Ebook: Squares: Urban Spaces in Europe

The design of urban public spaces

The question of composition and spatial qualities arises in every urban design concept or intervention in the spatial structure of urban public squares. How are the essential elements involved: dimension, proportion, alignment, cohesion, accesses, shaping of focus point and of edges like surfaces and materials? How do they contribute to a character of urban space with which residents can identify?

Comparing historical examples with current designs aids one in visualizing spatial effect. Similar to a floor planmanualfor buildings,Squares allows the user to evaluate spatial conditions for movement and rest based on comparable existing urban squares. The book offers the planner a comparative example for most conditions (shape, size, location, topography, and so on).

Seventy European urban squares are presented and explained with the most important characteristics in a consistent manner in as-built plan, ground plan, section, and axonometric projection.

• The first reference work in which design and proportion of urban spacesare analyzed and compared.
• The ground planmanual for public urbansquares
• With drawings uniformly re-created, in high graphic quality
• Bibliophilic designfeatures