Arch'U!lcturliJ.

Planning

THE IMAGE OF THE CITY

Kevin Lynch

What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there?
What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and
memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr, Lynch,
supp6rted by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City, formu·
lates a new criterion - inwgeability - and shows its potentbl value as
II guide for the building and rebuilding of cities.
The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method
for the evaluation of city fonn. The architect, the planner, :lnd l-ertainly
the city dweller will all want to read this book,

What the reviewers have said:

". . . Kevin Lynch has rome up with a readable, tautly organized,
authoritative volume that m.ty prove as important to city building as
Camillo Sitle', The Art 01 Building Cities." - Architectural Porum
"City planners and urban designers everywhere will be taking account
of his work for years to come . . . The importance of this book in the
literature of urbanism is obvious. , . . we have lacked :l tht'U1v nf thl'
city's visual perception based on objective criteria. For 'lime' .sh·ange
rellson, in the period dating from the lute 19th Century in Germany
anu lusting until Lynch's efforts . . . there was no experimentntion in
the matter of how cities are perceived. All of us can be grateful for the
resumption of this line of thought. The Impact of this volume should
be enonnous." - Leonard K. Eaton, Progressive Arcllitecture
"This sm.L11 and relldable book mnkes one of the most important mode ....
contributions to large.scale design theory . . . To understand Lynch's
ｵ､ｮｾｩｴｹＬ＠ one must go back to 1953, the year when he lIegan his
studies in perception with a travel period in Italy. This wns several years
before all the 'urban design' conferences, before the coining of the phrase,
lind at a time when respectable planners were concerned with anything
but the exploration of urban form. It took II rebellious young teacher ...
fired by the ins[Jil"illion of F. L. Wright (his sometime mentor), to turn
the tables on thirty years of planners' neglect," - David A, Crane.
/oumal of the American Institute of Plcnnllrs

THE M.l.T. PRESS

1111111 __
ＢＧ｟ｾｌＡｊ＠ ' 1 __ _ J
 Kevin Lynch

The Image of the City

gｾ＠ REGISTERED ｾ＠
ｾ＠
VERSION
PUBUCATfON OF THE JOINT

This book h
the loinl Cmter far fhban Judie!, a cooperative
ｉｨｾ＠ 1I14Uf1chll!flll of Tuhnology and Harvard
Thr loinl emIl' fI:al founded in 1959 10 or-
e",CO,"d'", ti!51drch Oil !I,ban and rtgiona! prob-
scholar! from the fuld! oj
archittetfl", ｢ｬｊｩｾＬ＠ ci,y planning, I'ConOfll-
io, ｴＱｧｩｬｾｲＬ＠ hiHory, law, philosophy, politiral
fcirncr, and focioiogy.
The finding! and (oncill!iom of this book "re, aI !i.·ilh all
Joint Cen!" publicationI, Iolely Ih. lU;fJnSibili!y of the
a({lhor. is about the look 01 cities, and
look is 01 any imponance, and
urban lands.:apc,
to be l'elrlelrlb<:,·t:<!,

at
It

work ,har lies behind rhis srudy was done under 'he
direc,ion of Professor Kepes and myself at the ｃ･ｮｴｾｲ＠
for Urban and of 'Mas.uchusem lnsrirur.
of Technology. It was .prlf''''','.IV supported O\'er sever. I years
funds from the Found.IlOll. Th. txJok itself is
published lIS olle of a series of volumes of the Joint Center
far Urban Studies nf the Massachusetts of Technology
Jl;nd Harvard University, an agency which has grown our of the
research aClivj,ies 01 these ('1110 institutioflli.
'tlte[iecrual

Library of Congress Catalog Card 60· 7362

P,inted in the United Stales of Ame,ic.
 II
'12; Common

III The City

KEVIN LYNCH 62; Distrim, 66; Nod",. 72; land-
Pall" • .t'l;
M.1.T. marks. 7B; Imerrelatioos. R3; The Shifting
D<<<mber. 19'9 Imase. ｂｾ［＠ Image Qual;'r. 87_

IV 91
,he Path,. 95; De,ign of Olher Elements.
lO5; The Sense ,he Wllole,
1>h'ito,pol:illn Form, ! 12 -, The of

18

A 123
formadon
ｄｩＵ｡､ｶｮｾ＠

140

C Two Examples of Analysis 160

Beacon Hill. 160; S(ollay Square. ! 73.

187
 I.
THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Looking ar ci,ies (an special pleasure, however

commonplace ,he sigh, may be. a piece of archirecmre, the
city is :a construction in space, bur One of vase scale. a thing
perceived only in the course of long Spans of 'ime. (;'y design
is therefore a remporal aft, bur if can rarely use the conrrol!ed
and limited sequences of other temporal artS like music. On
differem occasions and for differem people, the seguencC'S are
reversed, interrupted, abandoned, Cut aCross. It is seen in all
iighrs and all wearhers.
A( every inSlaor, (here IS mOrc (han (he eye Can seel more
,han the ear can a setting or a view waiting to be explored.
Nothing is experienced by itself, bur always in relation to irs
surroundings. the sequences of evems leading up (Q it. the memo
ory of paSt experiences. Washington S<reec ser in a farme,'s
field mighf look like the shopping meet in the hean 01 BaSIOn.
and yer i< would seem utterly different. Every citizen has had
long associa,ions wi,h SOme part of his ciry. and his image is
soaked in memories and
 ｲａＧｾ｟ｮＮ［＠ of all,
is the city all perceived (and perhaflS
enjoyed) by millions of people of widely diverse class and ch.r-
acter, b", il i;; ,he product of rTYJny builders who are constantly
modifying ,he srruCIU!e for reasons of their own. While it may
be slable in general oudines for some ,jme, i, is ever changing
in delail. Only panial comrol can be exercised aver itS growth
and lorm. There is no final resul!, only a continuous succession
01 phases. No wonder, ,hen, ,h., .he an of sh.ping ciries lor
sensuous enjoymem is an all <juile separate from architecture Or
rhus;c or liler.lUre. It m.y learn a great deal from Ihese orher
arcs, bm if cannO( imifale Ihem.
Oeauci€ul and deiigtuful dry environment is an
would Nor One Ametican
qualiry,
hardly surp,[iSlr'8,

harmonious
glimpsed only as
lillie sense of 11 se!ting carl rne!ln
delight, or as a continuous .nthor for their
si()11 ()f .he meaningfulness richness of
Legibility
 To become completely losl is perhaps a rather rare experience obverse of the fear rhlt comes wi,h disorientation; i, means rhat
for most people in the modern city. We are supponed by .he the sweet sense of home is strongest when home is not only
presence of others and by special way-finding devices: maps. familiar bUl distinctive as well.
screel nllmbers, rome signs, bus placards. But lei the mishap of Indeed, a distinctive and legible environment nor only offers
disorientation once occur, and the sense of anxiety and even ter- security bur also heightens the potential deprh and intensity of
ror .hal accompanies it reveals to us how closely it is linked to human experience. Although liE'! is far from impossible in rhe
Out sense of balance and well·being. The very word "lost" in visual chaos of ,he modern ci<y, the same daily action could take
our language means much mare than simple geographical uncer- on new meaning if ｣ｾｲｩ･､＠ Ollt in a more vivid setling. Poten-
cainty; it carries overrones of mfef disaster. tialiy, rhe city is in ;<scIf rhe poWErful symbol of a corr.plex
In the process of way-finding, the smHegic link is the environ- society. If visually well set forrh, it (an also have slronl expres-
mental image, the generalized memal picture of the exterior phys- sive meaning.
ical world .har is held by an individual. This image is .he prod. It may be atgued against the importance of physic.l legibility
uct balh of immediate sensation and of .he memory of paSt Ｌｾ｡ｴ＠ ,he human brain is marvelously adaptable, ,hat wi.h some
experience, and i. is used to imerpret information and to guide experience one can learn 10 pick one's way .hrough .he most
acrion_ The need co recognize and pattern our sucrollnding5 .is disordered or featureless surroundings. There are abundant
so crucial, and has such long roms in .he pas" thac this image examples nf precise navigarion over the "trackless" wasteS of
has wide pranica! and emotional impof{ance to the individual. sea, sand, or ice, or Ihrough a tangled maze of jungle.
Obviously a clear image enables one to move about easily and Yet even the sea has [he sun and ｓｴＳＡｾ＠ the winds. currents.
quickly: ro find a friend's house or a policeman or" burtOn store. birds, sea-colors withom which unaided navigation would be
But an ordered environment can do more than this; it may setve impossible. The face (h .. only skilted professionals could navi-
as a broad frame of reference, Ill1 organizer of activilY or belief gare among the Polynesian Islands, and this only after ex(ensive
or knowledge. On ,he basis of • s!luClu,al underS[anding of ,raining, indicates the difficul,ies imposed by this particular
Manhattan. for example, One can order a subsrantiaI quantity of environment. Strain and anxiety accompanied even the beSt-
fans and fancies about .he nature of the world we live in. Like prepared expeditions.
any good framework, such a strunure gives the individual a pos- In our own wodd. we might say .hat almos. everyone can, if
sibili.y of choice and a sracting-point for the acquisition of fur- allentive. learn 10 navigate in Jersey City, bu. only ••• he (Ost of
ther informatior!. A clear image of Ihe surroundings is thus a some efior! and llncfrcai.my. Moreover, the posilive values of
useful basis for individual grow.h. legible surroundings are missing: Ihe emolional satisfaction, the Jenn' Crn il
c"ned If! ChaPl#!I' 2
A vivid and integra.ed physical set.ing, capable of producing framework for communication or conceptual organization. the
a sharp image, plays a social role as well. I, can furnish the raw new deprhs tnat it may bring to everyday experience. These
material for .he symbols and collecdve memories 01 group com- are pleasures we lack, even if OUf presenr ciry environmenr is nor
municalion. A striking landscape is Ihe skeleton upon which sO diSordered as to impose an ioroletable strain on those who are

'many primitive t.ces .t'cc their socially important my.hs. Com· familiar with it.
man memories of rhe "home rown" were oEren rhe Jim and h must be granted rhat there is some vallie in mystification,
easieSt poim of contact between lonely soldiers during the war. labyrinth, or surprise in the environment. Many of us eajoy
A good environmental image gives irs possessor an important rhe House of Mirrors, and .here is a cenain charm in the crooked
ｳｾＱＮｉ＼Ｇ＠ of emOlional s«urity. He can esrablish an harmonious st[ee[s of BoSton. This is so, however, only under twO condi-
rel.rionship berween hi=lf and Ihe outside world. This is 'he tions. First. ,here must be no danger

S\E.REO V. 5
0\ ｾＧ＿＠

gｾ＠ REGISTERED ｾ＠
ｾ＠
VERSION
 oriental ian, of never coming our. The surprise muS[ occur in an may ｾｭ＠ <0 have strong srruclUre or .idemity because of strik·
over-all framework; Ihe confusions muse be small regions in a ing physical fealUres which suggest or lmpose rheir own p.llern.
visible whole, Furthermore, the labyrimh or myslery muS! in Thus (he sea. or a greac mountain can rlve[ (he accentian of onC
i.self some form chac can be exploled and in lime be appre- <;cming from rhe 8ar plains of rhe imerior, even if he is so young
hended. Camplell!' Wilhoul him of conneclion is never or SO parochial as to have no name for these grear phenomena.
pleasurable. lis manipulators of rhe physical environment, cil)' planners
intereS!ed in 'he e"rernal agent in rhe imeraelion
Th'JI pomJS til" fur- Bur Ihese second thoughts poim !O an imporcam qualification.
Ihn- iU-"t,";ed ,f1 rho environmental image. Differem en,·i,on·
,ipp",dix A The observer himself should play an active role in perceiving Ihe men<S resisr or facilitate ,he process of image-making. Any
world and have a creative pac< in developing his image. He given form, a fine vase Or a lump of clay, will have a high or a
should have .he power !O change Ihat image !O til changing low probabilicy of evoking a "rong image among various observ-
needs. An environment which is ordered in precise and final
er" Pre:sumably this probability can be srated wilh grearer and
de,ail may inhibit new panerns of acrivi,y. A landscape whose grealer precision as the observers are grouped in mOle and mOre
every rock tells a StOry may make difficult the creation of fresh homogeneous classes of age, sex, euhure, occupation, tempera·
slOlies, Allhough Ihis may nor seem to be a crilical issue in our ment, or familiarity. Each individual creates and bears hi3 own
presem urban chaos, yel i, indicates 'hac what we seek is nm a image, bu t rhere seems to be subsrantial ogreemem among menl-
fin.1 but an open-ended order, capable of COntinuous fun her bees of Ihc same group, It is these group images, exhibiting con-
developmem, sensus among significanc numbers, [ha[ inr:crcs[ city planners
Building the Imag'e who aspire [Q model an environmem Ih.t will be used by many
Environmcmal images are .he resul. of a !wo·way process
people.
between 'he observer and his enviraomen!. The enviranmen! Therefore chis srudy will cend to pass over individual diffee-
suggcsrs disclncrions and rela,i""" and ,he observer-wilh grea, ences, imeresting as they might be 10 a psychologist. The 6151
adap<abili'y and in ,he lighr of his own purposes-sdecrs, organ- order of business will be: what might be called rhe "public
izes, and endows wi,h meaning what he sees. The image so
imag"'," 'he common memal picmres carried by large numbers
developed now limils and emphasizes wha! is seen, while the
of a ciey's inhabitams: areas of agtcemenr which might be
image ;!Self is being ,ested againSt the Jil,ered perccpmal inpUl
expecled 10 appear in Ihe imeraclion of a single physical realilY,
in a consranr inceracring process. Thus (he image of a given
a cammon culmre, and a basic physiological nalure,
reality may VaIY significamly berween clifferem observers.
The systems of orientation which have been used vaty widely
The cohelCnce of Ihe image may arise in several ways, There
'hroughoUl rhe world, changing from culmre to culture, and from
may be li,de in ,he leal objeCt ,ha, is ordered or remarkable,
landscape 10 landscape. Appendix A gives examples of many of
and yet ils memal picmre has gained identity and organization rhem; the abstract and fixed directional systems, the moving sys-
Ihrough long familiarity. One man may lind objecls easily on
tems, and rhose that are directed [Q the person, the home, or the
wha, seemS ro anyone clse <0 be: a Imally disordered work rable. sea. The world may be organized around a set of focal paino,
Ahernatively, an objecr seen for Ihe first rime may be identified
or be broken imo named regions, or be linked by remembered
and related not because il is individually familiar bUl because it
roUtes. Varied as these me,hods are, and inexhaustible as seem
conforms 10 a sterwtype already cons<cuc<ed by the observer. An
10 be the potencial clues which a man may pick ou! to differen-
Amelican can always Spot Ihe corner drugstore, however indis-
<iate his world, Ihey casl interesting side-lights On the means Ihat
linguishable il migh' be <0 a Bushman. Again, a new object
we use 'oday to lOCale ourselves in our for ,he

VERSION
 eno\l8h, the
we call cOfweniendy
node, and Jisrrin.
in Chapter 3,

Structure and IJII;II;ly

image must include It should be s. fe, with • '''f-

10 the obse,ver ane! to and risk
this object mUSI have some meaning for only fot
,he observcr, or emotion.l. is also a. a critical [urn" a The
r!'larion, bUI quite a differern on" from sparial or pa!rem ,,,,hl!ion. should to changt', aUlJwing
Thus an image useful for making exit requires tiKogni. ,he individual [a reality·
tion of • door as a distinct emiry, irs sparial relation 10 should be blank spaces whe,e he the dawing
ｯ｢Ｌ･ｴｾ｣ｬＮ＠ and its meaning as hole for gerring ouc. These for himself. i, shDulJ in some measure be communicable
nor sepOfable. 'The visual !!!Cognition of a door is m.[(.d ro other ｩｮ､｜ｬｾｉｳＭ The rela,ive of these criteria
'ogelher wi,h i,s meaning as a door. It is possible, however, '0 for "good" will vary with persons in different
analyze the door in terms of ilS idemi,y of form and clari,y of ｓｩＬｵＮｬｯｮｳｾ＠ one will ｰｲｪｾ･＠ ｾｮ＠ economic.1 and sulncienr s)'s,em,
posi,ion, considllrtd as tbey prior to its meanirr!!, anorher an open-ended ond communicable one.
Such an analytic fear poimless srudy of a
but nor in Ihe study of the urban environmenf" To begin wilh,
meaning in the city is • complicated one. Group Since ,he emphasis here will be on 'he physical environment
are less likely to be consis,ent this level as the independent variable, ,his srudy will look for physical
chan the pIIt(eptions of emity and relationship, MNning, qualities which to rhe amibutes of idemi£}' alld
mOteo"!!'l. is nOr so easily by physical manipulation in mental This leads to 'he definicion what
are other twO components.. If i, is our 10 be called 'ha< in a physic.l objeCt which
cides fot (he of 'laSS numbers of widely gives it a high probabili'y evoking a strong image in any
diverse cities which will also be adapfable given observer. It is that shape, color, or arrangement which
to iUfUN' putposl"s-we may even be wise to concemrate on 'he f.(ilim.les the 01 "ividl,. identified, powerfully structured,
physical clari,)' of 'he image ro allow to useful images of the environmem. It might also
our direct guidance. The image be called legihili/)', Or perhaps
 bur are

of Mat'lha!<.n,
of Chicago.
These ate charaCteriutions dla! iI"w from OUf definilions. The
concept of imagl!ability does nOt necessarily connOle something
limited, precise, unified. or regularly ordered. although it
may sometimes have these quali.ies. Nor dOes it mean apparent or
at a glance, obvious, parent, or plain. The total environment to Shipton's :K(OUnt of
be pa[temed is highly complex, while rhe obvious image is SOOn ellt olfers a dmmatic case of slIch learning. Approaching Everes!
boring, and can point [Q only a few felillres of the living world. from a new direction, ShiptOn immediately remgnized main
a! form will lind saddles rhat he knew from the nonn side. But
to to Miom both sides weI!' long
 or ｴｲｾ＠ blazes, but substamial modifications for visual clarity or
visual incercofl:1et:tion were confined co house sites or religious
enclosures, Only powerful civilizations can to act un their
wta! environment at a significant scale, Tba conscious remold-
ing of the I.ege,scale physical envlIonment hubeen ooly
recendy, and so (he problem of environmental is a
!leW one. Technically, "'" can now make complet<'ly new land-
scapes in a bIief time, as in the DUICh polders. ｬｾＢｲ･＠ ,he de-
sigllers are already., grips w;(h (he quesrion of how !O form
the total scene SO that it is easy fo! ,he human observer to
identify irs parr, .nd to s(Wcw!e (he whole,J')
We arc rapidly building a new funnional uni,. (he melwpoli-
tan re/iion. but we have yet to grasp thar this unit, 100, should
have its corresponding image. Suzanne lange, leIS ,he problem
in her capsule definicion of 3tchi[ecmre:
"]t is the tOla) environment made visible."J':

12 13
 for irs apparent formlessness, for what seemed, on first observa·
rion, [0 be irs exrremely low order of imageability. los Angeles,
on rhe mher hand, is a new ci,y, of an uneriy diffecem scale, and
wilh a gridiron plan in irs central area. In every case a cemral
area of approximately 2lfi by III.! miles was taken for srudy.
In each of rhese cities, IWO basic analyses were carried Out;

I. A systematic field reconnaissance of rhe area was made on

foor by a tmined observer, who mapped of various
elements, cheir visibility, their image
(heir connecrions 1 disconnenions, and orher in[erreiuions. and
who nmed any special successes or difficulries in rhe poremi.1
image structure. These were subjenive judgmems based on rhe
immediate appearance of rhese elements in the field.
2. A lengrhy inrer'!liew was held with a small sample of cilY
jcsiden(s to evoke [heir own images or [heir physical environ-
THREE CITIES memo The im!!!view included for descriptions, Joe.·
ｬｫ･ｦ｣ｨｾＬ＠ for the of imaginary
p<ltSOtiS interviewed people resident or
in the area, and whose residences or work pia"" were
di!>fribu!ed rnrQughout the zone in question.
understand ,he role of environmen tal images in
our own urban lives, it was necessary for us to look carefully at Some ,hirty persons were rhus interviewed in Biliron, and fifo
some city areas and !O talk with !heir inh.bilants. We needed to each in Jersey City and Los Angeles. In Boston [he basic
de'lltlop and teS! the idea of imageabili[y, and also by a compari- ,nlly"", were supplemented by phorographic recognition re,{S,
son of image with visual r.. li,y !O leam whac forms make for by aCtuaJ in the field, "lind by numerous for direc·
mong images, and ,hus to suggest some principles for urban tions made passers·by in ,he SICeeIS. In detailed
design. The work was done in the conviction thaI analysis of Jield reconnaissance was made of S<!veral spe<:id e!emems of ,he
Boscon scene.
existing form and its effecls on the is one of the founda·
tion Stones of",y design, and in ,he hope thai some useful tech· All these merhods are described and evaluated in Appendix B.
The small size 01 ,he samples and their bias toward [ho profo •.
niques for field reconnaissance and ci!izen imerview migh! be
developed as a by.product. As in any small pilO[ srudy, the pur· sional and managerial classes prevem us from SIa,ing tha, a tme
pose: was co develop ideas and mechods, rather !han to prove "public image" has been gained. Bur the marerial is rich in
f.crs in a final and determina,,, way. sU88eslioflI and has sufficien( internal consis(cncy ro indicate
Analyses were therefore made of the cenlral areas of Ａｨｲ･ｾ＠ 'har substantial group images do exist and are, in part .. leaSt,
American cities: Boston, Jersey City, New Jersey; discoverable by some such means. The independent field analy·
and Los Angeles, California. BoslOn, rhe ciry direcdy ar hand, ses predicted "'rher .ccur3!ely rhe group image derived from the
is unique in charncter among American cities, being borh vivid interviews, and so indicated the role of ,he physic31 iorms ,hem-
in form and full of locational difficuhies. 1ersey City was chosen selves.

