- Email: [email protected]
Design in familiar places: What makes home environments look good
Landscape and Urban Planning,
18 ( I989 ) 69-76 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
69
Book Reviews HOME ENVIRONMENTS Brower, Design in Familiar Places: What Makes Home Environments Look Good, Greenwood Press, London, 1988
Sidney
(ISBN O-275-92686-9). .f28.95 (cloth).
xvi + 187 pp. Price
In today’s world of environmental design, post-modernist architects have pastel-colored dreams of buildings that wear hats, and urban designers debate the semiotic meaning of our cities. One can only wonder whether they are in touch with the same world in which we find ourselves living. From among this cacophony Sidney Brower brings us a book about familiarity. As a design concept, familiarity is fundamentally different from harmony, balance, or contrast. These latter are principles of artistic composition, while familiarity is a principle of healthful residential environments. At first glance, familiar home environments is a trivial topic. The word familiar derives from the Latin familia, meaning family. In its oldest, and still current signification, familiar pertains to one’s family or household, therefore “familiar” in familiar home environments is redundant. However, the products of urban design make it clear that this is not so obvious to the environmental designers to whom Brower is speaking. In the first part of his book, Brower argues that designers are outsiders thinking about cities in a responsive mode, which he characterizes as concerned with “... qualities of the physical environment that evoke universal emotional responses” (p. 8). Design in this mode “emerged from the lield of art and aesthetics . . . [relying on the] . . . observers’ sensitivity to first impressions and not on their familiarity with a particular place, nor their knowledge of its origins or social significance” (p. 9).
0169-2046/89/$03.50
0 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
Brower does not deny the more recent movement that seeks to improve the functionality of design for its users. He characterizes this view as the operational mode, where “one’s perceptions are guided by practical necessity: one looks to the environment for task-directed information” ( p. 9 ). “Design is concerned with features of the physical environment that affect the user’s ability to execute necessary tasks . . . Design theories . . . describe the physical environment in terms of the qualities of perception; for example, as rich, distinctive, differentiated, structured, vivid, clear, articulated, or developing . . . Good design is thoroughly comprehensible to the user and facilitates effective action” (p. 11). However, this is still predominantly the view of an outsider. Only insiders, or those familiar with an environment, can view it through the inferential mode, which is “concerned with features of the physical environment that carry social messages, and a good design is one that clarifies, supports, and confirms social relationships” (P. 12). The lirst half of the book explores these concepts of familiarity. Brower begins with very foreign places (Fez, Morocco) but quickly moves on to understanding people and areas closer at hand (Baltimore, MD). In the second half of the book, Brower shares his experiences with “action” research, trying to implement his theories and concepts about familiar environments in the so-called blighted areas of Baltimore, MD. The discussion is rich and interesting, but we seem to learn more from his mistakes than his successes. A final chapter presents thirteen design guidelines, such as “3. Recognize Recreation as a Legitimate Use of the Sidewalk”, or “ 11. Every Space Must Belong to Somebody”. These are better thought of as sources for general guidance rather than strict guidelines.
70
Brower’s orientation to his subject is reminiscent of Jane Jacob’s The Death and L1:fkof Great American Cities ( 196 1, Random House ) . Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their beliefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of knowing how things work. On the contrary, they have gone to great pains to learn what the saints and sages of modern orthodox planning have said about how cities ought to work and what ought to be good for people and businesses in them. They take this with such devotion that when contradictory reality intrudes, threatening to shatter their dearly won learning, they shrug reality aside (p. 8 ).
Design in Familiar Places has a story to tell, and tells it well. However, firm design guidelines or heartily recommend it to of environmental design an engaging presentation sign for strangers.
ENVIRONMENTAL
it is not a source of hard social science. I those both in and out who are looking for about learning to de-
MANAGEMENT
Channelized Rivers: Perspectives .ftir Environmental Management, Wiley,
A. Brookes,
Chichester, 1988 (ISBN 326 pp. Price g35.50.
O-471-91979-9).
Rivers and river banks are among the landscape features most affected by human activity. Their courses have been changed by man ever since he has existed. For many years flood control, agricultural land drainage, the improvement of watercourses for navigation, and the defence of river banks and adjacent land
against erosion have been the main objectives of river engineering. In recent years the high maintenance costs of projects set up without prior analysis of river dynamics, together with the obvious loss of ecological productivity and diversity in the watercourses affected. has called into question the feasibility of conventional methods of river engineering. In spite of growing interest among a wide range of professionals in the study of the impact caused by watercourse projects, and proposals for design alternatives based on a multhe information tidisciplinary approach, available and the work undertaken in this field are still widely dispersed. As he states in his book (and this is borne out by his carefully compiled and exhaustive bibliography), A. Brookes attempts among other things to achieve a synthesis of the numerous studies and publications in the most diverse of fields: hydraulics and river geomorphology, civil engineering, wildlife conservation, freshwater biology. evaluation of environmental impact, etc. The book is set out in five parts. In the first of these, “Introduction and Problem”, the author defines what he means by channelized rivers. He establishes differences between British and American terminology and goes on to introduce an historical analysis of man’s impact on rivers, based on examples in three countries: the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and Denmark. The first chapter ends with a general reference to the impact of channelization and the public debate stirred up by this type of project at the end of the 1960s. In the second chapter of this first part Brookes describes conventional methods of river engineering. This description is on a general level and does not go into the theoretical basis or the technical details associated with these methods. For those he refers the reader to specialist textbooks in hydraulic engineering. The second part, environmental legislation (Chapter III ), reflects the development of a le-
18 ( I989 ) 69-76 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands
69
Book Reviews HOME ENVIRONMENTS Brower, Design in Familiar Places: What Makes Home Environments Look Good, Greenwood Press, London, 1988
Sidney
(ISBN O-275-92686-9). .f28.95 (cloth).
