| Gaia: | Of the changes that have occurred in urban pedestrian life since World War II, the most significant is the burgeoning development of interior pedestrian palaces-arcades, gellerias, marketplaces, atria, winter gardens, skyways, and concourses. popular in the nineteenth century, these glass-and-steel enclosed structures have been adapted, in the last twenty-five years, to the needs of complex, high-density urban development. Interior Pedestrian Places explores the design of these spaces and analyzes their roles in contemporary urban life. Over 130 color and black-and-white photographs survey the best known of these systems, including examples from the United States, Canada, England, France, and Italy. The author, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Virginia and a practicing architect, presents a comprehensive assessment of teh interior pedestrian place as a form of urban architecture. He notes which design concepts have been tried, and which have been most successful, both in how they fit into the existing city in terms of massing, appearance, and streetscape, and in how they have affected the lives of the city's residents. He analyzes what sociological, political, and economic effects have resulted from the rapid introduction of these spaces in city centres, and suggests future likely design directions. The book ends with four urban-design case studies-Chester, England; Washington, D.C.; Toronto; and Philadelphia-which illustrate ways in which interior pedestrian places have been integrated into exixting cities.
|
|---|