15
 inreres{
Distiner differences in the imageabiliey of ,he 'hree cieies
even though the persons interviewed had all made
soml' son of a working adjusemem w environment. Cenain
fealUres--open space, vegetation, sense of motion on the paths,
visual ro be of importance in Ihe

because of its
includes ,he
ｾｲ･｡Ｌ＠ 1\$ well as sever.1 high.
density residemi.! dis"icl', nnging from slum (Q upper-class
housing. Figure 1 is • general view of the Figure
Ou!llne map of it, and Figure 3 is • diagrammatic
ｉｾ＠
of irs major visual eltmems as dedved from the
19 reconnaissance.

16
 ...

Copley Square, [he Back Bay, Louisburg S'luare, [he Nanh End,
[he ma:k.:! disrricr, and bordered by the
wh3rves, A ｾｵ｢ｳｴ｡ｭｩｬ＠ f raecioll added O!her charlct .. ist'c' about
BoslOn: rh" il lacks open or fKreational space; ,har i, is all
"individual," small, or medium-silled cily; that i, has large areas
of mixed use; or rhar it is marked by bay iron fences,
or brownStone lam,s.
The favorite views were usually ,he disram panoramas wirh
the sense of ware, and space. The view from across rhe Charles
River was often cI(ed, and there were mentions of the river view
down Pinckney Sueer, the vina from a hill in flrighwn, rhe look
of Bos!On [rom irs harbor. AnOther favorite sight was ,h .. of

erG.

Boston has a strucmre whim is by almOSt a Ie of

people. The Charles River with irs bridges makes a
cO which the principal Bad, Bay streets,
and Commollwealth
streets spring from Avenue, perpendicullr
10 [he Charles, and Common and Public Gar- Figure 5. 21
den. [his sec of Back Bay Slreees is Copley Square,

18
 23

en'lironmenc. Funhermore, it
it. If, including [he linle subway plaza, the fOllfHain, [he Frog
the bands[and. ,he cemetery, the "swan pond," and so on.
1'10. 4.

FtG

area ,he map for every persan intetviewed, even

born and raised ther;!!. II is an area of suhstan·
rial size containing some k.nown dements such as H umington
Avenue and occasional Science
Church, but the matrix
and

2IJ
 wide importance. the ditlic u],y is compou nded. Here 'hey a05.S
at righr angles. but farcher Out rhey seem to ｾ＠ paraUel. springing
p<!rp<!ndicularly fro m a co mmon base line. Massachuserrs Avenue.
In addifjon, rhe ceorral shopping ac.;vjry makes a n awkW'Ol rd
righ,-angled (Urn ar rhis same Boylston-Tremont crossing, weak-
ens. and ,hen reappears farther up Boylscon S,ree<. All t his adds
up to a ceilieal ambiguity of shape at d\c, cicy core. a major ori-
ema!ion Raw .
BoslOn is a ciry of dist inctive districts. and in mOst part< of the
cemral area one knows where One is sim ply by the genera l char-
acrer of !he surrou nd ing area. In one porrion there is che unusual
｣ ｡ｾ＠ of 3 cominuou s mosaic o f such distincrive areas: (he
sequence Back Bay-Common-Beacon Hill.-.<enual sho p ping.
Here place is never in q ueSTion. Yec this rhema tic vivid ness is
typically associat ed with formlessness or confusing arrangeme",.
If Boston distric ts could be given m ucrural clad,y as well as dis-
'inerive character. rhey wo uld he g rearly streng thened. In ,his FIG. 6. Th. B01l .. Com",,,,,,
failure, incidemall y. Basten is pro bably q ui te dilTerem from many
American cities, where areas of formal order ha ve little char-
acrer.
While ttIC diStrictS cend 10 be vivid, fhe padl system in BOSton Two high-speed highways pass through rhe cemral area, SlOr-
is generally confused. Neve(cheless, so impotranl is rhe func - row Drive and rhe Cemra' Artery. BOlh are felt ambiguously
tiOn of circulac ion thar rhe paths are srill dominant in rhe coral eirher as barriers in reference !O movemenr on the older srreees,
image, juSl 3S in Ihe ocher cit ies reseed. There is no basic order or as paths when one ｩｭｾｧｮ･ｳ＠ oneself to be driving on rhem.
among these pathS, ex cepr fo r the hilt orically conditioned pre- Each aspecr has an emirtly different face: when thoughr of from
ponderance of ma in radials running inw2rds from Ihe base of below, rhe Artery is a massive green-painted wall. appearing
the peninsula. ThrOUgh m uc h of the eenlral cicy ic is easier to iragmemarily at cerrain SpOts. As a parh. ir is a ribbon rising,
move ease-west co and fro m ｍ｡ｳ｣ ｨｵ ｾ･ｲｳ＠ Avenue than it is to dipping. and turning. Studded wirh signs- In a curious way, bach
mOve ar right al]gles to ,his direCtion. In this sense, Ihe city has roads are felt to he "outside" rhe ciry, hardly related ro ir, even
• sorr of groin chat is rene n ed in the mental contorr ions whic h though they penetra,e it, and rhere is a dizzying transition to be
accompany various imaginary rrips. Nevertheless, rhe path made at each interchange. Srorrow Drive. however. is clearly
ｾｲｬｃｔｵ･＠ is an unusually difficult one. 2nd i{S com plic2rions have related to rhe Charles River. and is thus ried ro the general pat·
furnished m uch maleri,1 for the SY$te m3!ic consideration of paths tern of the city. The Cemral Artery, on the other hand, wind,
in Chapter 3. The difficulty caused by the r ig ht-angled crossing inexplicably through rhe cemer, and breaks rhe ori<mation link
of "parallel" Boylston and T remom SIreets has already heen wi,h rhe North End by blocking Hanover Screet. Moreover, il
mentioned. The tegular Back Bay grid. a banal characteriStic was sometimes confused with the Causeway-Commercial-Atlantic
of mOS! American cities. rakes on a special quality in Boston by sequence. even ,hough the ,wo paths are quire differem, because
virtue of i. coorrasr with che remainder of ,he ｾｵ･ｭＬ＠ borh may logically be considered as eXI'ensions

21
 ficia l vi ew of an aursider. Ie w:lS ;ntercsring ro see how rhast who
had ｉｩｾ･ ､＠ there for many years imaged ie for ehemselves.
T he visu al srructurc of Jersey Ci ey :1.S tle ri"ed from rhe field
reconnoilsance is ､ｲ ｾ ｷｮ＠ to rhe ｓｾ ｭ ･＠ scale ond uses rhe s. me sym-
Fir.uTIl 10 bols as ehe BoSlon diagram. T he ci.y has a lillie mOle shape :\0.1
ｰ ｾｬｃｲ ｮ＠ rh an 3n OlllsiJ t'r mig"! chink, BS indeed ir mllsr if i[ is to
be Illbiloble Or all. Dur ir has rorhet liule and bw$15 of many
fewer ｲｾ｡ｧｮ ｩ Ｒ･ ､＠ elemtnts eh.n does ehe same area of iloseon.
Much of rhe arca is disn 'pt ed by sclO ng edges. Th e essent ials
of rhe m ucrure aI(: Jou rnal Square, one of the rwo main shopping
cemers, wieh ehe li ne 01 Hudson Doulcvard passing rhra ugh ie.
ftom Hudson ｉｬ｡ ｵ ｬ ･ ｾ ｯｲ ､＠ depends rhe "Detgen Secei on" an d rhe
imp<lrrant West Side Parle. To rhe easr, three porhs pass down
over the cli ff edge to more or less conwtge in rhe lower 3tea:
Newark, Mont£omery, and Communi paw-Grand. On ehe clifT
srands the Medical Cemer. Ii"eryrhing stOps at the barrier of
rhe railroad-indumiaI-dnck area on the Hudson. This is rhe
essenrial paerern, and. e"cepe perhaps for onc or ewo of rhe three
downhill sereets, is familiar co mose subjecrs.
The lack of character is apparem from a glance when ehe con-
f'Glurl Ｌ ｾ Ｑ＠ ｾＧｩｊ＠ -i J. sensus of elemeors ehoughe distinctive by jersey City people is
P4.1." 1.,1 oJltl ＬｾｲＩ＠
compared wirh rhe same di.gr.m for Boscon. The Jersey Cicy
fiG. 9. J.".., Cil) ,.0", ＬＢｾ＠

I.
J ••rb
nup is almOSl bare. journal Square is strong because of irs
iorensi"e shopping and entertainment activity. bur ies !lallic and FIG. 10. TIM rrIJMJ ｉｾ Ｇ ｟＠ ../ lm'T e'l) III J.-" Ib, _rJJ

-\
spatial chaos are confusing and unseerling. Hudson Iloulevard
rivals rhe Square for serengeh; Wesr Side Park is next, ehe only
large park [n the cie),. cir.d again and again as a distinCtive
region, a relief in the general ｴ･ｸｲｵｾＮ＠ The "Ilergen Section"
scands our primarily as a class area. The New jeesey Medical
Fix,urc: 12, prs,r:.c- 28 Center is visually unmistakable, risin£ .. 11 and white from the
edge of rhe clifT, a haphazardly located giant.
Lirele more can be cired as distinctive wirh any unanimiry,
except for lhe awc-inspirin£ sighl of rhe New York City skyline

26
 This is really one of the most pitifUl about Jersey City,
There isn't anything that if someone carne here from a far
,ba, I could say, "Oh, I wam you '0 see ,his, this is 50
 either go IIndcc th e Hudson. or Ihrollgh d,c confusing Tonnelle and so on. In a ll Ihis descrip,ion we have only one or two vis ual
traffic circle. lmaSt': a "going.up" bridge. and per ha ps the rail ro, d linder-
One could hardl y ask for" marc drom.,ic mor c im.geable. pass. This su b jeCt first seems ro ser her e nvironment when she
basic location ｾｮｴｬ＠ ｰｩ･＼ ｾ＠ of lopograpl,y th3n JerSey CiIY. if Onf! tNcl>es Narni/ron Pack. J ilt! Ihen Ihrough her eyes one slIeldenly
""eel' able [ 0 b ui ld complerely anr...•. nUl Ihe gener.l cnviton· ulcht!S a glimpse of [he fellced . open sqU3re. with its rou nt!. Cen-
mtnl was perSIStently rdorred rn wirh rhe warJs "old," "direy:' tral bandstand. 2nd Ihe slIreou nding benches.
F,t,,,,, /1 "drab." T he StreetS ... ere rcpeateJ ly d escribed a , "Cll r up." The Many remarks ca me OUI a buut rhe ind istingu iShability nf " ,,'
interviews ..... ere nor able fur rheir paucity o f infarmarion aboll t physical sce ne:
rhe envi ronment. and ( o r <he w ncepm"'. r'lher [han p ercepruaUy
lis much ｲｨ ｾ＠ SiJffie allover _ .. ic's more or le ss JUSt common-
conerele, qua li ty of Ihe ciry image. Most $(tiking w:lS rhe .Irong ness (0 me. I mean, when 180 u p and Jo wn Ihe 'lrcets, iis mOlt
renJency rO J escribe, no< by visu.1 imases. bu r by srreel names or less [he sa me thin g - N ewark Aye nuc, Jac kson A"enu e, Be l'
an d ,he 'ypes of use, T,ke rhe (ollo ..... ing pall o f n <rip desc r ip. gen Ave nue. I m ean . some,imes you can'r dec ide whICh QvcnUL'
tiOn in a ia mili"r Jr.a. as .n examplc: you wanr ro go on, because chey'rl' morc or less JUSt [he same;

Afler \'UU cross ,hc hiS),"")', ther..·, • So ins-up bri dS<:; and
,here, noth in g to difTerent ;'t. them.
;Uw( yo u come ｵ ｮ､ ｾＱ＠ t he.' bCldSt." tht' firn $UL't"t 'YOU 8f( [0, ｴｨ ｴ ｾ ｴＢｳ＠ Ho w would I rec080izc fa irv,cw j\\lcnuc when [ come co i{?
3 tonncc), l'"ckinll camp.ny; Ihe ,"cand ( omtr .ilcr soinll 00 Ihe
avenue. you Sl'e b.nk, on ['ach ,ide; and you co"", 10 Ihe
FIG. 13. A I1rn¥ in ｊｾＢ･Ｇ＠ Cil,
nt,,' X( corner, d":rc·,, 01 radio sto re=- and 01 nardw.ln: .store fish' c\o,S(:
rOSclner on your rishr. On your kit. !>t·iore )'ou Ceo" Ill" srr<..,••
i. ｾ＠ s mc,,), S(ure .nd a d eaner. You comt on u p to 71n Stitt!,
lnd on 7eh Su(!e-t 11 3 silloon l:lcing )OU on I.!k Id ,hand ( omlte,
• vegelable rrr. rke, on Ihe righ.hanJ - a liquor ocore Of\ the
rillhe ,ide 01 Ih. rooJ, o n the Id e is a groc['ry $(or.. T he neXt
ｈｲｾｃｻ＠ is 6t'" Sut!C[; rht:Ct." s no JanJrnilck exc\:pt (nac you come
under Ih. railroad .g.ain, When you /1}J under Ih. railro.d, lhe
neXl SlItel is ｾ ｴ ｨ Ｌ＠ On your righr is • s.loon: there's a ""w /ill.
ing Sr3( jon across d1C .srrC\:( on yo ur ｲｩＸｨＨｾ＠ (hen' j! a .saloo n on
Ih. Jd l. 41h Sir.." - when you come co ·lth on Ihc righlha nd
corne,. (here·s a vacant 10(,; nexl 10 {ha! Vil(.aJl( JO( is II .silloon; on
t he rjghfh3n d side lJ.cing )'OU ｩｾ＠ J. meJr wholesa le place . :md On
your leh aC'Co5S from cht· meJ. t pb ce, i ! a ｾ ｬ ｡ ＮＵＱ＠ ｳ｣ｯｲｾ Ｎ＠ The nex[
is 3rd - you ( Orne up 10 3rJ and sec • drug!lore on your rillhl.
whiske y ,Ioce "ross from )'OU on the righl; 00 Ihe Idl is ｾ＠ grocery
score a nd a :s.a lo on on you r k-fc acros.5 from rttc- aro<'ery .$(Orc, The'
next is 2nd, :lnd there·s iJ: groct.'ry SfOrt.' on roc k·f( and ::l saloon on
th. lei, .eross Irorn i.. On your righ ' , before you cross rhe
'Irr;?l. ｴｨ･ ｾＧ ｓ＠ 3 pllce ｷｨ｣Ｈｾ＠ 'hey ,.11 household . p pli.nce" , oJ
Ihen hI Sltecl . theres a burcher .hop. meal marke t on Ihe lefl
anJ across frern it is a .ac.nl 101 tha t's ul,·d for a parking 101,
on yout ri8h( is II. dothinl: S(Ort' iln J a. cat\Jy ｾｯｲ＠ on ｴｨ＼Ｎｾ＠ right. . _ .

.w
 PIG, 14 .

.12
 FIG. 16. The

15

34
 17.

Orher rhan the Civic Cenrer area, m:ognltablte

ei,her small and lineal, confilled m rh.,
the Screet shopping,
6th Street, ｲｨｾ＠ Spring
Rowan Slleor), or relatively
Tokyo. The is mongesr, because of irs obY;oUS
3' function, sire, spatial buildings, and
ro remark
irs hi.storical connorarions, and guire a lew
in [he downwwn ace a." Indeed, i[ is
in bending ﾷｾｷｵｮ､＠ ,his major ropographic
reeded "i<ually burying ;,.
Pershing &juare is consisremly strongest dement .11: an
exoticatiy [."dsco pod open s:&"lce in the ｨＮｾｲｴ＠ of downrowll, ttin·
forced by in use as an ou<door poii<icai (orum, camp m<'Ieling,

36
 01 avoidance, curiosity, Or fear. They were quick 10 side-w·side differences in
the StatuS
be 011 7,h
middle-etass shopping moe ..
which, if elire. is.r
the Broadway crowds, and along
differentiation.
regular ar ,he
In general, it is difficulr ro differentia,. the numb<; .. d ctass or an
sneers one from anmher J except: for 6rh, Ｗｲｾ＠ and lsr S[[CC[S, Across tbe HrlUvwc<><l
This confusion of pa<hs was app.rem in 'he imetyiews. To. of all, 'he nodal cenre, of .he Screet. This was very 19
lesser extern, the named longitudinal srreers were alsa lmec- shaIply desuibed: irs shape. trees, benches, people; ,he tiles, the
changeable. Several of these "narch·somh" screetS, particularly "cobbled" (ac.u.lly brick-plvNt) s[(eer, ,he 'igh' sp,ce, 'he goods
Flower, Hope, Grand, and Olive, all of which run imo Bunker lor sale, unfailingly the smells of candles and candy. NO! only
Hill [ended a[ (Imes, like ｾｨ･＠
j
numbered ｳｵ･ｲｾ＠ [Q be confused is chis small spm visually very dislinc(! bur ir is the only true his-
one fu.r another. torical anchar-poim in 'he ci,y and seems to generate a fierce
Although Olle downtown scree, may be confounded for auachmem.
anmher, few subjecrs had difficulty in maimaining ､ｩｲ･｣ｾｯｮ＠ on Through rhis same general area. however, berween rhe U oioo
[he parhs. End vistas , slJch as [he SHuler Hotel On h.b ｓｲｾｴＬ＠ Depot and Ihe Civic Ceme<, subjects had great difficulty in pick-
'he library on Hope Sueer, Bunker Hill on Grand Street; ,nd ing their way. They fel, ,hac 'he grid h.d deSCried rhem, ,nd

FfG. 19. Thf! ｐｉＨｊＥｾ＠ Drni the mlran-<6 IQ 011.111'(1 ｓｴｔｬＧｾｊ＠

38
 II's as il you were .!lO'''! ＢＡｉＱＬｾｨｴ･＠ lot. 1000g r,me, and when
YOU 801: cheep you l..hscQvt'red there nothin8 (here, all
Btu chene wait :!lome evidence that orlemat:to!l ac [he regional

and subSli<urcd !l,de new,

cask of walking from Ullioll D.<po! residents, ,he
which mOS! 5ubjens greeted [he 1st rtev.ilor,m.,m distril;cs S<lei'!
Sere,;! ;lfmOS! audible. .nd sysrem,
When .sked <0 describe or symboli>e the cil}, .s a whole, .hC' whole !Ilelropolis,
sub jec!s used of s!tuc<utes .1'1)«)I>(i.le
"formless," "Without gtOW!".
ro errvisi[)fl 01 conceptu.lize as a whole. StrUW'le and idemi[y seemed
which CQ'lflOtaliol'l$ of space tnE!tiltml'Slill!d districts, and
ings, overrool2's of weariness djsoriemacion, was [he com- h"bit·
mon image. Said subject:

FIG. 20. Th.

as in
of named uses and stote fronts.

viS'll;).1
smog has
Smog ｾｉｬ､＠ mentioned as the
rQrmem of the dty dweller, They todull e.wironmental
the over-,ll <One was repo"ed to whitish, yel.
Sever. I dtivHS inlo ,he dry reponed ,n.t
dledced 011 SmOIl eondl!loo. each by

