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    Review-The Image of The City

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    Lekshmi Krishnadas
    The document summarizes Kevin Lynch's book "The Image of the City" which examines how people orient themselves and navigate urban environments using mental maps. Lynch studied 3 cities to understand the relationship between the urban environment, its images, and how those images affect urban life. He identified 5 elements that compose a city's image for individuals - paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. The book aimed to provide empirical research on city planning and help improve urban design principles.

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    Review-The Image of The City

    Uploaded by

    Lekshmi Krishnadas
    148 views2 pages
    The document summarizes Kevin Lynch's book "The Image of the City" which examines how people orient themselves and navigate urban environments using mental maps. Lynch studied 3 cities to understand the relationship between the urban environment, its images, and how those images affect urban life. He identified 5 elements that compose a city's image for individuals - paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. The book aimed to provide empirical research on city planning and help improve urban design principles.

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    REVIEW-THE IMAGE OF THE CITY

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    The document summarizes Kevin Lynch's book "The Image of the City" which examines how people orient themselves and navigate urban environments using mental maps. Lynch studied 3 cities to understand the relationship between the urban environment, its images, and how those images affect urban life. He identified 5 elements that compose a city's image for individuals - paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. The book aimed to provide empirical research on city planning and help improve urban design principles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    148 views2 pages

    Review-The Image of The City

    Uploaded by

    Lekshmi Krishnadas
    The document summarizes Kevin Lynch's book "The Image of the City" which examines how people orient themselves and navigate urban environments using mental maps. Lynch studied 3 cities to understand the relationship between the urban environment, its images, and how those images affect urban life. He identified 5 elements that compose a city's image for individuals - paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. The book aimed to provide empirical research on city planning and help improve urban design principles.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    KEVIN LYNCH’S “THE IMAGE OF

    THE CITY”
    URBAN PLANNER KEVIN LYNCH, IN HIS BOOK THE IMAGE OF THE CITY, SETS OUT TO SHOW
    HOW PEOPLE IN URBAN SETTINGS ORIENT THEMSELVES BY THE USE OF “MENTAL MAPS.”
    HIS PURPOSE IS ULTIMATELY TO MAKE PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS OWN FIELD.

    LYNCH’S DIVIDED HIS WORK INTO FIVE SECTIONS, THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT,
    THREE CITIES, THE CITY AND ITS ELEMENTS, CITY FORM, AND A NEW SCALE.

    HIS MAIN CONTRIBUTION WAS TO PROVIDE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON CITY PLANNING,


    STUDYING HOW INDIVIDUALS PERCEIVE AND NAVIGATE THE URBAN LANDSCAPE. THIS
    BOOK, PUBLISHED IN 1960, ALSO EXPLORES THE PRESENCE OF TIME AND HISTORY IN THE
    URBAN ENVIRONMENT, AND THEREFORE HOW THESE EXTERNAL FACTORS AFFECT PEOPLE.
    THE FIRST, STRAIGHTFORWARD APPROACH TO THE CITY, TAKEN BY EVERY INDIVIDUAL, IS
    LOOKING AT IT, WHICH CONSTITUTES A 5-SENSE AESTHETICAL EXPERIENCE THROUGH
    SPACE AND TIME. A URBAN SYSTEM CAN THEREFORE BE EITHER PERCEIVED AS STABLE OR
    IN CONSTANT CHANGE, WHICH IS THE MOST NOTICEABLE EFFECT OF EXTERNAL FACTORS
    AFFECTING ANY ENVIRONMENT.

    LYNCH STATES THAT, UNLIKE ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM IS IN CONSTANT CHANGE: TODAY,


    FIFTY YEARS LATER, THIS ISSUE COULD BE REGARDED AND DISCUSSED WITH FURTHER
    ATTENTION, AS ARCHITECTURE, TOO, IS SUBJECT TO EXTERNAL FACTORS AND DIFFERENT
    PERCEPTIONS, SCALE, BUT MOSTLY A CULTURAL ASPECT, INVOLVING THE FACT THAT IN THE
    1960S THE LIFE-CYCLE OF A BUILDING WAS STILL NOT WHOLLY TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, AS IT
    CAME UP ABOUT TWENTY YEARS LATER WITH SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES.

    LYNCH’S AIM IS TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATION BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGES AND


    URBAN LIFE, AT THE BASIS OF URBAN DESIGN PRINCIPLES; HE THEREFORE BRINGS UP AN
    ANALYSIS OF THREE DIFFERENT TOWNS, PUTTING INTO PRACTICE A RESEARCH METHOD
    WHOSE SUCCESSFULNESS IS ASSESSED AND TESTED THROUGH THE RESULTS OF THE
    ANALYSIS ITSELF.
    THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT LEGIBILITY

    HERE THE VISUAL QUALITY OF THE AMERICAN CITY IS CONSIDERED BY STUDYING


    THE MENTAL IMAGE OF THAT CITY HELD BY ITS CITIZENS. THE CONCENTRATION IS
    ON ONE PARTICULAR VISUAL QUALITY: THE APPARENT CLARITY OR “LEGIBILITY” OF
    THE CITYSCAPE. TO EXPLAIN THIS IT IS COMPARED TO THE SAME PRINTED PAGE OF
    THE BOOK SAYING, IF IT IS LEGIBLE, IT CAN BE GRASPED VISUALLY AS A RELATED
    PATTERN OF RECOGNIZABLE SYMBOLS. ALTHOUGH LEGIBILITY IS NOT THE ONLY
    IMPORTANT PROPERTY OF A BEAUTIFUL CITY; BUT IS OF IMPORTANCE WHEN
    ENVIRONMENTS AT THE URBAN SCALE OF SIZE, TIME AND COMPLEXITY IS
    CONSIDERED. BUILDING THE IMAGE - ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGES ARE THE RESULT OF
    A TWO –WAY PROCESS BETWEEN THE OBSERVER AND HIS ENVIRONMENT. THE
    IMAGE OF A GIVEN REALITY MAY VARY SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN DIFFERENT
    OBSERVERS. THERE ARE FORMAL TYPES OF IMAGE ELEMENTS INTO WHICH WE CAN
    CONVENIENTLY DIVIDE THE CITY IMAGE: PATH, LANDMARK, EDGE, NODE AND
    DISTRICT. STRUCTURE AND IDENTITY – IT SAYS, AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGE MAY BE
    ANALYZED INTO THREE COMPONENTS: IDENTITY, STRUCTURE AND MEANING. ALL
    THE THREE TERMS ARE DEFINED THEN WHICH LEADS TO THE DEFINITION OF
    IMAGEABILITY AS, THE QUALITY IN A PHYSICAL OBJECT WHICH GIVES IT A HIGH
    PROBABILITY OF EVOKING A STRONG IMAGE IN ANY GIVEN OBSERVER. THROUGH
    THESE TERMS AND RELATED EXAMPLES, THE READERS ARE ASKED TO LEARN TO SEE
    THE HIDDEN FORMS IN THE VAST COVER OF OUR CITIES. THE CONSCIOUS
    REMOLDING OF THE LARGE-SCALE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN NOW
    POSSIBLE. THIS PROBLEM IS PUT IN CAPSULE DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE BY
    SUZANNE LANGER: “IT IS THE ENVIRONMENT MADE VISIBLE.”

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