neighborhoods that were the objects of planners’ scorn, and in so doing changed the way almost everybody thinks about cities and streets and just about everything else.

In the footsteps of Jane Jacobs, journalist Kunstler writes with stiletto-sharp wit about the physical mess America has made of itself. With hilarity combined with a moral fervor worthy of Savonarola, Kunstler takes no prisoners as he eviscerates modernist architects and planners and the “car lobby” that he believes are not just destroying the American landscape but warping the American soul.

This “sequel” to THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE is a paean to the New Urbanist movement that the author believes provides an antidote to the desolate landscapes of suburban America, and to the ruin that awaits us if we do not expend our resources more responsibly.

Prince Charles wrote the foreword for this compendium of essays expressing the aims of Britain’s “Urban Villages” movement seeking to build ecologically sustainable “villages” with vibrant community life.

This instant classic of urban history provides detailed analyses of urbanism and the urban experience in 19th-century London, Paris, and Vienna. No better book on the subject is likely ever to be written.

This classic by the turn-of-the-20th-century Viennese urban theorist foreshadowed by many decades the works of such urbanists as Jane Jacobs. More than a half a century after its first publication, it remains essential reading for anyone interested in the visual aspects of urban design.

The use of pattern books is a tradition stretching back to Vitruvius and Palladio, and is the source of many beautiful houses. This informative and practical guide documents the revival of the traditional architectural pattern book as a means of implementing urban design. It describes techniques and working methods for contemporary development and construction processes.

Based upon the projects and purposes of the author’s own firm, Urban Design Associates, this book is a practical manual of sound urban-design principles intended both for design practitioners and for public officials.

For centuries, Italians have excelled at creating formal and informal urban spaces which continue to delight the eye. In clear text accompanied by vignette sketches and numerous black & white photos, the author focuses on the activities, textures, patterns and organizational systems that combine to generate this pleasing effect.