4(} 41
 the visibility of such dist;nf tower beacons as the Rich· many of rhe residenri3! sections of rhe c;ry. The early
field Building, or City Hall of home.to·work tlips were full of vivid pictures of rhe
Auwmobile craifie ;lnd [he highway sys.tem were dominam and [fees, Even rar drivers moving at high speed seemed to nore
themes in the interviews, This was rhe daily experience, the and enjoy such urban detail.
daily barrie-sometimes exciting, ｵｳｾｬｴｹ＠ (,nse and exhausring, Bur these remarks did nOt to the area direcrly under
Trip derails were full of to signa! lights and signs. study. Central Los Angeles is the visual chaos of Jersey
and IUming problems. On Ihe freeways, decisions City. and it has a rather Jibe,,1 number of single bmld,ng land-
made £::u: ahead of [ime, there were consrlnt lane marks. Yerl except Eor a conccp!lJJ.l aod fJ[hcr unditfcrcm::iJred
maneuver$. WJS ifapids In a boar, with (he .same ,,'as dillic\llt ro organ i.e or comp",henJ as a whole. !t
cxcireme:or and «ns;oll, rhe same constant elrOf( to one's 00 Strong 5ymbols. The strongest images. Broadway
head." Many subjects noted their f.:us all driving a /lew roUle p.,shing Square. were, to rhis middle class group of subjc'Cts
for the firs< time. There ,,"'ere references tU rite at leasr, ratber alien or even mellleing. one described them
the fun of the inrerdtanscs, dte kinestheric sensarions .s pleasant or beautiful. The little, Plaza, and cerraio
dropping, rurning. For some pCf5om, driv'f1g was a of rhe or entertainment symbolized by rhe
challenging, high·speed game. the c.ppLr 7th S(ree( area were {he only elerntttHs on
00 {he5te hsr roads, one (an have SDme s.ense of [he m<Jjor which any "fkere,,,, was bestowed. One subject by
One ,ubjeer felr tha, coming over a ｾｲ･｡Ｈ＠ each saying tha, the old Plaza. on ooe end, and the new
mnrning ｭ｡ｦｾｴＺ､＠ tlal:: midpoint of lIef journey and shape {Q levard, on (he mhcr. were the only things with Chlfi&i:ICr, and cnJt

it, nored extension of lhe r.:jcy's due TO the they summed The image seem<!d to lack much
",,'" roads, which have changed her whole conceprion 01 the of rhe (har.crer, "abiliry, and pleasant meaning of
of ejemErn:s. were references w rhe pleasure of central Bosron.
momenr:uy ex(ensi\'e views from elevated portions of (he free-
Co 111 111 011
way, versus {he contatned mOfiQ(onous sEnsarion of rhe embank-
ment in :3 cut. On mher hand, 3S in BostOn, these drivers We nnd, in comparing these three cities (if we can find any·
to have diffiCUlty in lOC:Hing the freeway, in tying ir (Q .hing in such smal! ,.mplings) tha<. as might be expeCled, peo·
of city slrUCcurC. Tllere was a common e"""J,,,,,,ce ple ad;us[ 10 their surroundings and exrract 5r[ucrure ｊＮｾ､＠ idenriry
rna.m('lltJuy Joss of Of lema cion when coming ofT :l Ollr of the materi3i1 at hand.' The (ypes of elements used in [he
f3mp, city image, and the qualities thar make, them strong 0' weak. seem
Anmhcf frequent [heme was (hac of reblive age. Perhaps quire comparable between the three, the proportion of
bet::3use so much of rhe environmenr is or changing. there clemenr may with the actual lacm. ar the same
was evidence of widespread, almos< pathological, a[[aehmen. to differences between rhe of oriema·
anything thar had survived [he upheaval. rhe riny Plan· these different physical environmentS,
Olvera S!fee[ noJe; Or even rhe decayed hOtels of !lunker Hill, Among orher rhings, the rests made dear rhe significance of
4.
claimed rhe a[(("mion of many .subjecrs. There was an impn.'!lsinn space and breadth of view, The of Boston's Orarles
f rom these few interviews (har [here is 3n even greater scml- River edge is based on rhe wide visual it alford, on emer·
.memal ilctachmenr {Q what is old than exists in conserv:uh-c log rhe ciey from This side. A large number of city elements
BOSWfl. can be seen at once in [heir relalions; one's position relative to
In Los Angeles as well as in JerS€y City, people tOok great rhe whole is abundantly clear. Los Angeles'
delight in /lowers and vegetarion, which indeed arc rhe glory of nOted for irs spatial openness, Jersey

42 41
 descended 'he Palisades toward 'he work from which most people ･ｘｉＩｴｬＬＯｾＺ＠
also ampJy .nes!ed cO the flQ$IOfl
from a brood view, as apparem ,he <onSfaO{
in OUf the avoidance of "Iow"r class"
(he recOJ5nicion of the
Ci,y, or the unmistakable
[111,'0 disc inn sides.

the fluidity of
elemetl!s which anchor
Many of
or old,

Los Aagelt's. w (he mowr CJ..I, also furnishes rhe mosr

vivid examples rhe response ro [he parh system: to [he way
it is irself ｯｦｬｾｊＮｮｩｺ･､ｴ＠ to It.s rdarion wl[h Other elemems, ro
irs own im"mal space, ,*od rhe
visual dominance of .",1 ,h"ir inllul!:ltce: as the ne<-

44
 Indeed, rhese elements may be of motl' general 'pplicallon, since
Iller ｾ･ｭ＠ (0 'ypes of environmemalimages.as
seen by A. These may
be ddineJ as follows:

(he prC'dnmiflJ;(U elemenrs in ch(;u' image,

,he city moving rhrough ana
the mner elemems
2. fdRei. EJges the linear eleffil:ms nO[ used or ｣ｯｮｳｩ､ｾ＠
ered as po,hs by rhe They arc rhe boundaries berween
twO phases, Iinclr in continuity: shores, railroad cms,
edges of developmenr, walls, They arc' Iore,,1 rererences rarher
than coorJinate axes, Such eJges may be more or less
dose One region off from anOlhtr; Or may
cegions are rebted
eltfOl"nt5, although prubably nm
many people irnpOf!3nr <]fj"""",,.
in the role of holdillg
of city by
the medium-",-!.'!;" seerio!'!s uf rhe
conceived of as having cwo·Jimensiona!
memaHy "inside of," Jnd which nre
AJ'liays idemi.
if

co

(oncenrrations, whi£::h gain: rhdr im·

condcl1sorion of some us" or physical
as a srreef-COtna! hangout Of ,n eodoseJ Some

4(i
 PCllh,

4&
 20. -i(1

50
 Parhs may nor only be iJentifiable anJ continuous, bur have ,he CharleStown bridge) -prevented it from becoming as strong
Ji,enionol quali,y as well: one direcrion along rhe line can easily a feature as i[ might mherwise have been. In Jersey Ci,y, ,he
be Jisringllished from .he reverse, This Gm be done by :l gf:lJi- never-accomplished convergence of rhe three mlin sneers crOS5-
ent a reguiar change in some quali£y which is (umularive in one ing the Palisades, and rheir final nondescript subsidence, was
----;0.. j

highly confusing.
1IIIIIlfllllili direction. Most ftequently sensed were rhe ropographic gradi.
ems: in B05[on, particularly on Cambridge Street, Beacon Sueer, This same kind of enJ·from-end differemiation, which is con-
anJ Beacon Hill. A gradient of use intensiry. such as on rhe ferred by termini, can be crealeJ by orher elements which may be
approach !O Washingron Sueet, was also noreJ, or, on a regional visible near the end, or appareor end, 01 a path. The Common
scale, rhe gradient 01 increasing age on approaching the cemer noar one end of Charles Screer acted this way, as dio the Stare
of los Angeles on a freeway. ln the relatively gray environment House for Beacon Street. The apparem visual closure of 7th
of Jersey City, thete were IWO examples of gradienrs based on Sueer in Los Angeles by rhe Harel Srarler. anJ of BoSton's \X7ash-
(he reLuive smre of rcpair of renemems. ingrao Street by rhe Old South Meering House, had the same
A prolonged curve is also a gradient, a steady change in direc· effect. Borh arc accomplished by a Slight shifr of [he path direc-
tion of movement. This was nor ofren sensed kinesthe<ically: tion, pu([ing an important building on the visual axis. Elemems
the only ci£ations of a bodily SEnse of curving morion were in known ro be On a particular side of a parh also conferred a sense
the BaSIOn subway, or On .portions of the los Angeles freeways. of direction: Symphony Hall On Massachuserrs Avenue and rhe
When srreer curves are memioneJ in (he imerviews, rhey seem BOSton Common alolLg Tremont Sueel were lomh employed lO
co relare primarily to visual clues. The turning in Charles Street this way. In Los Angeles, even the relatively heavier concemra-
at Beacon Hill was sensed, for example, ｨＬ｣ｾｬＮＤ･＠ the £Iou hili/<!. (ion of pedestrians on (he wes(Om side of Broadway was used to
iog walls heightened the visual perception of curVature. judge in which JireClion one was being.
People tended to think of pat" deStinations and origin poims: Once a path has directional quality, ir may have the further
they liked ro know where paths came from and where they leJ. attribute of being scaled: One may be able ro sense one's posi(iun
Paths wi,h cleJ( and well·known origins and destinations had .long the <0,,1 lengrh, 10 grasp the distance traversed or yet 10
stronger idemiries, helped lie the ciry rogether, and ga,e rhe go, Fearures which 1acilirate scaling, of course, usually confer a
observer a sense of his bearings whenever he (tossed rhem. Some sense of direnion as well, excepr for the simple technique "f
subjecrs rhought of general Jes<i03rions for paths, 10 a seer ion of counting blocks, which is direction Ie,s but can be used ro com-
rhe city, for example, while orhers ,hough, of specific places. pure JistJoccs. Many subjectS referred !O rhis I.rrer clue, bur by
One person, who maJe rather high demands for intelligibility 00 means all. It wos moSt commonly used in rhe regular parrern

upon rhe ciry environment, was troubled because he saw a SOl of of Los Angeles
raiJroaJ (racks. anJ diJ nor know ｾｨ･＠ Jescinarion of (rains using Mosr o{ren, perhJPS. scaling was accomplished by a sequence
them. of known landmarks or oodes alooil the path. The marking of
Cambridge Srreet in BostOn has clear, s[faregie rerminal poims: idenrili.ble regions as a path eoters and leaves them also corlSt;·
ｾｨ･＠ Charles Sneer rm:1ry and Sco!lay Square. Ocher srreers may ,uted a powerful means of giving direction and scaling ro a parh.
have only one sharp ,erminai: Commonwealth Avenue at the Charles Streer emering Deacoo H;lI f,om the Common, and Sum-
Public Garden, or Federal Srreel ar POS( Olliee Square. On the mer Srre<:t entetiog rhe shoe and le;lther disrrict nO ,he way (l)
orher hand, the indellnite finale 01 Washington Street-variously South Storion, are l·,.ImPles of this efIeer.
thought of as going 10 State Street. to Dock Square, to Haymarkct Given a direnional quali,y in a pJ(h, we may next inquire if
Square, or even to Nonh Starion (.((ually ir formally runs ro it is aligoeJ, rh" is, if j<s direuion is referable '0 snme larger'

54 55
56 57
 of ,he Common and ,he Public Gu..im. imersecrions branching o! mait. lines ...';IS a problem, ,illte it
of a number ａｾ･ｮｵ＠ we", the images of
und",srood, probably relationShip! tQ ,emember where tho
OUr in camrasr [0 ,he remaind", of the few
!!truel"'.,

But the number of enuanees is not whOle sloty.

fivEApoimed crossing m;:J.Y be mJ.Je cle.if, :J.S
in BostOn's Capley Sguore. The comrolled sp,ce
of the au' ,he

joint in
At many Ilosron nor only ,he numhor of p"hs mul-
"plied, blu rhe conrinuity of the spllial corridor is completely
lost it strikes ｾｨ･＠ chaOtic emptiness n£ a square,
ate such chamic erossings simply the proouc! of pa" his-
fOtieal acddenr. The comemporary highway mrcrch.nge is even
confusing, since i( must be negotiated at higher
Seve,,,! sub;..Cts, spoke with
sba pe of 'be Tonnelle
lar /let is taised
make 1'3th5, both of i m·
is rhe btanchillg 01 Dc,v" (aller a
l'I.rne confusiol1 inco tWO parns: tblt older
le.dmg to Cautew.y-ComrnerciaJ-Atli1l'1tlc, and
These paths wee" nO! infreguemly
major cmlVtllsioL'l$ in the
Im.ge. unable to .t once:
maps of Storm",
Drtve.

58
60
 rhe s([cer maze of Bosron's financial
[(j a The sudde", and pu/iculady the
n,h", indiscernible, shif, 0' one griel to
system, or [(j a was very confusing. Subjects
Angeles ohell quire disoriemed
Streer or eUI: of Pedro.
Edges

speculate rhat Ihis

P1!:dtmf,IlUl aCCesS at the
imerrelalion of Charles River and Beacon
ro grasp. Although the posidon of rhe hill is
pOlenrially of rhe puzzling bend in the river, and
alrhough rhe hill gains a commanding enfilade view of
,he river edge, rhe Charles Srreer rmary seemed lor mOSt people
10 be rhe only firm connecrion berween rhe tWO If rhc hill ros<
sharply and immediately OUI 01 the warer, instead of behind a
foreshore covered by uses which are only doubrfully
with Hill, and if it were more clo5<'Jy cied
m path aloog the relarion would have
been much

62 6.1
 While continuity and vi,ibilit y are cruci.I, strong edges ",e
na< necessarily impem:rr.ble. Many edges are uniting seams,
fa.cher rh;:m isol::uing barriers. and tr is ｩｮｈｾｲ･ｓＨＬｧ＠ lO see the ､ｪｴｾ＠

ferences in effect. Boston's Cemral Artery seems <0 divide abso·

lutely, ro ;solalo. Wide C,mbridge Sueet divides tWO ;egions
sharply bur keeps them in some visual relarion. lleacon Street,
the visible boundar), of Beacon Hill along the Common, acrs nut
as a barrier but
deady ｩｯｾ､＠ U,9
barh divides ut'lires, leaving the lower area in uncenain rela-
tion to the hill above. Ch.r1es Street orries hea\'y Hallie bu,
also comains [he local service S(Qres and special ;]((lIJlries ｡ｳＨＩｩｾ＠
.red wi,,, rhe Hill. l< pulls the residems rogether b)' a",acting
them to itselL lr acts ambiguously either as linear node, edge, Ot
parh for various people aT various ('imes
are often paths '$ ",elL Where this so, .nd where
obser"er wall shu, off from moving on Ihe
(a, he is on rhe Cemral Arrery, for example), then cirnr[a.
[ion image seemed [0 be [he dominam one. The e]emenr
usually picmred.s parn, reinforced by bcimdary charac«ris[;cs.
Figueroa and Sunset and [0 a lesser extem l.os Angel,s
and Olympic S"eers. usually [hough[ of .s [he edges of ,he
Los Angeles cemral business dim in. Imerescingly enough, rh,y
were monger in [his respect 'han 'he Hollywood and Harb",
Freeways, which also can be rhought of as major boundaries. "nd
ace bo,h much more impGr<am as parhs and physically more
imposing. The face ,har Figueroa and rhe o<her surface StreetS
OJe cooceprually parr of rhe general grid, aod have been familiar
for some rime, as well as rhe rel .. ive invisibiliry of rhe depres>ed
or landscaped freeways, all conspired <0 erase ,hese freeways
from [he image. Many subjects had difficulty in making a men·
tal conneCtion berween rhe bst highway and 'he remainder o!
(he ciry srru,,:mre. jus.r in the Cosroo case. They would. ,0
imagination. even walk across ,he Hollywood Flcewoy as if i, did
!lOt exis!. A h,gh·speed ｡ｲｾｉｹ＠ may no< necessarily be tbe OOt
way of visually delimiting a cenrral distticr .
The elevared railways of Jersey Cil)' and Bosran ate ･ｾ｡ｭｰｊｴｓ＠
of whar might be called overhead edges. The elevared along
 jeeu ,eferred some resre{ (0 the
place thaI has suongly cbaracteristjc

Etlges may also, paths, have direnionai qualities. The

River edge, for ex.mple, has the obviolls 5 ide.frorn.sid<;
differenriadoll of Water and city, and end·!rom·end disritlcriOIl
provided by Beacon eels". had little of this ｱｵＺｴｬｩＧｾＬ＠
Subjects, when asked which city they f"l' !O be a well·oriente"
lr is dillicul, '0 ,hink of Chicago w;choU! Pi<rutin8 bke one, mentioned several, New (roeanin,ll Manharcan)
would be interesting to see how many Chic.soans would waS unanimousJ)' cited. (his cicy was cJtcd not so much for
Fi,u" 24, ｰＮｾ･＠ 6., to • 01 their city by puccio,!! down ｳ＼ｬｭｾｨｩｮｧ＠ Anseles 1135 as well, but it h"s j
line ,he lake shore. Hert' is • wEII.defined chara([erisric dis"iccs,
example af a visible ed8f'. BiBamic in scale, cbat exposes an rtvers and streets. Two los Angeles subjects even
W buildings, and tiny 10 M.nh."a" as being "small" in comparison 10
hF<!ches .11 come to ,he water's which iluoughour area! Concep« of size may depend in UI1 bow well
most of is accessible and visible all, The ClIft be grasped.
thL' dillerEntia"on of events along the line, .0<1 me
1",er,,1 interviews, the disuiC:I$ Were ,he basic
art sIconS. The e/feCt is reinfor.ed by ,he coocener.don Doe for
acch.:ides along its ex(em. The scale is ,0 Symphony Hall,
and (DarSt". and lOU much End to Back
(icy and water, as Loop,
i. an uofOt'g.<table sigh!.
dis(ricts in
Districts are ,he reladvely large :IJi the cit},
can mem.lIy go inside or, and familial ,,';,h ilcswn tend"d <0 recognize regions
aCter. Tht·, hI! tl:'CO,lrnlz,ed heavily for OtSll.l1i:?ariol1 and on smaller
be used as I!:lCtemal as a p<:rson people
brhny persons interviewed cook c;are tH de,,,iled
while confusing in itS path pinern tiill,.ren,o,., in aU parts
!Jabitant, has, in [he number and vividn"ss of demems,
dlsrricrs, a {plaliry rhal ,{[.,liCE makes up for it. one person
put i ..

You Can (ell

66
67
 when the ,hemaric unit does nor esublish COlUUSI with
material. muJelint. omamem. color. skyline, especially fenestra·
other parrs of the ciry, and rradidol'l31 associadolls Can play a
,ion-were all bsic clues in idemifyin,g major districrs. Beacon
Hill and Commonwealth Avenue are borh examples. The clues similar role,
When the main requiremem has been satisfied, and a thematic
were not only visual ones: noise was important as well. At
unit comraStS the reS[ of rhe city has been CtlllSllilu,:ed,
times, indeed, confusion itstIf might be a clue, as it was for the
the degree of imernal homogeneity is less significant, !?specially
woman who that she knows she is in ,he North End as
if discOIdant elem.anu occur in panern. Small
soon as she feels she is get£ing lost.
Stores on Street corners establish rhylhm on Beacon that
Usually, the typical features were imaged and recognized in
one subject ｰ･ｴ｣ｩｾ､＠ ., pan of image. These swres in no
a chacaneri"ic clu"er. 'he thematic unit. The Beacon Hill image,
way weakened her I1DO-comm.ardal image of Ill11lwn Hill bur
for example, included steep narrow streets; old brick row houses
of intimate srale: inset, highly maintained. white doorways; merely added to it. Subjects rouM over a
black (rim; cobblestOnes and brick walks; qui",; and upper-d.ss of local disagreement with rhe Chaucrerislic
Districts have kinds boundaries. Some are hard,
pedestrians. The resulting thematic unit was distinCtive by con-
de/inire, precise. Such is the boundary of the n.ck l'Iay at the
"as, EO the rest of 'he ciry and could be recognized immediarely.
Charles River or at ,he Public G,uden, All agreed on this eu.cl
In ocher parts of cemraJ ｂｯｳｴｏｮｾ＠ (here was some rhemaric COn-
locarioo. arhor boundaries may be sof< or uncenain, suen as
fusion. it was nor uncommon to group rhe Back Bay with the
the limit berwc'C'n dowmown shopping and rhe office district, [Q
Sourh End, despite their very different use:, !Iarus, and parrern.
whose existence and apptOXimiikie LOCJtion. mosr peuple would
This was probably rhe result of a certain architetrural homogeneity.
restify. Srill o(her regions no boundar;"" ar .11, as did the
plus some similarity of hisrorical background. Such likenesses
&lurh End for many of our subjects. Figure Ｒｾ＠ illuserare, rhese
ro blur rhe [iry image.
ce[{ain reinforcemenr of elues is needed ro produce a wong Frc. IS. Vdfidbilff
image. All toO often, rhere are a few distinctive signs, but not
enough for a fult ,hem.ric unit. Then rhe region may be recog-
ni"ble ro someone familiar with the ciry, bur ir lacks any visual
SHength or impact. Such, .xample, is Little Tokyo in Los
Angeles, recognizable by irs population and the lerrering on its
signs bu< orherwi,e indiStinguishable from rhe general ma"ix.
Allhough ir is a strong .rhnic concemrarian, probably known ro
many people, ir appeared as only a subsidiary portion of rhe dry
Image.
y., social ar. quit. significant in building rl:gions.
A series of interlliews indicated the class O\letlortes tha,
many people associ are wirh differem dis<riccs, Most of the ｊ･ｲｳｾｹ＠
City regions dass or erhni, are;Js, discernible only with dif-
ficulty for the outsider. Borh City and Boston shown
tht elllggerated .rrenrion paid <0 upper-class districts, and rhe
magnificatioll of rhe of elemems in rhose
areaS. Dis"icr names also help ideillity ro dislricts even

68
 Some well-known Hoscon disrriccs were uns[ruo:..:mred in [he
public image. We${ "od and North End inrernally
undifferemiared fo< many p€ople who f<!!gions.
Even more ofren, rhemacic;l)Jy vivid d(srr!(rs such as (he mJrkt't
area seemed confusingly shapeless, burh eXlemally and imernally.
The sensations of the marke( activity arc unforgenable.
b,neuil and irs reinforce chern. Yet [he area
is shapeless and sprawling, divided by rhe Cenrral Artery, and
hampered the (WO acrivi!y cemers which vie for domin:lfl(e:
Fanellil J>lld Square. Dock is spatially
The connections other oreas are ODS<Ufe Or
disrupted by the Thus the market diStriCt simply
IflS!ead of roJe

the

Hill. the dowfuown shopping ､ｩｳｲｾｮＬ＠ Jnd ,he financi;l.! and mar-
 places and perce,ve nearby with more than normal
clarity. This tendency was confirmed so repeJteJly thar elemems
klCated ar junctions may automadc.lly be assumed to derive
special prominence from their locltion. The percepmal im-
plf(aoce of such locations shows in anmher way as well. When
subje[" were askeJ 'rhere on a hlbiru.1 [fip [hey firS[ fel, a
seeme of arrival dowlUowll Boscon, a lorge number of people
singleJ our break-poinrs of rranspo[!,rion as rhe key places. In
3; number of cases. the paim was ar (he HJosicion from a ｨｩｧｾ＠

way (Swrrow Drive Of 'he (emral Anery) w a cir)' street; in

ｾｮｏＺｴｨ･ｲ＠ case, (he point was at rhe first railroad smp in l3osro(1.
(B->ck nay Sradon) even ,hough ,he subjeCt did nor set off
there. lnh.birams of Jersey City relr 'hey had lefr ,heir city when
lh"y had !",sseJ [hrough 'he Tannell. Avenue Circle. Tn.