xvi + 187 pp. Price
In today’s world of environmental design, post-modernist architects have pastel-colored dreams of buildings that wear hats, and urban designers debate the semiotic meaning of our cities. One can only wonder whether they are in touch with the same world in which we find ourselves living. From among this cacophony Sidney Brower brings us a book about familiarity. As a design concept, familiarity is fundamentally different from harmony, balance, or contrast. These latter are principles of artistic composition, while familiarity is a principle of healthful residential environments. At first glance, familiar home environments is a trivial topic. The word familiar derives from the Latin familia, meaning family. In its oldest, and still current signification, familiar pertains to one’s family or household, therefore “familiar” in familiar home environments is redundant. However, the products of urban design make it clear that this is not so obvious to the environmental designers to whom Brower is speaking. In the first part of his book, Brower argues that designers are outsiders thinking about cities in a responsive mode, which he characterizes as concerned with “... qualities of the physical environment that evoke universal emotional responses” (p. 8). Design in this mode “emerged from the lield of art and aesthetics . . . [relying on the] . . . observers’ sensitivity to first impressions and not on their familiarity with a particular place, nor their knowledge of its origins or social significance” (p. 9).
0169-2046/89/$03.50
0 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
Brower does not deny the more recent movement that seeks to improve the functionality of design for its users. He characterizes this view as the operational mode, where “one’s perceptions are guided by practical necessity: one looks to the environment for task-directed information” ( p. 9 ). “Design is concerned with features of the physical environment that affect the user’s ability to execute necessary tasks . . . Design theories . . . describe the physical environment in terms of the qualities of perception; for example, as rich, distinctive, differentiated, structured, vivid, clear, articulated, or developing . . . Good design is thoroughly comprehensible to the user and facilitates effective action” (p. 11). However, this is still predominantly the view of an outsider. Only insiders, or those familiar with an environment, can view it through the inferential mode, which is “concerned with features of the physical environment that carry social messages, and a good design is one that clarifies, supports, and confirms social relationships” (P. 12). The lirst half of the book explores these concepts of familiarity. Brower begins with very foreign places (Fez, Morocco) but quickly moves on to understanding people and areas closer at hand (Baltimore, MD). In the second half of the book, Brower shares his experiences with “action” research, trying to implement his theories and concepts about familiar environments in the so-called blighted areas of Baltimore, MD. The discussion is rich and interesting, but we seem to learn more from his mistakes than his successes. A final chapter presents thirteen design guidelines, such as “3. Recognize Recreation as a Legitimate Use of the Sidewalk”, or “ 11. Every Space Must Belong to Somebody”. These are better thought of as sources for general guidance rather than strict guidelines.
70
Brower’s orientation to his subject is reminiscent of Jane Jacob’s The Death and L1:fkof Great American Cities ( 196 1, Random House ) . Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their beliefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of knowing how things work. On the contrary, they have gone to great pains to learn what the saints and sages of modern orthodox planning have said about how cities ought to work and what ought to be good for people and businesses in them. They take this with such devotion that when contradictory reality intrudes, threatening to shatter their dearly won learning, they shrug reality aside (p. 8 ).
Design in Familiar Places has a story to tell, and tells it well. However, firm design guidelines or heartily recommend it to of environmental design an engaging presentation sign for strangers.
ENVIRONMENTAL
it is not a source of hard social science. I those both in and out who are looking for about learning to de-
MANAGEMENT
Channelized Rivers: Perspectives .ftir Environmental Management, Wiley,
A. Brookes,
Chichester, 1988 (ISBN 326 pp. Price g35.50.
O-471-91979-9).
Rivers and river banks are among the landscape features most affected by human activity. Their courses have been changed by man ever since he has existed. For many years flood control, agricultural land drainage, the improvement of watercourses for navigation, and the defence of river banks and adjacent land
against erosion have been the main objectives of river engineering. In recent years the high maintenance costs of projects set up without prior analysis of river dynamics, together with the obvious loss of ecological productivity and diversity in the watercourses affected. has called into question the feasibility of conventional methods of river engineering. In spite of growing interest among a wide range of professionals in the study of the impact caused by watercourse projects, and proposals for design alternatives based on a multhe information tidisciplinary approach, available and the work undertaken in this field are still widely dispersed. As he states in his book (and this is borne out by his carefully compiled and exhaustive bibliography), A. Brookes attempts among other things to achieve a synthesis of the numerous studies and publications in the most diverse of fields: hydraulics and river geomorphology, civil engineering, wildlife conservation, freshwater biology. evaluation of environmental impact, etc. The book is set out in five parts. In the first of these, “Introduction and Problem”, the author defines what he means by channelized rivers. He establishes differences between British and American terminology and goes on to introduce an historical analysis of man’s impact on rivers, based on examples in three countries: the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and Denmark. The first chapter ends with a general reference to the impact of channelization and the public debate stirred up by this type of project at the end of the 1960s. In the second chapter of this first part Brookes describes conventional methods of river engineering. This description is on a general level and does not go into the theoretical basis or the technical details associated with these methods. For those he refers the reader to specialist textbooks in hydraulic engineering. The second part, environmental legislation (Chapter III ), reflects the development of a le-