Designing Utopia: John Ruskin's Urban Vision for Britain and AmericaAlthough his name is not one that springs to mind when the public thinks of influential urban planners and designers, John ruskin was undoubtedly a most important influence. Art critic, social reformer, giant of English literature, his prodigious output of books, pamphlets and lectures, as well as his efforts at practical reform, established his tremendous reputation in Britain and America. More than providing a vision statement, he challenged artists, architects and town planners to collaborate on developing prototypes of his vision. To a remarkable extent they succeeded in doing so and thereby created a legacy of good community design that this book highlights. Designing Utopia presents a broad overview of John Ruskin's life: the development of his views on architecture and urban design, as well as his views on social justice; how his vision was developed in his writings; his efforts at practical application of that vision, in particular his efforts to build a guild based society. Finally the book analyses how Ruskin's urban vision influenced the work of a long line of progressive architects and planners and the buildings and communities they designed modern urban designers such as Lewis Mumford, Patrick Geddes, Ebenezer Howard. The work of these figures are then related to current practitioners of the New Urbanism such as Duaney and Plater-Zyberk. |
From inside the book
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Page 5
... basis while achieving a harmony with nature . His poems of protest and utopian promise such as Queen Mab ( 1813 ) were a powerful tool to those trying to organize popular support for these social movements . In this epic poem Shelley ...
... basis while achieving a harmony with nature . His poems of protest and utopian promise such as Queen Mab ( 1813 ) were a powerful tool to those trying to organize popular support for these social movements . In this epic poem Shelley ...
Page 87
... basis of the society which produced it ; if the society was essentially corrupt , so must be its architecture . Morris felt that given the corrupt basis of modern industrial capitalism , reform and education alone could not produce a ...
... basis of the society which produced it ; if the society was essentially corrupt , so must be its architecture . Morris felt that given the corrupt basis of modern industrial capitalism , reform and education alone could not produce a ...
Page 191
... basis of political activism for a new generation of young citizens some of whom may well become our future planners , architects , and environmentalists . It is a cause that has the potential to attract a serious following and it has ...
... basis of political activism for a new generation of young citizens some of whom may well become our future planners , architects , and environmentalists . It is a cause that has the potential to attract a serious following and it has ...
Contents
The Development Of A Visionary | 3 |
Ruskins Urban Vision | 19 |
Ruskins Efforts At Practical Town Planning | 48 |
Copyright | |
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Designing Utopia: John Ruskin's Urban Vision for Britain and America Michael H. Lang No preview available - 1999 |
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