Raise the Hammer

Hello Milton,

It is good to have someone with your background and interests here!

Although I am conflicted about the "Cardus" factor on your planning and design thinking :) I am familiar with your works and interests and admire your output in this field.

Your paper: Interrogative Planning - Questions to Orient both Theory and Practice - (if this is what you have referred to above) - is a great introduction for Hamiltonians to Christopher Alexander's work and its connections to a better way of approaching our urban design problems.

I would also like to draw your attention to a seminal book on urban design which could fundamentally alter our approach to urban design thinking - and directly impact our cities: "Principles of Urban Structure" written by Nikos A. Salingaros - a close friend and associate of Christopher Alexander.

This book although not referenced in your above paper, in my opinion sums up that 'body of knowledge' which has simply not been integrated into our planning and architectural curriculum across the world. Many of our urban development issues arise from this.

Although this book was first published in 2005, by Techne Press, Amsterdam - it is surprising that many in the urban design field have not heard of it. But then many architects and planners have also not heard of: Alexander R. Cuthbert's, Requiem for an era of urban design - which sums most brilliantly the urban design field of the last century .

It is my sincere hope that "Principles of Urban Structure" - which is a collection of important essays, written and published over the last fifteen years in various journals, becomes the foundational text upon which present and future generations of urban planners, designers and architects build their studies and practice. In my opinion the knowledge contained in this book is capable of reconnecting our fossilized humanity with the evolving science of urban design. The lost art of city design can only be found once again through such clear thinking.

Mahesh P. Butani

Comment edited by Mahesh_P_Butani on 2011-12-20 16:12:14