{"id":715,"date":"2010-11-17T09:44:31","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T13:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pedshed.net\/?p=715"},"modified":"2024-05-23T10:21:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T14:21:00","slug":"the-language-of-towns-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/?p=715","title":{"rendered":"The Language of Towns & Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m very pleased to say The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary<\/em> has been published and is available for purchase. The massive tome was written by Dhiru Thadani with more than fifty contributors. I was the editor of the book as well as a contributor.<\/p>\n

My leading observation is that the title is a misnomer. It’s not a visual dictionary, it’s a visual encyclopedia<\/em> — a combination of reference book and coffee table book. It represents about 15 years of creative production by Dhiru, including his maps of urban spaces around the world and his insights from 30 years as an architect and town planner. Numbers also tell the tale: the book consists of 804 pages; more than 500 subject matter entries ranging from single paragraphs to full essays; and more than 2,500 diagrams, illustrations, and photographs.<\/p>\n

The book is physically heavy and bulky. Its dimensions are 10.4″ x 10.4″ x 2.75″ and it weighs 9 pounds… not what you would call a portable book. Once it gets parked on a desk or coffee table, it’s not going to move far.<\/p>\n

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The Language of Towns & Cities<\/em> is a fine example of the craft of bookmaking. Credit is due to Rizzoli Publications<\/a> and the Chinese firm that manufactured the book. It is beautifully printed, with heavy coated paper stock that showcases the vibrant, lush photography. The binding is sturdy and lies flat at any page, which many books these days are not made to do.<\/p>\n

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The authorial tone of the book is accessible and straightforward, aiming for clarity rather than obfuscation by jargon. Indeed, The Language of Towns & Cities<\/em> is a work of anti-jargon, because it introduces concepts, defines terms, explores patterns, and reveals history.<\/p>\n

Being an encyclopedia, The Language of Towns & Cities<\/em> is arranged alphabetically. Rob Krier’s review on Amazon.com<\/a> describes his childhood joy at browsing reference works. Krier says that reading Language<\/em> made him feel the same way. Each flip of the page brought a different subject into view, encouraging serendipitous exploration and discovery.<\/p>\n

To sum up, Language<\/em> combines beautiful images, a wide variety of subject matter, accessible writing, and fine bookmaking. I call it the ultimate browsing book on urban design.<\/p>\n

What follows is the dust jacket book description, list of contributors, and a sample from the book including the complete table of contents.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dust jacket text<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the descriptive text I wrote for the dust jacket, based on Dhiru’s input:<\/p>\n

Unique in format and expansive in scope, The Language of Towns and Cities<\/em> surveys the world of urban design and planning with deep admiration and meticulousness. Architect and town planner Dhiru A. Thadani, and more than fifty expert contributors, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this blend of encyclopedia, illustrated design manual, and stunning photoessay collection.<\/p>\n

More than ever before, the quality of urban places is of critical importance to the world\u2019s population. Over half of humanity resides in urban areas, and growth is continually increasing. Poor urban design and planning is bringing about many negative impacts, from inequitable slum conditions to social isolation to the crushing burden of excessive roadways and traffic. This book empowers citizens with the knowledge of city planning and urban design to demand a more humane built environment for all.<\/p>\n

Unlike the medical and legal professions, architecture and planning do not possess a common language to discuss urbanism. Words have been and continue to be misused to communicate ideas, elements, and visions of cities. The Language of Towns and Cities<\/em> addresses this by visually defining terms and ideas related to the built environment, illustrating their use, application, and best practices.<\/p>\n

The book is organized alphabetically, with each word, name, or concept described in text and images. Key personalities in the history and evolution of urban place-making are introduced in concise biographical portraits. Plans and profiles of the greatest examples of town and city design span the full sweep of history, from antiquity to the present day.<\/p>\n

