Spiro kostof

KENNETH NØRBAK IS PRESENTING

THE CITY SHAPED
WRITTEN BY SPIRO KOSTOF

AGENDA
• • • • • • • Spiro Kostof Introduction Organic Patterns The Grid The City as a Diagram The Grand Manner The Urban Skyline

SPIRO KOSTOF
• Leading architectural historian(!) and teacher • 7 May 1936 - 7 December 1991 • Greek born in Turkey • USA from 1957

• Published books:
• • • • • •

America by Design Caves of God The Architect The City Assembled The City Shaped A History of Architecture

INTRODCUTION
• Kostof’s interest likes in real cities – designers are interested in ideal cities or cities that were never build. • Urban process: Physical change through time.
• ”A city is never never complete, never at rest.” • E.g. Rome: from 1M people to 50k – where did it go?

• The cosmic city: a spatical diagram of social hierachy (e.g. The city of Oblivion, the head of state lives in the middle of the city).
• The practical city: A functional contruct. • The organic city: A living organism.

INTRODCUTION
• Surplus production = creation of cities?
• People came to the area for goods and services.

• Military and political stability, more so than trade, created the need for cities?

WHAT IS A CITY? (P. 37-39)
• A city is...:
• ”a relativiely large, dense, and peranent settlement of socially heterogenous individuals” – L. Wirth, 1938.
• ”a point of maximum concentration for the power and culture of the community”, Mumford, 1938.

WHAT IS A CITY? (P. 37-39)
• Kostof:
• • • • • • • • • A) Energized crowding B) Urban clusters C) Physical circumscription D) Differentiation of uses E) Urban resources F) Written records G) Cityand countryside H) Monumental framework I) Buildings and people

ORGANIC PATTERNS
• The designed city
• A geometric diagram, grid, circle, polygon etc. - A planned city.

• The spontaneous city:
• No designers, an irregular city, organic.

• City as an organism:
• The parks and open squares (lungs), city center (heart), the