FrG. n. H#I FIG. 28. T hlJ Charle! ｓｲｦｾ･ｬ＠ mia,,!

and sufficiently
distin",ve ..rimier•.

ｭｏＨｴＮＧｖｾｦ＠

tnematic SlCeallrn The quality 01 OOCOO

for eDmple, is sharpened by "s
"""mess w ScoJby Square,
ｴｨｾ＠ downrowil shIlpp;ng disuicr.
Nod",
Nodes are ,he SH"reSic foci ;oro whictl (he observer can elller,
eitber porhs, DC

conceiving the environment

nat,onal t."el. then whote ["f itself
The or of • oreak in ｉｲｩｬｾｳｰＮＬｴＺＢｃＧ＠
Because dccisiom muS[
cheir atrenrional such

72
74
J
LalJdmarkr

7')

VERSION
VERSION
 man, the visibili,y from long distances of its bright gold dome, ran the full range of objectS availabl.. The number of locaJ
all make it a key sisn for cenual BoSton. It has the satisfyinS elemems thac become landmarks appears (0 depend as much
gualities of recognizability a< many levels of reference, and of upon how familiar (he observer is with his surroundings as upon
coincidence 01 symbolic with visual importance. the elements themselves. Unfamiliar subjects usually memioned
People who used diSlam landmarks did so only for very general only a few landmarks in am ce interviews. although they managed
djreccional oriemadon, or, more frequentlYI in symbolic ways. !O find many more when !hey went on field [tips. Sounds and
for one person, 'he Custom House lem unity ro Arl.mic Avenue smells somerimes reinforced visual landmarks, although rhey did
because ic ca.n be seen from almost any place on chat SHeet. nor seem [Q consciwce landmarks by themselves.
for anocher, the Cusrom House set up a rhy!hm in 'he financial Landmarks may be isobted, single events without reinforce·
district, lor it can be ,een intermittently at many places in memo Excepr for lllge or very singubr marks, rhese are weak
(hat area. references, since rhey are easy m miss and require 5USf:,1ined
The Duomo of Florence is a prime ･ｾ｡ｭｰｬ＠ of a distant land- searching. The single trallic lighr or Street name demands COn-
mark: visible from near and far, by day or night; unmistakable; .... centrat ion to nnd. More ohen. local poims were remembered as
dominant by sile and comour; closely related to the city'S tradi- dusrers, in which [hey reinforced each ocher by reperirjon, and
tions; coincidem wi(h (he religious and rransi[ center; paired were recognizable pardy by comext.
wid\ ics campanile in such a way chal [he direcdon of view can A sequential series of landmarks, in which one derail calls up
be gauged f rom a distan£<. It is difficulr <0 conceive of rhe city amicipadon of rhe nexr and key de .. ils trigger specific moves of
wilham having chis grea[ edjfice come to mind. the observer, appeared ro be a standard way in which 'hese people
Bu( local landmarks. visible only in restricced localicies, were "aveled through 'he city. In such sequences, rhere were trigger
much more frequently employed in rhe three "ties studied. They cues whenever wrning decisions muSt be made and reassuring
cues that confirmed rhe observer in decisions gone by. Additional
details often helped ro give a sense of nearness m the final desrina·
£ion or co imermediate goals. For emotional security as well as
lunnional efficiency, it is important that such sequences be fairly
cominuous, with no long gaps, ahhough there may be a thi£ken-
ing of derail a, nodes. The sequena: lacil;,",es recognllion and
memorization. Familiar observers can Store up a Vast quamity
of point Ima.ges in familiar sequences. a.lthough recognition may
break down when the sequence is reversed or scrambled.
Eiemelll I nle .. reiations
These demenrs are simply the raw material of ,he environ-
memal image a< the city scale. They mllS! be pa«erned together
to provide a satisfying form. The preceding d;scussions have
gone as far as groups 01 similar elements (netS of pathS, clusters
01 landmarks. mosaics of regions). The next logical step is to
consider (he imeracdon of pairs of unlike elemems.
Such pairs may reinforce one ano<her, ,esonale SO ,hat the)'
enhance each omer's power; or they

112 H3
themselves. A gr,,, landmark may dwarf and throw out of Mas! observers seem to group their elements ioro imermedia,e
scale a small region at '<s
base, Properly located, anOther land· . organizations, which might be ca!led complexes, The observer
mark may fix and mengthen a core; placed off cemer, it may senses ､ｵｾ＠ complex as a whole whose parts are interdependent
only mislead, as does tile John Hancock Building in relation to and are relatively hxed in relation to each other, Thus many
Bosron's Copley Square. A large Slfeer, w'rh irs ambiguous BOstonians would be able to fit most of the major elements of
charaGer 01 bmh edge and path, may penetrate and rhus expose ,he flack Bay, the Common, Beacon Hill, and the central shop-
a region ro view, while at the same rime disrupting it. A Iand- ping, inro a single complex. This whole area, in the tefms usM
mSlk feature may be so alien w {he charao:er of a disrr1€:t as to by Brown" in his experiments rderred [0 in Chapter J, has
dissolve t.he regiona.l continuity, or it may, on rhe mher hand, become one locality, For others, the size 01 their locality ma y
st:and in JUSt (he COntrast (hac intensifies chat continuity. much smaller: the cemral shopping and the near edge of rhe
Dis[fins in particular, which rend to be of larger size than alone. for example. Outside of this compkx rhere are
the other elemeim. contain w;rhin themseives, and are rhus re- gaps of idenriry; ,he observer muSt run blind to ,he next whole,
bred to) various pJrhs, nodes) and landmarks. These other ele- even il only momentarily. AI'hough rhey are dose wg«her in
mems nor only strucrure rhe region imernally, rhey also imensil y physical reality, maS[ people seem to feel only a vague link be-
the idcmity of rhe whole by enriching and deepening in char- tween Doston"s office and nnandal district and {he cemra! ｳｨｯｰｾ＠
acrer. Ikacon Hill in Bosran is one example of rhis e!fect, In ping district on Washington Street. This peculiar remoreness"
faD:. (he componems of 5rruCtuIe and idendty (which are (he was also exemplified in rhe puzzlinllll"P between Scollay Square
P,HtS of the image in which we are in(t.:resn:d) seem to leapfrog and Dock Square which ak only a block .1"[(' Th'< psycho·
as rhe observer mcwes up from to The identifY of a logical disrance between tWO llX'.allties may be much greal<!t. Of
window may be struoured intO a pattern of windows. which is more difficult ro surmouO[, rhan mere physical separalion seems
the cue for rho idemifica<ion of • building, The buildings them- to warram.
selves are interrelated so as ro form an identifiable space, and Our preoccupation here wirh pam rarher than wholes is a
so on, necessary feature of an invesrigarion in a primitive srage, Af{er
Pachs, which are dominant in many individual images, and successful difT crcmiarion and undersranding of pares, a study can
whkh may be a principal resource in organizadon at the ｭｾｴｲｯﾭ mOve on to consideration of a rotal syscem There were indica-
politan scale, have imamate interre!adons wirh ocher element tions 'har 'he imal\e may be a cominuous field, the diSturbance
lypeS, Junction nodes Occur automatically a( major intersections 01 one element in some way affecting all olhers. Even the recog-
and termini. and by cheir form should reinforce [hose critical nition of an objeCT is as much dependenr on comext as on the .,.
rnomems in a journey. These nooes, in (Urn, are nac only frum 01 ,he objec< itself, One major distortion, such as a rwis<-
strengrhened by rhe presence 01 landmark, (as is Copley Square) ins 01 rhe ,hap" 01 ,he Common, seemed to be rcHeered through-
bur provide a seuing which almost guaramees auemion for any (Tilt the image of Bos<on, The disnlrbance of large-scale con-
such mark. The paths, again, are given identity and tempo no< st-tucrion affected more (han ics In\mediace enYICOnS, Bur slJch
only by rheir own form, or by rheir nodal junctions, bur by rhe field effectS have hardly been Studied here.
regions rhey pass through, !he edges they move along, and !he
bndmarks ciisrributed along rheir length.
The Shiftisg Image
Air (hese elemems operate roglltther, in a com(!'x[. lr would
be imere5[lng w study the characrerlsdcs of various pairings: Rather [han a single comprehensive image for the emire eo-
ｉｾｮ､ｭ｡ｲｫＭ･ｧｩｯＬ＠ node.pa<h, e,c. Eventually, one should try to vironmenr. rhere seemed [0 be setS of images) which more or less
go beyond such pairings to consider tmal parrerns, overlapped and imerrela<ed, They

85
 series 01 levels, roughly by 'he scale of area involved, so ,hat 'he be drawn as bI'411ch'ns OUt from poim of emcance, or
observer moved as necessary from an image 3( s(reer level to. £ling from some base line such as Avenue,
levels of a neighborhood, a ciry, or a merropolican b. Q,he r maps wer" ,he cansm;(don of an endosiog
This by is a necessity in a and com· oudine, such BOSIOll which was then IiJled in
plex environmenc. Ye( it imposes an ex". burden of organiza· toward the
don on (h" observer, especially if thett is litde rdation between c. S(ill others, particularly in Los Angeles, began b)' I.ying
Ii , rali b"lIciing is unmiStakable in rhe ci'y.wide pano· down a b,sic repeating pattern (,he path gridiron) and then
rama yee unrecogniubJe from irs base, then a chance ｨｾｳ＠ been adding der.iL
lost 10 pin IOgethe! the images ar twO different levels 01 organ· d. maps staHed as a set of ad jaceor regions.
Th" SI.,e OJ! Seacon Hrtl, on the athe r hand, ｾｨ･ｮ＠ detailed as w connections and imeriors.
to pierce rhrougb several image levels. Ir holds a "'.- e. A lew BastM Ｌｾ｡ｭｰｊ･ｳ＠ d"'eioped [rom a f.miliar kernel,
regie place in rbe organization of rhe cemer. a familiar element On which everything waS
images may differ nor only by the scale of area involved, but hUllg,
of day. or season, of faneuil The i mage itself was nO! a miniaturized mod,1 of
rhe markers should image from ,,,,,Ii,y, reduced in scale and As a pur·
Artery. shollid have pOli",e it made by or
SOme canrinuiry, some ldlmenr of ｩｴｶＺｲ｡ｮｌｾＪ＠ Wa.shingwn- !!'ven adding elemems to , ••liry, by fusioll dislO"ion. by re·
Srreet.by·day. In order to this comilllllly th. lace and Structuring the II: was sufficient, p",hal's bener,
of sensuous confusion, many drained rheit images of putpose il ＢｩｬｯＸ｣ｾｉ＠ It
visual come OCr using abStfaCtlOns such as "resrauram" or "second f.mous carwon of New Yorker'S view of 'he United
d'r .nd night, driving or walk· Srures.
raJn some effon and loss. JistOf(ed, there was a Strong element of tOpological
observe, milS! also adjust his image ro seculor shifcs in invari:1o(e with respecc m h' was as if me map were
,he physical reality around him. Los illumared the drawn on an infini(ely ＵｨｴＺ･ｾ＠ direaions were
practical and emOtional suains induced as image is c:ort(,eomed twisted, dismnces Stretched Of forms SO ch.o8fd
with cooSlam physical changes. I( would imporcam (0 know from JC firsr
how to maintain cominuicy chrough ｾｨ･ｳ＠ changes, JUSt as ties seGue nee was usually (orceer, the
are needed between level and of organization. so are con- rarely IOCIl arid sewn hack rog«her in another order.
tinuicies required which persist through a major change. This [jnuity is necessary if [he image is co be of Jny value.
might be hcijit;J.ceJby (he retemion of an old tree, a p;J.(h {face l
CMr"(er.
The in which skeICh maps drown seemed to },n.agl Quality
indic:lrc rhar rhe image delJelops,. or grows, in diffcrem ways. Study of various indl . . 'dual
This may perhaps have some CO rhe way in which it first reveaied cerrain orher di,stincrions
.s all individu.1 familiar with his environ· im.ges 01 an dtmem differed between observers

ｾｙ＠
apparent:

ｾ＠ . ｾ＠
. a, Quite ''''n,,''"'''' images were developed along, and [hen
relative density, i.e., the extent to which Ihey were packed wich
derail. mig!>r be relati"ely dense, as a picture of
Srreer which idenrlltes """II .Iong i[5
lines of movement Thus a map might

HG
rhin, when charaeterized simply a srree'
by use,
Aoorher mader con(rece( ｳ･ＺｮｬＬｾ＠
ously vivid images, and those which we,e highly
and void of sensuous comem. Thus (he
building might in
detail, ＬｾｉＢＡｩｶ･ｬｹ＠ ails"aC!, the Strucw,e
as "a reS!iLi:lram" Ot ,he ",hir<l building ,he COider,"
Vivi..!
 IV.
We are cominuously
surroundings, (0 suucwre
ments are more or less arne-oJ-hIe to such trearment. When
reshaping cities i[ should possible [0 give [hem a form which
CITY FOfu\!
facilitates rhese organizing elTorli rather than Ihem.

world
a 'Utlilltle
and • resn. ping af hls
,he eye, organile themselves from level to l"v"l
ｳｾ｣･Ｌ＠ which can ｳｲｾｮ､＠ as symbols far urban life.
srudy yields some clues in <his r.specL
Mos< objons which we are acclIs<omed (Q call beau!i/ul, such
as a painring o( a cree, are single,pulJXlse <hings, in which,
through long developmem or ehe impress of one will, ehere is aD
imima(E visible linkage from fine delail to tOtal SrruCfure. Ii
I

cily is a mulli.purpose, shifring arganizarion, a {eO[ far m.ny

funcrions, raised by many hands and wirh rela,ive speed, Com-
ple,e specialization, final meshing, is improbable and ullde;ir-
able. The form muSt be 50mewhat nancommitl.i, plastic 10 :he
purposes and percep:ions of ils cirizens.
Yet there arc fundarnemal runnions 01 'he Cily forms
eX'f,>renlve; cifcul1ltjon, major key poin!s.

9()
 The common hopes and pleasures, rhe sense or communlcy may
b. made flesh Above all, if 'he eovironmem is visibly organ-
ized and sharply identified, then ,he ci,izen c.n inform i; with
his own meanings and conntccions. Then it wi!1 iJ.ecome a true
place, remarkable and unmiswkable,
To rake a single example, florence is a city of p<lwerful
ch.latter which has deep hold On the aif ection of many
AlthouBh many will a[ flrsr react co ir as cold Or
bidding, yer they caMor deny itS special intensi,y_ To Jive in
this environment, wharever the economic or social problems
encoumered. seems to add an exrra depth IO experience, whether
of delight Or of m<!lanchoiy Or of
The ciry of COurse has an economic, and p<llltical
histOry of staggering proponions, and the visual e\lidence of [his
Flg;;.rt' j..; past 3.CCOllnrs for much of florentine characrer. But
ir is also a highly visible city. Ir lies a bowl of hill, along
Arno River, so that the hills and the city are almost always imer-
visible. On {he soufh, (he country almos( w rhe
hearc of the citYf scning up a clC"lr COntr3.Sf, and (rom one of [he
last sreep hiHs a terrace gi\lts an "overhead" {he urban
care. On the north, small dis[lfict setrJemems, such as Fiesote
and Senignano. arc perched vlsibly on characteristic hills. From
[he precise symbolic and transportation center of [he city rIses
Fig"" 3 {, paM ｾＲ＠ the huge ,nd unmistakable dome of rhe Duomo, flanked by
GiOHO'S campanile, a poim of oric-marioo visibJe An every secA
don city and for miles outside of it. This dome is the
symbol of florence,
The cenr.ral elfy has dis[.ricr charaners of almosr: oppressive
streng ,I>: sl",·like meers, $lone-paved: calJ Stone and StuCCO
buildings, yellowish -gray in color, with shurrers, iron grilles, and
cave-like emrances) ropped. by (he characreris(ic Floremine
eaves. r:his art'a art many strong nodes) whose dis(innive
foems ale reinforced by rheir special use Of class of user. The
central are<tA is studded wirh landmarks, each wIlh itS: own name
and Story, The Arno River curs through the whole and con-
nects it w rht Jarger hmdscape. ｣ｯｮｦｭｾ＠ ourselves to. States. or
To th.se clear and differet)!,aied forms people have made srill somewhat 01 a ratlty. Itnageable
scron,g ｾＨｦ｡ｨｭ･ｳＮ＠ whether history or of (heir own ex- legion, bur may b<: nO more 'Mil t",enry or

92
94
 liDO (OwarJ .....·hi(ll j( gOt'S A scree[
,"ill!! ",hid,
,his
,iite«,nfMi 11111<:£r'[111""<011.

some [II !l"'I[lld 4JOI"', and one i. regularly

channels; !tl '\tp" ur "down" ｾ＠ bur there mallY mheu, A
progrf:.'ssive dll(.·h.'rling of signs. scores, or ｰ･ｯｬｾ＠ may mark ｲｨｾ＠
of color
a ill
signal rhe
used. Perhaps Olle can proceed by
commulty " or by moving ,he
co thl!' "n. emplo}'eJ proieGin!l surfaces
consi.,,,,,Ii,, a[ons (he ima8cd .:loS .:J. une dlft:Cr.ioo might have a (uded ,vloe, AiJ these mea.(IS
cominuous, unifieJ elemcm. Ir planting of make (he parh 3n nriencc;.·J dement to whkh other chjngs
crees, J singular color or [EXlUfe of Of (he classic;]l be rcfcrn:J. There is no Jangef of making a '·wfongAway"-
cuntinulq.. of borJering f.:tt.;a cief. The regularity may be l mist:lke
rhymmic one, a repetition 01 space openings, monumencs, Ot If
'-Clcoer Jrugstores_ ｔｨｾ＠ very CCUICentrJrlon uf habl[UJ!
o:long :.1 parh, AS by a cranslr llrte, will reinforce rhis familiar.
image_ less
leads to wlm might tailed J ,he line, so rh:n orher pL:l(es may be thought of
analogous the Camill", of a "Jirer." ｓ･ｶｻＧｲｾ､＠ check pOlms improve the de!inition.
funttionalllieutchy: a sensuolluingting oU( of the key di.nnels, i such "5 ,he space of ,he corridor) may I,.". a moJulo-
anJ cheir unificHion as COn{lnUauS percepmJI elements. Th,s Is gradient ｾｴ＠ ｾ＠ tate, so ｉｨｾ＠ change
,he of t!le a: ｲ･｣ｯＬｧｮｾｚＺ［ｊＮ｢ｬ＠ inrm. une could say that J
The tine 01 motion have clarity of direcrion, The place is "jusl befor" the ll;!rtl>WS Jown very rapidly," or
humun computer is JisturbeJ by long successions of rurnings, or "on ,he shoulder pi the before the final .;cen,-" l'/1O\'Cf
by grJdual, ambiguous curves which in (he end produce major can feel fill( "1 om dJrection," but '1 ｾｭ＠
Jic('ccional shifts. The comJl1uous (WiS(lngs of Venetian calli almost (here"