With over 500 definitions, articles, case studies, biographies, and essays, plus thousands of exceptionally informative diagrams and sumptuous photographs, the book is a visual feast for all urbanists, from novice to expert.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Contributors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Laurence Aurbach
\nElinor Bacon
\nScott Berg
\nStephanie Bothwell
\nDaniel Braun
\nJason Brody
\nJavier Cenicacelaya
\nRick Chellman
\nThomas Comitta
\nRobert Davis
\nDiane Dorney
\nAndr\u00e9s Duany
\nDouglas Farr
\nDoug Firstenberg
\nNorman Garrick
\nRobert J. Gibbs
\nRay Gindroz
\nDavid R. Godschalk
\nRick Hall
\nPeter J. Hetzel
\nThomas S. Hines
\nJennifer Hurley
\nSteven Hurtt
\nJ. L. Sibley Jennings, Jr.
\nJay Kabriel
\nDoug Kelbaugh
\nL\u00e9on Krier<\/td>\n		James Howard Kunstler
\nChristopher Leinberger
\nAlex MacLean
\nMax Mackenzie
\nJoyce Marin
\nJohn Massengale
\nDavid Mayernick
\nMichael Mehaffy
\nTimothy Mennel
\nJohn O. Norquist
\nCheryl O\u2019Neil
\nDaniel Parolek
\nKaren Parolek
\nElizabeth Plater-Zyberk
\nScott Polikov
\nStefanos Polyzoides
\nTerry Schum
\nDaniel K. Slone
\nLee Sobel
\nSandy Sorlien
\nKen Stapleton
\nRobert A.M. Stern
\nEmily Talen
\nAdrienne Thadani
\nLaurie Volk
\nCaroll William Westfall
\nTodd Zimmerman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Book sample<\/strong><\/p>\n

Front pages from The Language of Towns & Cities<\/em> in PDF format, including table of contents, brief statement of book concept, acknowledgments, and complete list of subject matter entries.<\/p>\n

Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

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Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dhiru Thadani’s home page<\/a><\/p>\n

Dhiru Thadani’s author page on Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Publication announcement on Designophy.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Rizzoli Publications: The Language of Towns & Cities<\/a><\/p>\n

Book Reviews and News<\/strong><\/p>\n

In chronological order:<\/p>\n

Brown, Ben, Dhiru\u2019s Encyclopedia of City-Shaping: Reassurance in Uncertain Times<\/a>, Placeshakers<\/em>, December 3, 2010.<\/p>\n

Bartman, Dan, The Language of Towns and Cities<\/a>, Examiner.com<\/em>, December 8, 2010.<\/p>\n

Weinstein, Norman, How New Urbanism’s Case Triumphs Best Through “The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary” by Dhiru A. Thadani<\/a>, ArchNewsNow.com<\/em>, January 14, 2011.<\/p>\n

Langdon, Philip, Dhiru Thadani’s astonishing ‘encyclodictionary,’<\/a> New Urban News<\/em>, January\/February 2011.<\/p>\n

National Endowment for the Humanities, Visualizing the New Urbanism<\/a>, January 25, 2010.<\/p>\n

Hill, John, Book Review: The Language of Towns & Cities<\/a>, A Daily Dose of Architecture<\/em>, February 23, 2011.<\/p>\n

Gruber, Frank, Talking Urban: A Review of The Language of Towns and Cities by Dhiru A. Thadani<\/a>, Huffington Post<\/em>, March 4, 2011.<\/p>\n

Osth, Eric R., A Challenge to Today’s Urbanists<\/a>, Traditional Building<\/em>, April 2011.<\/p>\n

Hunter, Stacy, The Language of Towns and Cities<\/a>, Icon<\/em>, Issue 096, June 2011.<\/p>\n

The Language of Towns & Cities<\/em> wins the Gerd Albers Award 2011<\/a> from the International Society of City and Regional Planners, October 26, 2011.<\/p>\n

McLaren, Brian, CRITIQUE: Professionals Share Perceptions of Publications<\/a>, Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Columns<\/em>, Winter 2011, p. 30.<\/p>\n

Urban Design Podcast<\/em>, Episode 198: The Language of Towns and Cities<\/a> November 30, 2011. Interview of author Dhiru Thadani by Arina Habich.<\/p>\n

Brussat, David, An Encyclopedia of Cities and Towns<\/a>, Architecture Here and There Blog, Providence Journal<\/em>, December 8, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m very pleased to say The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary has been published and is available for purchase. The massive tome was written by Dhiru Thadani with more than fifty contributors. I was the editor of the book as well as a contributor. My leading observation is that the title is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":751,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pedshed.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}