Jan Gehl

Jan Gehl’s How to study public life is a short but well presented vademecum of his work’s message. If you have read other books or texts by Gehl, you’ll recognize its messages. Architects and urban planners, unfortunately, seem unable to learn the simple ways how to make buildings and cities more human-friendly. Time and again, the same mistakes occur and concrete wastelands are created. The Matthew effect ("the rich get richer and the poor get poorer") is alive in architecture and show more urban planning: Most of the cities that apply Jan Gehl’s lessons are already wealthy and highly ranked on the lists of livable cities. Hopefully, he will find American disciples to carry on the torch and make US cities more attractive. A great little book! show less

A lucid explanation of why urban design should be driven by how humans actually move through and perceive spaces, the integrated details at sidewalk level as seen by pedestrians. Stands in opposition to the modernist trend for the past 50 years to plan individual buildings as seen from an aerial view, which gave little consideration for how buildings and spaces would be experienced on the ground.

original 1971, a capa é outra