ｾＢ＠ ,
...............
Or of the streets in one of OlmsteJ's, rorrnntic pllrls. Or ｴｨｾ＠
gradual turning of Boston's Arlantic Avenue, suon confuse all
but ,he mas< highly aJapred observers, A s"aight parh hJS
clear Jirecrion, uf course, but sa Joes une wi,h a few well-defined
turns close co 90 dtgrets, or Ilnother of many slight (Urns which
ye, never loses i,$ b1Sic direction.
co
 I I I

presence of rhe parh may be made

along ir. or orher hims. The viral line of
before Our eyes, and can become the

through
,rs form the o.(ute ehe ciry
so s"aped th.t the flow itself become, a scaled sense.
lanes, .nd spirais would allow There is a fin. I way of organizing a porh or • ser of parhs,
sdf·cijllttmpJ.tion. All <hese 3le which will become of increasing lIlIpG,ullce in a world of geear
of rhe era veler, diSl.ocel and high speed,. Ie "melodic" ;0
lS strUt'tutea analogy to music.
ｰＮｲｨＭｉ｡ｮ､ｭ｣ｾ＠
in Such a
man in motion.
visualized deariy. if [he imerseCtion makes a vivid
image and if ,he lie fhe tWO paIns with ro each the jrmBe would be of a roral melody rarnet th.n •
other is expre!!ed, chen a sads· 'ha r image (Quid mo,,,
facrory mUCtUte. 60.lon', is an ambiguous joining demanding. The form mighr the classical intro·
of major surf.ce ｳ＼ｲｾ･ｵ［＠ ,he of Arlington Sueer and ducr'on-developmem.climax-concluslon sequencE, Of ir ｭｩＬｧｨｾ＠
Commonwtalth Avenut is den sharp. Universally, subway rake mor" s"bel" such as those which avoid fin.l con·
"arions fait Itl make such clear visual joims. Special care mus< c1usions. The apprOltch 10 S3l'1 FranciKo aetass the bay hinn
be mken to explain the imricare imerl-f'crions of modern path ar a of chis Jnr'odk oqpnizadQfl, The technique offer5 a

syscems. rich lot rlesign ､･ｶＮｬｯｰｭｾｴ＠ and ""_,in,pn,,

A join< of more 'luiU! difliculr oj

98
 silhout'cceJ over low roufs.
cover in rhe fielJ because ir has no recognizable cominuiey ol
smflce- in ;l JrJb screc(, a
The edge' .1.1.1
J t:oolinuQus fJi.;Jtk_ Sp,trlal

prDmmence lS of aUl'miun Cuntwl of

(he- bnJmark anJ irs l'om(:x( may be nccJc:J: rhe re-srrinion u(
don of l
signs W sptclfleJ surL.u:es, hdghr limits which apply w all bur
ap,nmm1s Park, the c1eor
one buiIJ;"g. The obje([ i, remarkable if has"
to land "II are powerful visual lmprcssiuas.
clarity of befit,"1 form, as dues J (olumn Of l sphere. 11 in
When. cwo srrongly (omrascing regions an: set ip:ua·
aJJi[lon i[ has sumt: richness uf Je(aii or rexwrt:, it will surd,
position, :mJ rhtir mcering biJ open co \-iew, chen
invite rhe eye_
sLife-orion is cunccnu:ueo.
A l;1n<.l",.,k is not neces,arily a ｯ｢ｪ･ｃｻｾ＠ if may be "
PlIttlcuJarly where the regions bOlIOJd arc nut uf
JoorlulUb as w<,n as a Jomt. It> lo<orion is ullcial: if large or
l1:lture. chen it is useful co JitIerenriJ.rt' d1t: cwo slJes uf an
muse J.llow lr ru be seen; if small, [lier!.!
eJge, (0 oriem rhe obs/.:n·er in (ht! "insiJe·oucsiJc:" sen-St'. Ie
are' retralt1 chat rtcei\'e more ｰｴＧｲｾ･ＨｵｬＱｩ＠ lltt:enrion {han
mol)' be accompJisheJ by materials, by .J. consiscenr
ochers: 110m' :surfaces. oc ｮｾ｡｛｢ｪＧ＠ b"'-::lues at. or slightl}'
concav;r)' of line, or by planting. rhe eJllt mol' be shapeJ
eye-level, ａｮｾｻ＠ breaks in. rranspnrralion-nodes. decisjott p<lifU5---
1!J give uriemill!lUn alung its length, by a groJient, by identifiable
are of iniensifieJ pcrccption. Imet,-,.:"" shuw .hat
poims iU ur by tndrviJuJ.!izing onE' enJ wirh re-speC(
nUj' at Jecision poinrs
w ,he other. When rhe edg<:- is not <ominuous onJ self·closlftg,
while Jiscim:tlve Structures along a cum'immus rmm: m;,lY hav{:'
it is ,hat ItS ends IcrmlOj,
slipped into obscuriry. A landmark is yer $!fonger If viSible
ognizable anchors which cumrle,,, Tht
an exccnJeJ f3nge of rime or Jiscanu.', mute t1sdul jf rhe
image of 'he oostof! waterfrom,
Jirccrion of vit'w can be dis(lflgursheJ. If IJemih3ble from
continuous wifh the Charles
,nJ hr, while moving rapidly or slowly, by nigh, ur Jay,
Jt eirher loJ JS in t:nns('quence In
it thtn b,'(omos " anchor for <he of the
<Ie men< in rhe w£Ol Boswn image.
plex and shifung world.
An edge mly be more ,h,n simp I)' a Jominant barrier if
Image mength rises wben the landmark coincides wi,h •
some visual or motion pe-nttrarion is alloweJ rhwugh if ｾｉｦ＠ it
conct:tlirUdOfl of :lSSOc1:UjOf1. If the Jis(innivc bU,ilJlng is rhe
is, J S II wue, SCfUC{lJ(l'J co some Jt:pch wieh (he fl'giuns un
iliS4'or,e the briglll-culoreJ duor is )'0\1[
eicher side. 1[ chen becomes a {hl!l J barrier, J
etten it bi:wmes " bndtTltlrk indeed. thl br:sww,1
line of exchange J.ioog which areas J.(e sewn ((1gl'chl'r.
:l name h-as power, once char r;ame is ,fteo:l:t:llly known .(nJ
If impoHJ.m eJge is pnJVIueJ whh many vJ:iual JSlJ
InJe<:J, jf we an.; [0 envitonmem mt'.lI1-
circu):&tiOf! W of the cicy S[ftIGUH:, chen
uf am";,,ion JIlJ imogc.bdi,y is
it becomes evetYlhir.g dse is easily aligneJ.
increasing [he "Ituibiiiry of an eJgt: is by increasing
landmarks. unless rhey ate JominJnt ones, Jre like)y
I(S or when opeoing J. wJ.[erfrom W rfallle
"'t'.lk refeccnces by rhemseJws. Their recogni",,,, r,·
or recrc:lIion. Aoorh", migh' be co conscrUlt high o,erheld
quites iUStilmeJ 3nemion. If (hey are cJusu:reJ, hu\'..'t'\'t::r,
edges, for Ji",nces.
tc:.InfarcC" Other in a mort"..' chan ＳｊｩＨｪｾＺ＠ way_ FJoffilii:lr
The esse",hl ｣ｨｾｲ｡ｩｳ＼＠ of a viable landmark, on the
,k',,:lop landmark dusters OUI of musl onpromtSing
hatH.!. is irs singuLuic)" ies (OnU:JSf irs COflCcX( or

100 WI
 Such links heighten the chUl"er "f cl(h discnc{, aoJ bring
Jerail, liglHing, pbming, ur silhollCIl<:, The
u,ban
the S{IfQrfger rhe ｪｭｰｮｾｳｲｵ＠ uf
char a ·'them,ute unit" of [[lrte or
useful in delimiting an
IOgethet in Their minds
such ChataUcIS: sw.:h narrow sloping
ｳｭｩｬｴＬｾ｡･＠ ;lnJ receS,SeJ
J spati,.l
can be helJ
lactOlS ale va tied as JesireJ, quickly, only he experienw.l, as a parternd play "I
spJ[,;)'1 changcs, by ;\ ralher pro!f;1"ed Journey it.
haps d,c mum of or lJllal spales
AI1",(;rJam, rhis qoality, Presumably rhlY evoke an ima"e
uf gre,,,

is lurchel £n"""",,,{
of its boundary, A BU5!OIl housing in
islond,like ＧＱｩＴＨＬ｡ｬＢｾ＠ ｾＮｩＺｮＨｴﾷ＠
th("re I1te LommOl1 that nHl thru:)gh the 'o;\'hnh.
SC'l: the It'p'..';,ut!d rt:ft<rNI<':r.."S (0 [CH:t1n
iSties, The,",' th" cl!egoril!s of
ｓｴｮｃｾ＠ rlit"y ..1L!'Slttbe quahtie% thJr J Jeslt;flE'r
They might ｢ｾ＠ summarized .15 foil""s'

JiSirlcr may be sCfuccureJ within K.5t,.lf M well. Then.: L or figtue.!llckgrounJ sharpness of bo"nd,
sob-districts, internally .. ry ｾ＠ ｾｳ＠ ;1(1 ttbtupt c:ess;;t.tlun uf tiry ); dowre
ro the whole; noJes which nJiace SCfUUtlre' ur (as 0(1 square i; cum,"$( of slIchee, form, imensity,
mher him;; pauer", of inrernal paths, complexrty, size, spacial luu.ciun (as a singie ｛ｴｊｷ･ｲｾ＠ a rich
cUled by irs ne!:Work of .Ip.lube,ri,,,,,ll ;1 sign L The m the im·
m(l'Jiare visibk: surrounJings, or w rhe- ｌＧｸｰ･ｲｪ｣ｭｾＮ＠
dearly. ullmist,kably.
maps. sr.uc<uceu region is likely m Ａｨｾ＠ quolities ,il;1I iJcmily 3n dement, mak"
furthermQre, it rells its inhabitant's nm simpJy "you arc some' flOticofnble, vivlJ. fL"Cogl1iLabh:. as
in X," but "yot! aw in neat y, J.ricy irit;rt.>aSl's, Sl't"nl '(I) Jtp:.:nJ leS5- anJ less 00 gross phySical
suitably within, 11 Jimia ,an urg:mize tile .oJ to .n.J

o
Ct.H'tnt'Ctj()f.\S with uther

the gcometclcal
PI,h .". gnJ
merropolit;tn core by ,he sparial
Cornman.. 'Ilnd :therein lies much of its ｡ｾ｛ｲ［ＩＨｩｯｮ＠
 a t some percepmai and pranical cos," When an eiemem is nOt rods, pencrraring objecrs) which visually explain a space; can,
simultaneously visible as a whole, ilS shape may be a tOpological cavity (os of a background hill or curving street) which exposes
distoU;ofl of a simple form and yo< be quite understandable. farther objeCTS [Q view; clues which speak of an elemem mher 4

1 Conlintlil)': cominuance of edge or surf.ce (.s in a Street wise invisible (as the SigtH of aCtivity which is characrerisric
channel, skyline, or setback); nearness of pam (as a cluster of a region to come, or the use of charaCteristic derail to him
of buildings), reperirion of rhythmic imerval (as a s([eet,corner at' {he proximlry of anorher element). All these related qualiries
pattern); similarity, analogy, or harmony of surface, form, or f.cilita,. the grasping of a vasr and complex whole by in'
use (as in a common building marerial, reperitive p,1[rern of creasing 1 as it were, rhe efficiency of vision: itS r:I:tge, penetra·
bay windows, similarity of matket activity, use of common signs), rion, and resolving power.
These are the qualities that facilitate the pe"eption of a com, 8. Motion Awarene",: the qu.lifies which make sensible to
plex physical cealiry as one or as imerrelared, the gU;Jiiries /the observer) rhrougn both the visual and the kinesrhetic senses,
which suggeSt the bestowing of single idemity. own actual or poremial morion, Such arc the devices which
It Dominance: dominance of one pan ovec mheIS by means Improve rhe clarity of slopes. curves, and imerpene[rarions; give
of sirE, imensity, or imerest, resulring in the reading of rhe the experience of mOtion parallax a.nd perspective: maintain the
whule as J. principal feamre wirh an associart:d dusrer (as in consistency uf direC[ion or direc[lon ｣ｨ｡ｮｧ･ｾ＠ or ｭｾｫ･＠ vJsible
,he "Harvard Square area"). This quali,y, like (ominuity, allows "he distance imervaL Since a clty is sensed in motion, these
,he necessary simplification of the image by omission "tid sub· quali,ies are fundamental, and they are used !O structure and
sumption. Physical chacacre(l5!ics. to the extem that they are even co iJemify. wherever chey ;lre coherent enough ro make it
over 'he threshold of ｡｛Ｈｾｭｩｯｮ＠ ar all, seem fO raJiate [heir image possible (.s: "go lei[, then righ[:' "at ,he sharp bend," or "[hree
concepmaJly ro some degree, spreading out from a center. blocks along [his meet"), These qualiries reinforce and develop
S. Clar;fy 0/ Joint: high visibili[y 01 joints and seams (.s a, wha[ an observer can do (Q imerpret direcrion or dlscance, and
a major intersecrion, or on a sea-from); dear relation and to sense form in marion itself With increasing speed, these
imerconneclion (as of a building [0 its sire) or of :a subway techniques will need further development io the modern ci,y,
station ro rhe srreer above}. These joims are (he srrategic 9. Timl.' Series: series whi(h ue sensed over rime, including
mamems of structure and should be highly perceptible, bath simple item·by·;,em linkages, where one element is simply
G. Directional Diffcf€:mirJtion: asymme(ries. gradients. and knirred [0 the [NO elements before and behind ir (as in a casual
radial references which ､ｩｦ･ｲｭｾｬＨ＠ one end from another (as sequence of de"iled landmark,), and also series which are
on a parh ,going uphill, .way from' ,he sea, and IOw.rd 'he rruly structured in time .nd thus melodic in namr. (as if 'he
cemer): or one side from .nmher (as wi,h buildings froming landmarks would increase in intensity of form umil a climax
a park) ｾ＠ or one comPass direCtion from anOther (a.s by the sun· poim were re .. ched). The former (simple sequence) is very
ligh[, or by [he width of north,sou[h avenues), These quali[ies commonly used, parricularly along familiar paths. I<s melodic
are heavily used in srrucruring on rhe I., ger .s<:ale. counrerpan is more rarely seen, bur ma.y be mosr lmpon:.tm ro
7. Vif1Jai Scope: qual ides which increase the range and ｰ･ｮｾ＠ develop in the large, dynamic, modern mecropolis. Here what
t[arion of vision, either a(molly or symbolicaHy, These include would be imaged would be ,he developing parrew of elements,
transparencies (as with gloss or buildings on srilts); overlaps larher ,han the elemems themselves-jus. as we remember
(as when mu((ures appear behind others); viStas and panoramas melodies. nO( nores, In a complex environmem, lr mig he even
which increase the Jeprh of vision (as on axial SHeers, broad be possible [Q use contrapumal teChniques: moving parre,,,s of
open spaces, high views); .nicula,;ng elements (foci, measuring opposing melodies or rhythms, These are sophisticated methods,

J(J7
lUG
 and must be consciously developed. need fresh thought on The elements-path, edge, district. node, anJ LuJJmark_
which are ｰＢ｣･ｩ｜ｬｾ､＠ as a continuiry 0"", mUSe be conslden:d simply ;is conveniem empirical caregories.
arCnetypes which edlibi, a wi,hin and around which ir has been (0 group J mass

of informacion. To .he cxtcm ｉｨｾｦ＠ "Ie !.hey will

or silhoufHf. acr as build>ng block. for tlie design". Having ma"ered rheir
Meaning!; non-physical characteristics which chancceris<lcs. he rhe task 01 organizing a whole
may enhance 'he imageability of an clemen" Names, for which will be sC<jl.lemiaHy. whose partS will be perceived
t;'xample are impofram: in crysraHizing identity.
l They occasion- only in ComL:XL he a sequcnce of (cn land-
ally give lOcation.1 clues (Nonh Station) Naming system, marks along a paeh, then of rhese marks would have an
(J.s in the J.lphabelizing of 3. SHeet series). will also facilitate (he utterly different image quali,y ,han if i, were placed singly
suucwring of elements. Meanings and .I1S5uciafions, whecher aoJ promincndy a( the city core,
social, historical, functional, etonomic, or individual. consrimre Forms should be manipula,ed so that there J strand of
an enrire realm lying beyond rhe physical qualities we deal continuiry between the multiple images of a big city; day and
with here. They Strongly reinforce such suggestions mward nigh" wimcr and summer. ncar JnJ far. stacie and moving,
idemiry at Suuc(Ute .15 may be Laten« in the physical (orm itself auemive and absent· minded, landmarks, regions, noues,
or paths should be recognizable \lnder diverse conditions, and
All of the above.meluioned qualirie, do not work in isolarion
guali,y is present alone I as a continui,y of building yec in a concrere, nl.(her chan an absrracr way, This is not co
maceria! no orher Common feature). or the qualiries are in say {hat the irnaJ5e should be the same in ea.ch case, Du[ if
conlli([ (as in tWO of common building Ａｹｾ＠ bUI of elil,
Louisburg Sqmre in rhe snOW has a shape [har m>rches l.ouisburg
felem funCtion), ,he fOtal cirCC! may be weak, or require e!tori in midsummer, ot if the State House dome by nigh'
to identify and suuc((Jre. atcain amoum repetition, te .. in a way (hac recalls dome seen ;n the (ia,. [he
dundancy, anJ reinforcemellr setms co be necessa,y. Thus a
(omrasring quaI icy of each image becomes even more sh:Hply
region would be unrnis<.k.ble which had a simple form, a savored because of ehe common 'ie. One is now able to hold
continuity of building and which was singular in ehe wgerher (wo quire different (ifY views, and thus lO encompass
cicy, sharply bounded, clearly jointeJ <0 a neighboring region, che scale of (he: ciry in a way orherwise ｩｭｰｵｳ｢Ａ｣ｾ＠ w apprO.lc.:h
and v:fiilually COncave. ,he ideal of an image which is a wral field.
While (he complexlty of the modern city caHs for contLnuiry,
The Sense of the IVhole i, .Isn furnishes a grea[ Jelighr: 'he comeasr afiJ speciaiiL.',ion
of indivIdu;.d ch';1raner. Our study hines at an increasing arren-
1n discussing design by element 'ypes.. Ihere is a tenJency 10 don CO derail and w uniqueness of character, as familiariry
skim over rhe imerrela.;don of (he pa.ns into a whole In such develops. Vi.idness of elcmeors, and their precise cuning 10
a whole, paths would expose and prepare for the districts, and funcrional and symbolic differences. will help to ｰｲｯｶｩ､ｾ＠ ,his
link ro,l;e<her the various noJes. The nooes would joint and charaer"r. Conrrasr will be heightened if sharply JiJleremi.Hed
mark off the palhs, while the edges would bound off ,he dis- elcmems are brought imo close and imagc.:able relation. [a(h
Ifi"", and the landmarks would indic." rhetr COres. Ie is the elemem [hen rakes on an Imensified chancrer of Irs Own.
tOtal orehesuacion of rhese units whieh would kni[ togecher a Irtdeed, ｴｨｾ＠ of <I vi$ual enllitonrnenl not be
dense and vivid image. and 5unain ir over areas of merropolira.n rn.·."i"gs :'0.1
scate.
110
 ,ions shifr. These chonges arc ofrtn ciisnlrbing [Q the citizen to l major
and rend m OlSur ),aO'I<O (ulmlrr:'Hc m ;l

design The second [t'chmque is

in maintaining a visible ､ｯｭｩｮｾ＠ elemems, to wni(n
while massive the siting of ,e'[[tc'n":t"
or oodes might design of J lint:.ac baste communtcJ.rion
spme, large covlfonmcm might even b<: radially rda,ed co
conserved. very pOWEr! ul landmark, such as a

The size 01 our meuopolil.11 oreilS and Ｌｨｾ＠ speed

wirh which we rf;)Vecs-e rhem raise m:my new problems fur
perception. The merropolican region nOW the fUnctionJi uni,
of t:'rrvlronrnenc, :J.nJ it is Jcsirable th3l (his fuftttion:J.l unlC
shollld be jdentified and Slrtl<:lUted irs inhabitan1s. The nell
us ro Ii '"<, and work in the
"Iso

rnore
musr be found ,hat is
and has enough "surlllCC minor
eh;meu(s can have some reason;lbiy dose rehU:lOfl fa it. Thus
needs a big rh:l! winds enough ru allow

would

a S[J-fIC ra(her
.an opporcunjryw sec a merropolic:lfl g13nce .
"""'lips """slve, COflsidedng our presem way of experjenftfi,s urban
The problem is nonE ehe less difficult, however, it comes
wWJrd aomhef of organiza,
co composing a p'ct<:m for There lce fWD
IS a hmilio.r
',"chnicti",. with which First. [he emire region
Therefore ir is
For examp!e, it might
a seqtH!ot:e
as it major containing rhree sub.tiisuicrs,
.s the succession of elements that
,omaln .tltee sub.sub.diStricts, anJ so on. at., highway. With ,ome
of pan of the legion
could be
noJes being sa'''llite

VERSION
 review, and influence over privarc design. to srriCt
md to 'he positive design of public
or civic buildings. Such Ｈ･｣ｨｮｾｱｵｳ＠
from co/'!!rols "sed ;n the
",ill probably be more
co gain an unde (Standing of problem and (0 deve10 p
design skill ,han it will be 10 abuin ,he necess.,y
once [he objeccive is clear. There is much to be done
far-re«hing controls are juStified,
The final of such a pian is nor ,he physicol shape
[uell but of an image in ,he mind, Thus i,
(qually ro improve rhis by rraining ,he ob5eI'f(!!,
by teaching him co iOQk ar his city, ro Its manifold
forms and how ,hey mesh wi,,, one .norher, (Ould
hi €aken imo ,he sucer. classes could be held in the sdwoJs and
un:iversiries, the ciry could ｢ｾ＠ mad€ an animated
society and irs hopes. Such educadon migi'll
to develop the ciry im:1g.e. but to reorienr
upon an in-
change, An art of
physic.1 reform
formed and cr"ical audience,
paHS of a contjnuous
Heighrening the observer's enriching hiS expe:rience.
is one of ,he values rhat the mere efIorr to give form can offer,
To some degree, process of reshaping a ci(y to improve
its imageability may sharpen ,he image, regardless of how
ullskilif ul ,he ,e,ulring physic.l form may be, Thus rr.e .mateu!
begins wtuld around him; [he novice decoruO!
[Q take pride in htr Jiving room and co judge mhe",

AI(hough such a process (an become if nor accompanied

by increasing comrot and judgmenr) even awkward Ｂ｢･｡ｵｲｬｦｩ｣ｾ＠
lion" of a city may jn ｩｲｳｾｬｦ＠ be an intensifier of civic.: energy
and cohesion.

