Human Scale and Organic Urban Planning

Where it surfaces

• I: The Medieval Tradition

  The chapter emphasizes the organic, functional layout of New England villages, contrasting it with the speculative gridiron plan of Manhattan and advocating for community-scaled growth.

• II

  The chapter describes how village irregularities often derived from practical considerations like wind protection, solar exposure, and views, illustrating an organic, human-scaled approach to planning.

• III

  The John Ward house is described as having a quality of growth rather than formal design, with additions responding to family needs, creating a dynamic, human-scaled streetscape reminiscent of medieval European towns.

• The New England Village as Garden City

  The village layout—with a central common, tree-lined roads, and houses at regular intervals—demonstrates organic planning on a human scale, later echoed in garden city concepts.

• The Heritage of the Renaissance

  The chapter contrasts the organic, locally adapted vernacular architecture with the imposition of a single canon of taste from the Renaissance.

• III

  The description of white colonial farmhouses as part of the landscape, with proportions and plan close to tradition, reflects an organic, human-scaled architecture that harmonizes with its surroundings.

• The Classical Myth

  Critiques L'Enfant's formal plan for Washington as abstract and lacking control over domestic and economic functions, contrasting with organic urban development.

• The Classical Mode and Its Discontents

  L'Enfant's formal plan for Washington provided monumental order but failed to control domestic and commercial development, leading to the abstract gridiron plan that prioritized exploitation over human scale.

• IV: The Diaspora of the Pioneer

  The gridiron plan is condemned for ignoring natural conditions and social needs, serving only the convenience of land speculators.

• The Gridiron Plan and the Pioneer's Comfort

  The chapter criticizes the gridiron plan for ignoring natural conditions and social needs, creating a framework that sacrificed sight-value for site-value.

• The Defeat of Romanticism

  The gridiron street-design and deep lots made good housing difficult; apartments created a 'penitentiary' environment.

• The Gilded Age: The Collapse of Craft and the Rise of the Skyscraper

  The gridiron street design, narrow frontages, and deep lots are criticized for making good housing difficult and for creating penitentiary-like environments.

• Chapter II: The Imperial Age and the City Beautiful

  Contrasts the formal, axial plans of the City Beautiful with the organic beauty of towns like Oxford and Chipping Camden, advocating for planning that respects human scale and local context.

• VII: The Age of the Machine

  Criticizes the mechanical reorganization of the city and the loss of human scale, as seen in the smothering of older buildings by skyscrapers and the failure of community planning.

• I

  The chapter laments the loss of humanistic forms in urban development, citing examples like the disruption of boulevards and parkways by traffic and the replacement of community-planned spaces with commercial strips.

• II

  Critiques the neglect of natural factors like sunlight and circulation in favor of land exploitation, leading to congested cities and reliance on engineering palliatives.

• IV

  The chapter contrasts the dehumanizing scale of skyscrapers with the human-scale beauty of old New England villages, arguing that skyscrapers destroy the sense of scale and fail to contribute to the good life.

• Chapter V: The Machine Age and the Dehumanization of Architecture

  Implied in the critique of mechanized suburbs and the praise for Wright's prairie-style designs that respect human purposes and the landscape, contrasting with the vertical skyscraper and gridiron monotony.

• Architecture and Civilization

  Advocates for garden-city development and community planning as essential for a humane architecture, contrasting with the chaotic and dispersed state of current building.

• Chapter III: Regional Planning and the Reclamation of the Land

  Advocates for regional planning that redistributes population and industry, restores natural amenities, and creates balanced communities rather than congested metropolises.

• V

  References the potential for a coherent regional architecture in well-to-do suburbs and newly-planned industrial towns, contrasting with the current economic constraints.

• VI

  Advocates for limiting city size and population based on human physical limits, and for garden-city principles to restore human scale.

• VI: Sociology

  The inclusion of garden cities and the Appalachian Trail reflects an interest in human-scale, organic planning.