I f(j
VERSION
truly visible, tlten leO[ and confusion might be replaced with
delight in the richness :lnci power oi the scene
In (he developmem of the image, educarton in seeing will
be quire as imporr.m as the reshaping o( what is seeo. Indeed,
they rageth« (arm a circular, or hopdull\' a spiral, process.
visual education impelling the citizen to act upon his visual
world, and rhis accion him to see even mOrE acuteiy.
A highly de,eloped arc urban design is linked w rhe cre>tion
of a (ti!le",! and .tl!:ntive audience. If an and audience grow
IOge!ilec, ,ben our dries will be 0 source of ..roily enjoymenc
ru millLons of their inhabitants.

Appendices
 The!!: envlronmt'flts ate not onJy highly meaningful. Otl! their image Although such sltiHs might ｳｾ･ｭ＠ today, we st'c
fhings in a differene light jf we consider ｑｬｾ＠ of men who,
brtome Vt'rr high!y chJ.rged, so rh.ac tlu:rlt f:hrough brain inJury, have lost the ablliry ro organize theIr surround.
anemion, <I hoc ､ｪｦ･ｲｾｵＺｩ＼ｬｴｯｮ＠ of ｲ｡ｮｾＮ＠ a ingsn,,""" They ma)" bc able <0 speak aad think even
Athtn,al1 Acropolis. ururaH:d with a W !f,;cogniu..: objL'cCS wirho!J[ diffi(l.llt;.'" but (hey cannOl struclUrl.: theh
and religlous history. was: cvidJ..·nt!r namt.:d and p..u. ima.ges into ailS connected system. men cannot frod their o ..... n
cded to rhe gods small area by small Mt'3, almOSt H(H"lt' b,' smne, rooms ｡ｾｩｮ＠ a.fccr leaving them, an.d mUSt wandt'r helpkssly until
.lllli,uk Emil;" Gap, "nail conducied home, or urHl1 by chance (hey Ｚｈｵｭ｢ｬｾ＠ upon SOmt.' fa.millar
MacDonnt'1l o( detail Purposefu! m01,lt:mtm is accompllshe:d on!y bjc an claooratt'
ｶｾｲｩ＼｡｢ｬ･＠ gall.ry of leg<od. memorization of .s.t.:qul:::oce.s: or di.uiocrive dcuH. dOSel)'
char the ocxr dttall is always wilhin the
mJ.CK. Loc-arlons norma.lly identified by many obJl.:crs in (or-uexr
rnay be recogni:zabll' only by vlrtut! of so,-nc dis(irKfJ\le, st'parate
symboL One man rtcogni1.cs a room by a smaLl !!'iBO, anotht'r knows
Ii ｳｾｲ･ｴ＠ by the car numbtrs. If rhc symbols are rampeted with.
and ｨｾｬｹ＠ pla,e," the man i.s lOR The whole simarion. parallels, tn a curiouS" fashion,
OUf enYlronme'Hal ｪｲｮ｡ｾ＠ is lundamcnnd ratr of our (,·cjuip- the way in which we proceed tn an unf41milia£ In ｲ｡ｳｾ＠ of
ffit'JH lor living} but fat man it i5 probably much lJts$ vivid brain injt.ny, however, The Sim2-CiOn
and fl.arricular today fn a f/trent ｾｭＨｹ＠ of famas:y, C and t'morional ｳｩｧｮ｣｡ｾ＠ Ii manife%t
ima.gint's thaf ht' cnwttd ｭｲｮｴｯｾ＠ r:lst".s mind) and moving The [t'ffor of 100C comt'S trom Ｈｨｾ＠ nect'ssiry (hat a mobile
,bou, in he' im'Be of 'he Ollllid,· wotld H The," is a gray light, organlsm be orient<cd ｾｮ＠ its surroundings. Jaccard quQt.(:s an tncidem
but nothing ,ha, could be ,ailed a sky" There are vague, dingy green ot nativc Africans. who became disOflt'med. .p T!M.]' wert' stricken
,ha;x:,. blob.lik<, without anatomy, thar
identifies as Shoddy Tt.e," Thete is ,oft stuf!
,It and 6n.lI)'
of a dull
wi.h panic, and
ｐＢＧＬ［ｮＮﾷｾ＠ pilot
""i<lh ",<0 ..:lIs 01
lost his oriemation to tht veftical, and who
.n
grassy color bue witham s(;[1ara(c b!e.d('s Th(; elm!""'r he look!. [he ､ｾＮｳ｣ｲｩ｢ｴ［＠ it as chi,.' most wHifying l'xpertl:on: of his lift'. ｾｨｮ［ﾷ＠ orher
fOote vagu(;' 3nJ ｳｲｮｵｊｾｬＮＧ＠ it all becomc:!, wrirtfs. 5. 11. 7, in dt'scribing (he phenomt'oon of ft'mporary dis,
The cnviranmttntal ｩｭ｡ｧｾ＠ has its original funcdan in permitting oril..'nt3tion in tht'modern eley, of the i!t"cOmpanYlng emOuons QJ
purposeful mobility" A COllect map might muo life or death w llintt mt..:ntiofls a man who took cart: to arrivl: lC one panic-
plimitivt: ｾｴｩ｢･Ｌ＠ as when the l..uw:tha of ct:'nrral Austral;a. drivtn depot in Lyons when coming r(Orn Paris, a*C2.usc, al·
lrom theit reatlory by fout }'cars of drought. $urvJve tbe rhoush w:;u leS5 eomten'enr. concurred with his {miStaken;
lOpographic memory of ,he oldest men J ·1 Thes. ftom !mage of tht: $lde ollron! which toward Paris.5 Another subject
experience gained years befort, and from ,he instructions: h:h a slij.;hr diuint.'.$S his: Slay in 3 small (Own." bi:C<JU3t: of
grandfarhers, knew rhe chain at holes that l/..'d dlt.' rw:rsis:u.:nct: of a orientation Tht: uncomfonablt: ｴｬＮＡｮｾ＠
acras.) tht' desert ro saftl)' Thl.' vttue of being ablt: to o""oou.m aellr of an ongmal and 1m"orn:Cf orgarutation of tht environment u
.uaTS. or CurtetiU or ｳ･｡ｾ｣ｯｬｲ＠ is Ob\fAOU'i to the South Sea at'Cc-s[t:.i if! many ｳｯｵｲ･ＬｾＧｊ＠ On cheorht:r hand, in the highly
for when he $;:¢tS Out (0 strike hi3 80al he t.:ngages ｾｮ＠ a gamMe it:emlnj;l) neu(f3.J 5Hu.UtUn of a tab-maiO., male, Brown
wi,h dcarh. KnowkJg, of 'his allows mobilJty, which rna}' th.at ､｣ｶ･ｬｯｰｾ＠ afff.'i;rl-on such simple iandma.rk.s a'S
make poSSible a bt:uer standard of 00 Puluwat (Caroline 'board, which ｲｬＧＨｯｧｮ［ｾ､＠ h:miliar.J<
blands;,. for eXjmple, tht:re was llatlVt:' school oE ".'''8_'''0IL W;.v.iln,jlnz is the original fUl1ctJOO of the (;oviroomemaJ image,
Because of thiS che people: Of Wt:re pitlHl'St able to raid and rhe b,uis which i($ emotion.... l ;}ssociarion5 may have been
(he i.slantls within ;l wide cird€', founded, But the ｩｭＮ｡ｾ･＠ is v,alu3ble nm only in this immediate: Strt>e

[24
 way.
throughout the Rat
Ve::l:l!?dan piajn. or grain elev2.rors rhe serdemems of rhe American

The environmemaI image may go further, :and act as an organizer

of acrivi[y. Thus, on the island of Tikopi.e, there were several tradi- away
donal resting-places all a rrail rh:iH [he people used ro and from rheir
d.ily workJ9 Such iocatio". save form [0 'he daily "commu ...
tlte ,acred

Indeed •. rbe v.ry " ...dog .nd """"'ll"unmll

At mher times, dis(inguishing and parterning the envlronmeo[ vivifies it, and [hereby adds to (he depth
may be 2. b:)..5is for the ordering of knowledge. Rattray speaks wi,), perleflce, Passes in Tibt:r may have such tide! as "The Vulu.:.rc·s
great admirarlon of rhc Ashami medicine men who srrDVC lO know Difficuicy." or (he "PaSEi of ,he Iron DaggK," wHich ale nor only
highly descrrprivE bur arc POt.'ric Evocations P,Ut5 of Tibetan cui·
every planr. animal. and insect in rheir fores(s by nome, and (0 under-
stand fhe spiri.rual properties of each. They were able to "read" rure.J An anthropOlogist makes (his comment about the Aruofa
rhei. forests as a compJe)\' :tnd evervunfotding documem.<)[
The • social rote as The named
memolleR ,nd
(nem m: com,.
muntcare one another. The landscape serves as II vast mnemonic
$jI$rcm ror .he teteminn of group hi5tO'1' .nd ideol.. !'alCem denies
rhO! the Arunr. "the. of
rhey
or rhe ｕ＾ＢｙＧｾ＠
 namcs . . . . . . . wt: often miss this quality of vivid concrt:WCH.'SS. or un- Thl;! Aruma of Ausrraiia. in rdt'ffing to ;1(1 objt:cr. habltu;lliy give
mlstakabh: J{]rm .... {J Wohl and Strauss j(IVt: many examplt·s of the irs proximiry, Ortent,H£on, and Vi5ibiliry with ｲｾｦ･｣ｮＨｴＺ＠ ｾｑ＠ the
dlon of people to lind a Shorthand phySic. I symbol ior 'he ci,y 'hey spDaker. An American geographer. on. tnt: Otner hand, onCe pre,
hvt: ml, ｢ｯ｛ｾ＠ (() organize their JmpH:ssio05 of it and in order to carty sented il pap'l'r Of! ｴｨｾ＠ oecessit}· ror orit:'fH3t1on m our own rour
On (hc!r ､ＺｬｾＧ＠ aCttvity,l1,!
can!tnai palm)1 and was surpriscJ to nnd from his
The ｦｾ･ｬｩｮｧ＠ and . . . alutf of ｾｮ＠ imaf,eable l'nvironment arc ｷｾｬ＠ for manr cicy people. accustomed to ow:n.r ro corosp'ICU(lUS
summed up in Proust's moving {in "Ou Cmt'.' dL.' ｣ｨｾｴ＠ features" this is no necessity .at aiL H,.; tumsdf was
ｓｾＮＧ｡ｮﾷ＠ J of the church steePlt In where he spent many open (DUnu)'. in the sight of mounrains. L ' fur an Eskimo OC lUi
chIldhood summerS. Nor coly do{'s [his PlC::Ce of symboliw inhabitant ot the Jict"Ctfuns mar be ｲｴＡＨｯｧｦｬｩｾＮ＠ nO(
and ｬｯＨ｡ｲｾ＠ the (Own, but it enrt!rs th:<:ply intO t'very acnvit)'. by ｨｴＧＳｶｾｮｬｹ＠ obwcrs. but br prevailing winds, or by sand or SnOw
ｾｮ､＠ remains tn his mind 3S an apPAf/rion for which ht strH searches formationJ .. n: fhe 01 such Wiflds. p
10 larer ｾ［ｦ･Ｚ＠
'n pam of Aima the
It was always to rhe Steeple rhat Dni; muSt rerum, :tlw:t);'" it which stant: onr, but cather rhe dIft:Ction coward ern: rerrnory,
domin;:w:J evcrYfhin,g else, summtnp: up the houses ",,'ith 4ft ur1t:l'peQeJ Jaccard citt's a jOlfH t'ncampmeflr of ｳ｣ｶｾｴ｡ｬ＠ tribes. who spontane·
pannacle}7 ously 8roup:d rht:msciv('s imo st'(wrs which ;pmmt'd toward their
Ft.'rrirorft:s)? Lner he mt:ntions the case of french commission
mer(hams wtw have busint'ss in a su(ct'5sio!1 of dries suange to dtcffi,
Thtl' ass<.'tf that they Piy linle '3uL'ntion to nimes or landmarks,
ｔｨ･ｾ＠ imaBcs ma y be or p;lmt:t:d m diffcn:mt ways. There but Siml,ly keep il (ommuous memal record of rhe dicccclon ba<:k to
｢ｾ＠ an and gt'ncratilcd ｓｩＧＵｮｾｭ＠ of ｲ･ｦＨ［ｈｾＮ＠ at rimt's {ot: srariof'll and OUf lor It .-jjrct\'ly _'hen ｴｨｾｪｲ＠ work
at: ri:noes faTher a habirua.l manner of rdt'tring to the locations or IS dooe. Australian grave"mounds. as anorht'r example, ace shart:d
Ｈ､ＳｴＱｾｮｓ＠ of fcarurt:1, CnukchtT of Siberia distinguish 22 ｣ｯｭｾ＠ WIth reft:n.:nct: 1'0 the direction roward tbt: individua.l's WH!m Center,
p35S ､ｴｻｾＨｬｏｮＵＬ＠ fhrt<e,dimensional and neu to rhe SUli, They or SpH'j'wal home,},,':
the zt:nan :tnd tnt: nadlf, midnight (nonh j and The isla od of TI'ko pia is J,fl t:'x-ampte of -another son of sYSf!:ml
all .of which are fixed, plu, 18 milers which are d.6ned hy the sun wtuch n<.:nhu u,flivt"rsai. egQCtntric, nor dirt:cced [Qward a bilSt
ｾＮ［Ａｬｯｮｳ＠ at various rimes day Or ｮｩｧｨｴｾ＠ anJ therefore: changt: bur is fltd co !l pal£iclllar edge in The! landscape. The isl:md
wuh rhe scasons. Tttis System IS of sufficit'nt: impOCf:lflCC ro coo(rol ,'flough so !hac one is cardr Ou' of sight or sound of ,he sea,
the onenrar,ion of aU slei!ping toorru.<t Tnt! Micronesian VO),.lgl'tS ｾｦｬ､＠ the (slanders use thl.! expressions infJlHt or J('.HtJtJfJ for all
of rhe Pantie ust:d a precise dIrectional ｳｹｴ｣ｭｾ＠ which was not, idnJs of spalial ru((:!rC'oc(! An axe lying on a house-floor is local·
ｨｾｷｴＧ･ｦＮ＠ symmetrical but was tied to constellatiOns and to Island Izt:d in chis waj', and· Firth !CP<H't5 ovt'rht'3ring ooe mao say to an-
dlrt'(OODS. ｔｨｾ＠ numrx,.r of dln:ctlons varit·J up ro 2R Of 30)'" orht'r: "Ttwrt;' is a spot of mud on your seaward cbt:ck,'" This
The ｳｲｓｈｾｭ＠ uSt:'d en the Nonh China plain is a strictly rt:'Euiar onl', ｲｴＺｅＨ［ｾｮ｣ｬＡ＠ ｰ｡Ｈｾｭ＠ IS $0 Strong that they have' difficulty in conceiving
Ir has tlt!r:p magical connotafions: north .:qu3n:d wHh black of rt:aHy large: land mass, Tht:' vd!agt.'s an: strung arong the
and c\"ll, south with red, 10Yl jife. and (he It l'Jge the beach, and ,he tradi,ional terms 01 guidance refer only
srricdy the placmg of all religious ohjects and STfUCtUres to "tnt' neXt . . . illagt .. or the ont' ·beyond: {he nexr. an,1 50 on, This
In.ut:cd. the chid USt; of the "south-['l()lt1f)ng Chint:st> in. is an Ｈｾ｡ｳｩｬｙＧ＠ "cfL'renct:d. ｯｮｴＧＢｾｩｭ･ｦｬＮｳ｡＠ scrics,JY
vC'fuioo was flOt: fOf navigation il{ SJ:.l but for
j
j ork,rttation of Sometimes rhe t:(lvirol1rtH;'nf ii organized, nor hy a generat dirt"(·
buiWings. So pe'fvaslvt' IS rhis system chal the councry peoph: Oft dona I systt'm. bur by ooe or mOrl' irm:nslve fOCI, coward which
tOIS fLat !aou SlV!: dirt'crions by compass pJims. and OOt by right Of Otht'r things S(:t:m to "poior:' fo l\.fc:shcJ (Jran) t;':-tffeiJlt: sacred-
Idt, as would he naTUra.) ro us, Tot' organizing system JOtS nor ness aWh:ht's to (;ve:ry objt,·ct near the cct'llf31 shdnt', including rhe
ｃｴＧｾｵ［ｲ＠ On (he individual. moving and turning with him, bur IS fixed, dus' which f.lI, on ,he F£ccinct. The high
Unlvt.'fsa1. and oursldt: tOe p.ersofl.HU to rhe dty. from whkh rot:' ff3v.::lt'f

128
 S\E.RED V.
0" ｾ＠
ｾ＠ ｾ＠
§ REGISTERED ｾ＠
VERSION
 s.n.d orient in rhese resl$tant an a.ura DE (he supernatural. Since (he cresc is
COst The knowledge usuaUy rlarm:d to taro, there is a ｰｾ｣ｵｬｩ｡ｲ＠ flora h€:re which
[0 s{,fot''Cialbu, RitEmUSSCn's informams who drew his b-t,·low. :and this reinforces the specrallntnest of Ihe pbCL,.IY
chiefs-many other Eskimos: (ould do k Coweta Ot;cuiomdly, may be so iamasTjcaHy diffeICG1:rared as
only a ､ｯｾ･ｮＺ＠ of

It was cusmmary [or [he to eal

rhe ｾｯｮＱｴ｡Ｚ､ｪＧ＠ of directions and This is reminis·
ｒｬＧｖｾＱ＠ ｰｕｯｾ＠ who were can·
dJlC\,Iuiog .and riding the rjv:e£" and thus
ins abrenl of IfS (r(>ache-roIlS shU ring hmdm.ltbJ7
this .is, l£ .$
SOme:: J!.scance from an CQ$)' and familiar t-t];uJon
bj. nes,iog
£uCCesSJofl of yean
WITh the enVlrortmt!:nt" Polyne.Jmn sea
comp..nied by "mal
Bur cenain
of
stable ｲｨｏｬｊｾｯｵｴ＠
lead from w,u£r.hole w#,ter-hole or who can correctly locate the
proper .sacred path in the On well.differentiated
i,l.nd "f Ti."pi •• rb. problcm co !.tId !lotdly come up.
Wt have irequcm of
for
dilurgaf11zeJ anJ scsl'tf'tcd "",hen they ttluVC' OUt: Owl featureless
Water surfaces,
Q,her (.>.rures may no! only be oo!i<c"ble and JiS!illluishable
a son of animatIon or
!'topl", of
Ibe OIller end of
J.C!dsc"P<' fe.tu!eJ which m,ke 'hem ,he
ilu:tenriont tinj::dte sdective power of (he eye. oEcenr sacred·
11i:'$$ ;,5 t'oncentrlited in the more striking ｮ｡ｾｦ＠ features, such u.s
A similar expc:nence. dosel to home. was the original impacc of
the connection of tilt: Ashantl gods wi[h the
or the (:ommon ｴ･｜ｦｾＬｮ｣＠ att4tche-d to
a p:lnl(ular escalrmem along [he: Oregon ｔｲ｡ｩｬｾ＠
Assam There i$ wkko i;$
d<!'",o. It is described and

of .he
our (0 .seah and. ha,s

134
 Many observers arc quoteJ, to indicate the common and oyerwhelm- h()me the only stone is Ｈｨｾ＠ insipiJ, white Jead (olal , . _ besides many
ing impan of Ihesc special geologICal shapes. Iypes of granite and ba:.ah and vU!cIJnic lUff, specimem uf bl3.(k
Therefore, while noting the fic:xibili:y of huma.n perceptIOn, j t ob$idian ...... l!h jts shup ･ｊｾ＠ aoJ ｭ･ｴｾｬｨ｣＠ rin.'t. anJ siws full of f;:J
mUH be adJeJ rhar outer physical shape has a n equally imponam lnd renoVo' urhre. . .. Thus the ｬ｡ｮ､ｳＨ［Ｑｾ＠ nuw btfort them is ;1 sure
role, There arc environments which inyite or reject attention. which ot ｰｲＨｊｭｩｾ･､＠ lanJ, :l wunuy spoken of in almDs! ｬ･ＮＧＺｮｊ｡ｲｾ＠ rone ..J6
facilitare or resist organitation or Jit1eremialion. This is analogous In a similar way, although the ＢｊｲｾＺＱｭﾷ｛ｩｅ＠ roads of Australia
ro (he east' or difficuliy wirh which the aJaptablc human brain pass in (:V(.:CY' direction oycr a land which is brgd,. lcyel mulga
can memorize as.sociateJ or unassoci:lret.! m:1terial. plain, ret the If!gcnJary camp sic!:s, [he noJes 01 sacrcJ hislOry anJ
]accarJ mentions several "classical locations" in SwirzcrianJ ;utemion, seem to be heavily concemrateJ in the twO regions 01
whcre peop!c arf: consiscendy unablc 10 malnfain Jirccrion. 36 JiiTerenr;a<cd l,nJscare: ,he ｾＡ｡｣ｄｯｮ･ｬ＠ .nd !he StUart', Bluff
Pererson notes Ihat (he organization of his image of Minnear>olis ｒ｡ｮｾｳＮ＠
typicalij' breaks down each time the SHeet gridiron changes its Parallel 10 these comparisons of rrimitive landscapes We' ma}'
orientalion)J Trowbridge: finds that most people arc unabh: m pur Eric Gill's comparison of Brighwn, EnglanJ where he wa!. born,
point fO distant dries from New 'York without gross errors, bur (hat to Chichester, w which he moved in his aJokscence:
ａＩ｢｡ｮｾＧ＠ is an e;(ctprion, since it is visibly linked by (ht HuJson
Rivcr.:'6 It had simpl}' never o<curled 10 me before [hat Jay rhar tOwns (OulJ
h.1vt 8 shape anJ be, like my beluYt'd lm;ommivC's, [hlOP:S wich (har'
I n London, a small JevelopmeOf callcd Seven Dials was built
acter anJ ｭ･｡ｮｩｾ＠ . {Chichester] was a lOwn. a City, a lhin£;
about 1695, consisting 01 seven streets WhICh convergeJ On a planned and ｯｲｊ･ｾｮｄ＠ l1'l:Cre cnn.':eries of more or less 30rJiJ .,treels.
circular junction conraining a Doric pillar bearing $even sun dials, ,':rowin,':. like a fUn,':us, wherever [he nctwork of railways and sidm/Z.,
C':3ch iacing one 01 The radiating snee(s. Gay relers (0 the confusing and railw3Y sheJs wuuld aHow. I only knew that Chichester was
shape of (his area In his Trillid. although he implie:s [har it is only wha( ｂｲｩｾｨ｜Ｈｊｮ＠ was nor: an eod, a thinf;, a pla(e. . The plan of
(hc peasanc, the smpid oUlsidcr, who COUid be befuddled by if.}5 Chichesrer is dear and clean. Ovcr the Roman wall you (1lulJ
.Malinowski draws a sharp diStinction bt!rween rhe dilTerentiated ll)Uk ｳｲ｡ｬｾｨ＠ UUt in(o (he ,ll;Ieen fields ... , Four urai,t:hr wiJe maln
yolcanic landscape oE Dabu and the Amphletu in the D'Emrccasteaux S[fC'et5 ､ｩｶｪｊｮｾ＠ the city into nearly equal quane1') and (he rcsidcmdal
IslanJs ncar Ncw Guim.'a, vcrsus the monotonous coral islands of quaner similarly JiyiJed by four small sneers and these ＲＱｬｭｯｾｴ＠ com·
pletely fIlled WHh seventeenth· and eighteemh.cemury hnuses.
the Trobriant.!s. These lsland groups arc connecwJ by regular
Buc BrighlOn, as we knew i( ., well, [here is simply omhin,bl ro be
[rading C'xjX'dirions, anJ {he concemration of mythical meaning
s3iJ abuut it. When we [hou,':h[ uf Bri#/hton. it was of a p13ce oj
in the Dabu area, as well ai the reactions of (he TrnbrianJers ro
which the cemrr was our home. . there was no orher. Bm when
[his ima,geab1c volcanic landscape, is described in his pages. SpcJ.k. we JiveJ ill Chi(hesler. . (he cemer was nor No, 2 Norrh WaJ!.s,
jng of the trip from the Trobriands to Dobu. Malinowski says: bur rhe Marker Cmss. ｾ･＠ .':aioed nm only a (jl,'jc S-eMe bLl[ a sense
of ordered relations ｾ･ｮｲ｡ｬｹＮ＠ Brlghcon ｷ｡ｾｮＧｻ＠ a place at all. II
The low srnp of land, which surrounJs rhe Trobri:mJ laF;oon in a
had never o<curreJ (Q me {h',\! any other son of (Own (Quid eXist) 1
wide sweep. thins away and dissolves in (he hue, 30J before (hem
thc .wulhern mounC31flS rise ｨｩｾ･ｲ＠ and hir:her. . .. The nearest of The perceptual clarity of [he island of Tikopia, duc to (he
them, Kuyatabu, a slim. somewluc tilled pyumid. forms ;1 most ",lIur· presern:e of ·Mr. Reani. has already been meruioned. How I
ing beacon, ,':uidio,t: the mIJriners due sou [h. .. \VJi[hin a Jay or
differentiated .shape can be u.sed in deuil, ii illu.stratcJ by this
twO rhe!e disembodied mist,' forms are to as!>ume what {or the Tro-
quOtation:
brianJecs seems man'elluus shape aod enormous bulk. They are to
surround rhe Kula rfaders wi(h their solid walls of pre(ipiwus rock When a Tikop;a sets our hom hi!. nari, e land ｨｾＡ＾＠ fmt eS[iff.3tes Ii
and ,':reen jun,ll;le. The Trobriamler.s wiH sail Jeep, shadeJ bars Jmance l-e has H.lvelled are baseJ on the pUlIIom of ｲｨｾ＠ island sriP
... beneath the transparent wateU a marvellous world of muhi·wlored showin,g above the hor.twn. There ;lire fiye principal ｰｵｩｭｾ＠ 00 [he
cmal, fish :1nJ se.lwe-eJ will uofold itself. _. d1-ey will also nnd wonJer· s(ale, The (Irse is ,he rauraro, Ihe lowland near the ｾｨｯｲ｣＠ When ｲｨｪｾ＠
ful heny. compa(( ＺｳＨｏｾ＠ of variuus shapes and colors., whereas a( disappears, [ht! ｜ｬｯｹ｡ｾ･ｲ＠ knows he is some di1unce out When the:

137
 senses with sudden shock, on enrerin8 the M,,&il:<"""'.""
Iorm.qualiry of his surroundings, rheir ima.!'Ci1bmty:

of

fa11or"ble

Even ["orue.cvu,fwc" Lne of lc.sourccs may be impaired

whefe' habitual oriernatron does riot jJ]ow eny ro new
need,.

UII
 THE USE OF THE METHOD

t'f1vironmem.
"""ninaJion of ,he e".iro"",e"l.! image evoked
1i.1tt The of rM'" techniques
one 01 tile obje"i''''
development 01 .clequ11l! methods. Two
qllesrions 'Ire conui!lm chis (a) how
are rhe methods, crt;thful are
a cerrain conclusion? ana (b) how useful
conclusions valuable in rnakinl
expended worth d1C: result!
The basic office imerview consisted
fo, • slmch of rhe 'or
of
d"'!<',il!li!",n of
subjetf, mind.

teconnais.sance
d",ign; and

140
VERSION
 they arC mennoned verbally. Th!s t,ftt.:Ct is ｾＧｮｭｓ･ｳＨ＠ ＼ＱＮｾｬｮ＠ tn
[90'0 t'k'mems in Appendix C will illustrate the kinJ Jf.:rser Urr· In .lJdirLon. dw ｾｫｴＮＭｲＨｨ＠ (end m emphasiz-c p;\.(hs
wmewh,H. and ｾｯ＠ -I-,xcludl: ｾｮ＠ .. ｻＧｾ＼ﾢＮ｣ｴ｡ｈＺｲ＠ d\ih.cuh: to
or t:'Ien ehough such a. "t.:luoroJess" ｉｾＮＢＧ｜ｴ＠
mark. ur very comvlicat<:J S"tH;<:t Dut
m[fior can bt: aJ)u:$it'd. lor, compojire jkt'H.h
regard {() the idemification of e-t<:mcf1u, bt-3H a ufong re",n'''I.,,,,,
to thl" n:rbaL imecviL'w,
A m:Jjar dLscrepancy aPrc-ars bel ween [he cwo suurccs, ho\,l."!::vcc,
In to connec:rions wd genera.l org.1nlzarion Thc ｭｯｾ＠
irnporraOi kn.own ｣ｏＡＱｮｾｻｩｯＵ＠ pt.;rsisr in rhl' sketches, bUf mao>," Ofh
tOro ｾ＠ disapP*',r, Perhaps tne Jlfficulties of drawmg ｡ｮｾｩ＠ (lrtrne::
through ..16 jl}usrr;ue images of the thn:e cities m,akc (he skctdi maps 1JnJu l·.
from {he consensus oE verb,at inn:rviews and sketch maPs. They af!! nm a go oJ mdr,:,;1( Q( {h(
from 0", 0"'" field 1'0f comp.rison. each .<, known COflflet:tXve !UUC{ure.
'he •• me >calC"••nd .11 Il,e fhe same 'YI'l1I><>1>. The 'Of distio([lVl' fc.·arures. fin::dh, proveJ
to ha'le thr
rnaJe [H,,"le tcsardittg rhe tt'iadun1 ｨｩＦｾＧｳｲ＠ of alJ (he measures, L'xdudio,'! many
d<:".cd Irom and neld which <ll'l")f.;.Jcnl un rhe ShfCht''5 ;J.nJ sing1int: out only {he ｓｈＨＩｮｧＬＴＺｾｃ＠
memiom, of ,he field ｊｮ｡ｬｾＱＧＵ＠ or d1t verbal imvl''IIit:w5 1hn
pilirticul...r muhod ｾＱＮＺ｣ｭＵ＠ fO COf)\l(,;Y tnt: ｨｬｧｾＢ＾ＨＤ＠ oj :a <::1.)'-;1)

e'*:!.enCf!.
The' feSt on photographic recognition (unfirml!d the verba!
Cl.'Su!(S quire well. Far Commonweat(h AVl'nue rhf
Charll's River Wl'fe ea"ilr by o\ler ｾｏ＠ of d';C
Tremon! S"eel. 'he Common. Beacon Hill, and ｃ｡ｭ｢ｲｩ､ｾＬ＠ Slrec<
were a!w qllickly .1nd spccinutly idemjfied. The adlt::r ｰｨｯｭｧｲ｡ｾ＠
go {Q confirm ,hl' parwrn., down f(J rhe (Of\((.;nrraf:.n 0)
unrccognizabilicy in the Sourh End, .hc ｳ･＠ｾ of rhe John HJ.ncod
Building, dH: WCH End-Noun Sration <l[I;!;l, and the side Ｕｴｲｾ･ｈ＠ 01
(he Nann End

ug.,ui for Filum 3.\ /0 46 fo1!owinz

a
lO'it.f€st frequencies in [he inn:ftfleWS not fo
Ik<1lchcl, and generally al! .lemcflll life drawn
fiG 12 form oj eft} ",f Ihr
VERSION
 made wi(h a sample that is not onl)' lar,L":l'f i:1U[ aha mort! H'!'reSenr-
!'lo,ton arive of (he general poPllLuion,
The lack of a Iru!)" random J'Hcihulion of residence' and work
riac(: ot sut.jt((S was aho ul1[onunace alchough an dlort WH madt: j

w keep this bias m a mtnjmum Th<:: Bosmn sam!,le was low in

ｾｵ｢ｪ･｣Ｈｳ＠ ｲｯｭｩ｛ｬｾ＠ from (he Noren and West Ends. Jor examl'-ko, a
correlate of cht class biH The bunching lS incvitabk anJ trut: W
[I fe as ｲ･ｾ｡､ｳ＠ work rlace. bur should ht corre(u:d tn ｲ･ｾ｡､＠ to
residence ｐｲｾｈＺｭ＠ eVIJ(:nCt' dots nO( seem to indicate rhat a (om·
{'Ietel}' random residemial dis(nhucion of subjens would (han,.';.';:
,he general ima,gl' as much as class balance ffitghl. Areas aft
ohen imaged ,srrongiy or weakly despi(e relative familiarity ur
unfamijiarirr. The Sireer inft:rl,liew5, whi(h dealt with J moch
figurt: 48 is .ill graphiC (ompila[ion of dt:mems ffit:mioned by 160
lar,;ter sample and In: more neady random ,n class distrihution,
fl?,UfC -$R rasst'n·bYI when s(opped in the Streets and questioned as nOted
[ended in general to conllrm the ｬｯｮＮｒｾｲ＠ interviews. within the limiu
above. ａｾ｡ｩｮＬ＠ the composite image from cheSt;: hurried interviews
o( thcir rather hmri(;d information. The cridque of the samph:
wa:s Hrikingl\,' similar [0 the Other compositt: dara. Principal
u$ed mayl' tbcft'for!:', bt: summeJ up in rhl5 wsy:
d.f1erffic't$ were [he grealer promlnence given to paths leading
FfNf, die infernal consisr€ncy of the dar a receiwd from !evl'rai
away from points where ｲｨｾ＠ quesrions ｾＧ･ｲ＠ asked. h must bt'
£uggii:.sr.s ,nat Ihe merhod.s uSt:'d do indeed give a faidy
ｲ･ｭｾ､＠ ,har ,he ｡ｲｾ＠ called i}IHO play was only that comaining
tetTa-ble insl,:'th{ ioro !he COmp(\5{(e cilY ｬｭ｡ｾ･＠ of the panicular
the ser of paths adKins and dcsilnarions r roughly,
people .merviewed, and [hal rhese mefhod! are .applicable fa different
(he dashed. Hne). The preRnce of blanks oun,de [his area is
cities. The face (ha( the image:s of different ciries were diff<.'rem
ｭｾ｡ｮＡｳＬ＠
fits rhe hypothe:H:S ,h.u vi:mat form rbys J si,!?,nificant rok. Second,
While thesc methods revealed much In{ern:al consiscency, two
principal cririci.sm.s may be launched against th1: adequacy of wt:
.sample ｩｭ･ｲｶｷｾ､Ｌ＠ First, rhe samples were inordma(ely ｾｭ｡ＮｬＺ＠
thirty f'tople in the care of Boston, and half thal numtlt'r in Jerst'y
City an-cl. Lo5 Angdes. It would be impo:S5ibte to gtnt::ralize {rom
these l ｾｮ､＠ [0 say ellat .a "trlle"' public Image of [he p.arricubr city has

h.een. uncovered. The smaH ｳ［ｺｾ＠ waS neCt!ssOlry by Ihe broad

typt: of inqUiry chat was madt:, and by the lengthy cimt! requ.red for
{he elephamine and experimental rechnique of analysIS, Cle.arly,
a reteSI with a larger sample is needed. and (tJis r<:quircs mort.'
rapid and prectse methods.
A second criricism is rht' unbalanced nature of the samples cho$en.
They ｷｴＡｮＮｾ＠ well balanced as to age (above adolescenct:) an.d sex.
All were familiar with che elwironmt:11t, and speClali:Sf.s such as
ciry planners. engineers, and ｡ｲ｣ｨｾｴ･ｳ＠ were e:v:duJeJ. But [)(;cause
aHiculare volunteers were needed for ｴｨ･ｾ＠ early ei1orlS, [he sampk'
was quite ｬｮ｢｡ｩ｣ｾ､＠ as ro dass and occupa((on, t:w.:1ng primarily
middle.class, professional and managerial. ｔｨＨＧｲｾ＠ is bound to be
l. Strong da.ss bias in rhe ｲｾＺｳｵｬｴＮ＠ ｴｨ･ｲｬｯｾ＠ • .and retests s.hould be

152
 dat. on singl< 311J cleml'nt
adcquAW. there IIlIUll""">01 on dt:mC-fl( j(lU:{"n;-I-gAiQllli.
pa Ht:ms. ｳ｣ｱｵｾｮｃｌＧＺｓＬ＠ &ncr methods mUS1 N:
LO approach ,be$<: vit.l

as the far
P<:rhaps !hl: bt's{ WJ'f uf summarizing thiS gL'flL'rJ.[ CTltlqUt' of
merhod is (0 ｲ･｣ｯｭｾｮ､＠ f)).'"(hnique of image analysis Jesit:nt·J (0
of (he dllft(l..l[j("'l ci.u:J JhoVf; anJ Jcvclop-:;:J as (h<:
for fht, ft,nUf'C ｙｩｳｵＬ｡Ｚｾ＠ form 'Of Jny 8ivl:n cilY.
mi8h! with The fir" wo"Jd be

by

iJrgc $;!mph:,
｣ｨＢｲＮｉＺｾｦｩＡ＼＾＠ ThislI'IJUP,
which or in !il.'vt'ral ｰ｡ｲｴｾＮ＠
would

tWl) imag.inarr ceips, ttips chosl'n to l:XP05t' thl.: kogth and hrcathh
of che ｡ｲｾＧＳＮＬ＠
oetwee(1 actions the cUJt'irttUnkaced image, and
c. a wrim:n Iisl of the pares of (hc city fdc [0 l:x: most
1IidkIW."S Ihe: fm(){ional lilBfl:ttXllflce oE lhe lane!.
disci04:ril'e', tht examinu cxp!ainJog the meaning of "parts" anJ
The element (node, district, landmark,
"JisflO(ftViit.'"
coofirmed by the dara, ::ther rome
d. down brid writtcn answers to a fu:v qUlsrions of tht'
proved exi.n.-
!}'p¢': is _ _ _ iocawJr'
wexe ＬｏＡｵｩｾ･ｬ､ｹ＠ able
(0 The (eStS would be analyzeJ for frequency of mention ot dements
and (heir Ｈｯｮｾ｣､ｳＮ＠ for Jt"(j'u(.:'nce lnJ for .... )yit.!
elemenrs, seflSv of srmCtufe, and composiw imagt.'
The held n:conoais5ioCl' and (he m'J.Ss iml'rvic.:w would dll'n !J.::.'
compa.reJ for the rl'lacion of public imaJ4e co visual
ii nnt-(O-vnti ｡ｮＺｬｾＧｳｩ＠ of the visual ＵＮｬｃｴｾｨＺｳ＠
iHlwmobitfNlticmed cllY. buc it may and 10 idemifr rhe criucal J',*>iou,
Lack of dtlft:.tentiation in the 8ridiron

154 155

VERSION
 Second.round investigarion of these critIcal prohlems would chen on [he effects of physical form, on which the de1fgner of cirie!
bt·gin. Using a small sample, subjccrs WOUld he :Jskd in ind;vidual could draw.
CO locale selected crioca; elcm.;:flts, to Opt'f;;[l' wilh thf;'m
It wou.ld be equally intcresting ro apply ｾｨ･ｳ＠ methods CO ･ｮｶ［ｲｯｾ＠
ima,ginl1ry trip!, [Q Jescrjbc them, co make sketches of mems or scale o.r function than cities,: a buildin,. fur
rhc:m. (0 discuss rheir feelings and memot'ics ｡｢＼Ｚｾｵｻ＠ them. A few eXllmple. or a bnds(apc; a uanspoHarion ｳｹｴ･ｭｾ＠ or a \1aOey regfo>f'-_
subjects might taken our to thcst' locations, ｭ｡ｫＡｲｴｾ＠ brief l;r(OS( lmpot't;ilLFit terms 01 prac(i(ai need 1$ the application an<t
field iovolvmg them, anJ and discusstn, on adjustment of ideas ro the metropolinm regiofl,
[h\.' spot. Dircction ioquirif..:s (Q tht' ell'm4.'1U from various ｯｲｩｾＵ＠ presem sl!"ems ｨｯｰ･Ｚｾｳｬｹ＠ Ct.·yond Ollr percepruai
ｭｩｾｨＨ＠ also be made of a random sample of 1''''-!rs(Jns in rhe srrctt. The key difference, may equally likdy be in him,eli.
Whl'n ､ｬｴｾｳ｣＠ second·round studies had bccn ::malyzed for coment As planning becomes a world.wide disciplint', and planners are
and problems. ･ｱｵ｡ｬｾＧ＠ intcnsivl: nl'!d rl'connaissam.:t: of these same drawn into [he busin.l'ss 01 making plans for pfoplc of orher coun-
eli:merHs would then be carried ouc Detailed studies of idvntlly tries, Jt becomes necessary to make sure thar what has been found in
and struClUrl' under many dilferrnr lield conJirions of light, distancc. America is nO[ simpl}' a dC'riv;uion of local ｣ｵｨｲｾＮ＠ How dOts an
activity, and movemem would follow. 1l1l'.st' studies would USt' Indian look at his ci[y, or an I(ali;:m?
ｔｨｴｳｾ＠ Jiffen.:nc:e5 make difficulties (or the analyst. not onl)' in
the interview r(Osult5, bm would be by no ml:anS limited to them.
The deniied studies of Boston clc:menrs in Appt'nlfix Can: pussihlc inrerflarional practice- bUT within his own (Qumq' :u: weI\. H"
models. can be prisom:r of a regional wa!, of tnought or, paniculariy in
mau:riaJ would finally be symhesill:d in a ｳｬｾｲｩ｣Ｕ＠ of maps America, of rhaf of his own class, If ci[lt's an.; {O be used by ｲＮＱ｡ｮｾＧ＠
and ﾷｾｴｨｫ＠ would Rive the b!}sic public the groups of peorlt', ch(.:n il is important (Q U!lders{:md how rhc dif-
'he )lenoral "'""Slh"
problems ano 'he cri,ical .Iemen!. and fen:nt maior groups tt"nd to image cheir surroundings. The ｾ｡ＮｬＱＧ＠
clement lmerrdations, wi[h ｾｦｈＮＺｬｲ＠ dera.ibi qualifltS and pos..sibilirits mighr be said of significanr variations in ｰ･ｲｳｯｮ｡ｬｩ｛Ｇｾ＠ Cy{'C. The
fa! ch-ange, On :such an analysis, continuously modjht>J :and kl'll( present slUdy dralr only in rhe common fac(O(s within lhe
up co ､ｊｾ｣Ｌ＠ • plan for (ht" future visu;t/ form of ｾｨＡＮＺ＠ region could h would be of inrC'rC's[ UJ Ｅｶｨ･､ｾｴ＠ smr.e 01 fbe tmaAe
be based. seemcJ to ap.pcu-thosc u$ing :Haric hierarchical s-yslems versus
[hose using ､ｹｮｾｭｩＨ＠ unrolling connections, or thost using con·
crere versus absulcc ima.gf's, for example-are srahle, non-rransft'r,
Directirms for Futllfe Research able rypes, or are simply (h(;" result of a particular ｲ｡ｩｮｾ＠ or milieu_
The preceding crirlqUl", and many of the pagl.!s In cadler chaptt'l'S.
How. furthermore, do somt' of rhese types imtrreiaw! em a
dynamic image- system al.so he one thar is posirionally' srrucwred?
poim to unsolvcJ problems, Some nex, steps of analrsis arc: quirt'
The relation between (he communicable memory imafole and (he
obviou:s: mhers, even more important. arc harder to grasp.
image used in immediare field opcr.a(lons might also be tnvcsrigaced.
An obvious next sup is [Q usC' [hc anaJyrical (cchnique describcJ
All [hC'se qucsc[ons have more rhan theorerical imeresr. C'ci<.'s
JUSt above for tescio.g a more aci<'quaCt.' sample of the population.
ue the habirar of many g:roups, anJ only wich a diffcremiated
Conclusions from chis work would be on much sounder ground,
understanding of .group and individual images and their ｩｮＨ｣ｲ･ｬ｡ｾ＠
and a technique ,uilable fOI rractiral arl'iicarion (Quid be per/eCled,
cions can an environmem tx: cooslrucreJ (hat will be satisfying ra
Our knowledge of 'he subject woulJ also be enriched jf compara·
all Unril such knowleJBe is ac hanJ, the dC.$IBner mu.${ continue
tive studies wert appJil'd to a greater range of environml'n[s chan
"he rhree cilics actually Hudied. Very ncw and very old cilies. w rely' upon the common denominator, or public image, and orher-
compace and sprawling onl:S, dense ;and sparse, chaotic and highl,. wise provide as great a varie-r:j' of types of imagc.buiJJing mace-rial
a.$ he can devise,
ordered environmems, might aU produce charant-risric difft"renns
The presem srudies h.ve been confined to images
in thl:ir image. How does the pub-itc image of a viUas:c diflt'r from
(hal of MalJhamm? Is!l city (Q (oncepl1.llJ;lize [han a
at one 01 lime. We would underst.od
railroad [Own? Such sruJies would produce Q storehouse material we knew

156 157
 city;
such

piclUte.
the dry C"JUSC'S an allied problem;
to external change. As our habitat
becomes ever mare fluid shHring, i[ becomes to
how (0 maimain image cominuiry Ihese uphelvals.
does image ad,ust to and
'O.'hich [his is pouiDle? When i$ ignored or distoued to
preserve the m.p? When doc, the image break down_ .nd .,
what co,,, How breakdown be ,voided by plw.".1 (:00-
rinuiries, or how CQn rhe formation of new images be
once breakdown has occurred? The coostruction of eovicoflmenral
images which arc open-ended ro change is a special pcoblem:
imag., which are tough and yet elastic in the face of the inevitable

IS nor
is a produce of dte-
m improve Lm'3ge quatlity
by educadol1. conducted on the devices by
which one CAn leach people to oriente-d: [0 their
ment: rhrough mU5ewns, iecrW'iE-\. city walk!, school prajecn. and
$.0 on. Allied wich [his is rhe of :symhtr=ic devices:
maps. sig05. diagrJms. machines"
disorde",d physical wodd may me in.enliotl •
symbolic diagram which explain5 rhc rclatioos of main feamres in
a llI#ay which is sj'mparheric to image devclopmen(. good ex-
ampJe of chts IS the diagrammatic map of London ,subway sys-
cem, which i.'i prominently dispLayed in every ,stadon.
Perhaps «he most ditecrion for future .study ｨ｡ｾ＠ been
noccd several rimes [he lack of underscanding of [he ciry
a lOra! heid, of the inlerrel:t¢ians of dements,
CilY perct:"pdoo is- :itt euence a rime phenomenon,
direCled tOward a" object of large lITe tn-
lI'lloml1em il to as whole, !);til the clarifi-
ca.tion of prJrrs in irnmecHat{!" {ooteXt is only an iI!']tmentaty step.
It will be extremely imporlltm fuld way, of "ndeuland,n8 and
m"nipula,inB wh<!les, Ot lea" of h.ndling the problems of
s..ｾＢ･ｲｋ＠ and "illoldia8

158
Therc were mher frequcnt menrions of:
 On rht' ean, how(:vl!.'r, {he- situation difTers, Hert:' a subsrant'al
parr oI rht' hill has been ovt:rbuilr wHh commercial usC's, so [hal
Scoll.y Squoro is on .he side.hill, .nd School Serl'e' h3S a sleep
up'gradient, The topographic reality hal bet:n 19norl!.-J( and yet there
is no large sp;uial opening which wiH make .... isible whar has been
done, nor a sHong charaner change which Can o.... erride (he con-
{mUlti' of (he land form. This undoubredly conrribules to the
fuzziness of the image on rhis side, as wdl as ro Ih(.· spartal uneasi-
ness of Scollay Squart"
v('ithm the HiI1, the sense of gradienr is ever-presenr, .... ilually
ani1 of and balance... The bcr rhar the SHeer
,lop", l"'tJomin.nliy ｩｾ＠ d,f!erenr direerioo, on and
back sides rends emphasize the disTinction of these areal..
[0

The spaoaJ qualiry of developmt'm on (he front side of the Hill i.5
unmmaxable lr consists of continuous street corridors, everywhere
of an imima[('! scah:. Building b\'ades ale do.se at hand, and ofrC!rl.
of u.rl..'C s(Ories, givinj'. [he fcdiog Ibat (he;s.e cow JweUings ｡Ａｾ＠
all singlt!-family Mrucmrt>5. Ap.arrmt:ms. rooming houses. and insri·
wtions are not easily dininguishable \l(Pithlti these limiu of char-
acrer, howt.'vor, rht.'rc ift: 3;ignlfi(am vtria-floaS of proponiOfr.. as
FIG. 52, LooMing up ChIlJIf'U';; SlnJfJJ !('om CIM,Jer SIfiNJ
,hown in rhe Jiasrarnmarie 10; I'flnklJl'f, tbere a
sllbsrannaL change on Vernon Street above louisburg Square',

FrG. 51. Srup ＡｊｲｾｬＱＬ＠ lope1.f"aph)-, ｾｮ､＠ JJrecl crolJ Jt'ctions

on
stories high i obviously nOt
becomes ｣｡ｯｹｮｾｬｩｫ･Ｌ＠
the $lJuli,!lht ,ourn.. ,h.
,,,o,,"'rt[O''''" of IiSh',

164
 structures apJJCar among ｛ｨｾ＠ brick ｯｮｾｳＮ＠ ｔｲｾｳ＠ now JPpa:ar In back
courf}'arJs, racher rhan in rhe srreer.
lowe-:r Beacon Hill, bt:rwet:fk Ch:lrles Stn:eC anJ [he Charles Rivl:r,
shaft'S many characteristIcs with (he from siJc: ve-:gr:r,uion. brick
anJ brick walks, inst't Joors, anJ ornamental iron, but (ht: lack of
gradiem anJ [he barrier of Charle-:s Sut:e-:r st:vm ro place iC in a
clJssificarory limoo. Charles Srreet irseif is a sub·artJ mils own
riAhr, bt:ing a ｳｨｯｰｩｮｾ＠ SUret wich J sptcial char,t((tr Jut co the
ｲ｡Ｈｨｾ＠ ｾｸｰ･ｮｳｩ｜Ｇ＠ or nosc:.1lgic Ｈｽｲｾｓ＠ of geoJs solJ ｲｨｾｮＺＮ＠ which ｡ｲｾ＠
consumcJ higher up rhe Hill. The Jisuii:'-urlon of antique !>hot1s
illu.s[races rhis roinc The-: .'!;ov('rnmt:ntal ｡ｲｾＮ＠ imroJu(l'J by che
massive brt;J.k of rhe Slart' House, is complt'fl,:lr ｊｩｬｔｾｲｴｮ＠ 10 usc,
spadaJ scale, anJ S1H:t( ＳＨｴｩｶｾｲﾷ＠ Tht:rt: rtmains uJnsition Zont'
between Hancock anJ Somt:rsu Stn.:ecs. below DL'anL' ｓ｛ｲｾｴ＠ r, whIch
has txamplt-s of the Beacon Hill ,baraCltrl; slo[,<:. brick walk,. bay
winJows, insct Joars, and ornamemal iron, DUl ic is (ut ＰＱｔｾ＠ if
has scores a.nd Ｈｨｵｲｾｳ＠ mixeJ wirh the ｲｾｳｩｊｭ｡ｬ＠ use; and irs
maim"n"ncc 'peaks of a social class bolow 'hat of 'he from sidt
icself. This lack of ddinire Jt:molrcarion is fllnht:r C3U.st {oc rhe: Walnul Street. All (he nonh·runn1ng "back-slJt''' sm:t'IS look om
diffiClllr}" in imagining rhe: shape of !ht! Hill on (his siJe. over the \X'esc EnJ, bur the va: ..... of roof topS is harJly n:markJblc,
It is imerc:scing to sec [he effect of the circulation ｣ｨ｡ｮｾｊｳＬ＠ or except for the sighl of [he original Bulfinch hospHal down Anderson
lack of memo The obsrJcles preserucJ (0 moving from rhe from Sueer (which IS also (ht only back·w-f rom connection berween
ro [he back ｳｪ､ｾＬ＠ as we:1l 3S (he fact chac (he normal 3ppr03ch (Q CeJar anJ joy Streels). Coming up PUlckney Street there is a
mt'.se cwo siJes is from Jitlerem Jirt:t:rion.s. Sl;:rvl.:.'S [0 isobec one sranling view of a JecapirarcJ Custom House Towcr, while up
from anocher. The Sra(c House (U{.$ off Bowdoin Sueet f rom the-:
resiJemiaJ area, exctpr for (he racher duttereJ pas.sage unJt'r ,ht'
arch, which has a mon unpromising appro01ch from (he (:01S[. To
an even greaTer (.;x{(:m, the difficulry in moving Jown ro Scolla}'
Square makes [he Square "60a[" wirh rderence [Q (he Hill.
On [he other hand, rhe [hrough Streets rake-: on addeJ imponance:
Mt. Vernon, JOYI BowJoin, anJ ChJrle.5. AU Slreers, aJthough
topologically reguloar. anJ although rhose naml.:.'J above in fan go
through, are visually blodccJ, which reinforces me comp3C[ness,
imimJcy, anJ identiry of [he area. Joy, Bowdoin. anJ Pinckney
Screen are blockeJ by verlical curves: lvfc. Vernon. CedJr, and
Charle, Slree" by slighl horizontal bends. All 'he OIhers Jead cnJ
in rhe region, Thus it is impossible to st:e rhrough aT any polm.
NevenheJe.ss. ,here are some nne views Out from 'he Hill. panic-
ularly chose of Ihe Charles River, Jown Chesmut l Mc Vernon.
Pinckney •.Myrtle, anJ Revere Srreets, which are proJuceJ by the
slope of theSe streelS anJ the Hill's enfilaJe position on the river,
There is a pleasam glimpse of fhe Common, from Mr. Vernon down

16R
 Chesmm Street one gets a very handsome sigtlt of the Stale Hause or (lie Sfjuare, a!rhough It makes firm location diflicuh in the (mal
gold dome. nfl.Kture, does not seem ro disrurb rhe visual uability of the ｪｭｾ＠
Pigur. 58 The Scate Hou3e. of coune, 13 the primary landmark on the HilL medr.ltc lpace.
hs unique shape and function, as well as irs location dose {O (he There are -a few other landmarks of rome impOnance in {he Figure 57, Pilge 1.9
crest of the Hilt and it:!; visual exposure lO fhe Common, make i( internal structure. These include: the Universalise Church on Mr.
a key for cemrsl Boston as a whole. Ie acu bmh within snd with- Vernon and Charles SHcets, which is remarkable botll for its posi.
out tile Hill. LouisbUlg Square is the otller basic locality. being [ian an.d iu ｳｰｩｲ･ｾ＠ rhe Suffolk law School, facing rile Sw{e House on
a ,mall residemial n<>de on ,he lower ,lope' of ,he from ,ide. II Deane Street. which adds it' bulk to Ihe ,haraner and boundary of
js oeither visually exposed, oor fixed wiEh rehnion to hili cresc or the governmental district; (he New England College of Pharmacy.
fom, nor anchored by any mher device. Thus it is not used as a which intrudes on rhe residemial character of Me. Vemon S[rce(;
locator, but is rather thought of as being "somewllere inside" the and the Carnegie Institute, on Pinckney S(reet at Anderson Streer.
Hill. and the very epiwme of irs particular cn-araner. It may be which hreaks the cominuous housing f:.u:ades and marks (he entrance
nmed, indeed, how the from-side ,heme'S art: aU concentrated here, co ｴｨＨｾ＠ ｾ｡｣ｫ＠ side. There are other non-relidentiili OlCS on the Hill,
a.ppear as i[ were in (Ileir puresT form. In addition, the Square is bur [hey fade into the general background surprisingly well. Very
a formed space. which contrasts. wifh and yet expresses more clearly few landmarks, e.:([ernal to the Hill, ale visible within ie, and thus
(he slxuial character of the area. h contains (he famous (lny areas i(s internal structure is [hrown upon i(s own resources.
of cobbleswnes, and a fenced and intensely green park, furnished The conncction of the [-I iI I to 'he West End vi •• sharp boundary.
with <lames. ",hich compels 3!!emion both by iI, lu,hncss and ils and Ihe confUSIon of Ihe !I.nsition .0 Scoll.y Square, have alre,dy
implied "no {fespassing," fI is imeresring that rhe side-hill character been discussed Th:ar (he Hill [roms on (he Common is clear to

FIG. )8. The S,." HOMil

170
.11, bur if ,hould be added thar the direct linkage between the tWO appe-a:rs, dcsp1re i[s s:r:rengch. (0 faU somewhac shorr of irs poremjal
is quite weak. Easy paHage from one to the ocher IS blocked a! !l dominam hi!!, rarriculady bt:cause of ilS imemal di\lisions, the
excepc a( Charles, Jo)" and Walnuc Suce[s, and rhe view of the flaws in its rdaclon to the Charles River, the Boston Common, and
massed green cret's i.s equally lacking, The planring on [he Hill Scollay Square, and [he lack of expJoirarion of its \lisual eminence
rhus lacks (he (onrinuiry It might nave had wi[h the park, if ｰ｡ｾｨｳ＠ o\ler the cicy, paC!iculat!y through ou(wacd view!. The poweJ and
or optning.s had exlsted perpendicular to the line of Beacon Srrl!el. sJcisiJ.nion of this parcicubr urban image, however-ils continuity.
Some relatlon (Q the Charles River was sensed by almosr everyone, hllmani(y, and ddigh(-are unmistakable.
ｓｾｯＯｬ｡ｹ＠ Square
probably because of the fine views dowo the caH-weSf srreets, bur
the dcraHed linkage W33 qui(e unclear, because: of rhe dubious Scollay Square is quire anorher :Kor)". being a node which is
classification of Ihe lower ares, [he ftanened foreshore) and rhe s[(UcmrJ.lly ｶｩｾ｡ｊ＠ bur whiCh did Oot sctm easy [Q 1demiJy or Jescribe.
difficut(y of crossing 5wrtow Drive (Q reach (he warN. The Ｈ､｡ｯｮｾ＠ Its 10(a(100 in Doswn, and tole as a sWHegic [rafflc imerchange. may
ｾｨｩｰ＠ with (he river, which is apparent on [he slopes above, leems be )fen by rdt!rence again w Figure ·19. figure 60 is a more FiK*rcs 49 a,,4 t;(J,
ｴｊ､ｧｾ＠ 161 .:md 17 j
(0 disappear as one approaches LL derailed map of the Square, illumating ill principal physic.1 fearures.
In [he wider comext of the entire cic)" Beacon Hill has an The public image at Scolray Square was that of an important
important role co play. despite the res[ricced number of irs inhabilams_ junction node for paths going around Beacon Hill and berween
By irs mflOgrlphy, srree( spaces. ｲ･ＮｾＬ＠ ｳｯ｣ｩｾ｛＠ class, derail. and level (he cemral a.rea ｾｮ､＠ (he Nonh End. 1mo it came Cambridge ｓｾｲ･ｴＬ＠
of ｭ｡ｩ･ｮ｣ｾ＠ it is differen.ciaced from any ocher area in Bosron, Tn'mom StIf'cr, Court Street (or was it Slate Street:), and a series
The reg)oC! mos( [learly similar is Back ｂ｡ｹｾ＠ with a ｣ｯｮｩｵＬｾｹ＠ in of Slle('cs leadjng to Dock Square. Fant!'uil Hall, Haymarket Square,
rnacerial. vege£arion, assoaarion, and to .mme extenr use and lCams; and the North End. Hanover Street used to make a dear path to
bm with a dissimilar lO[,X)graphy, detail. and maintenance, Confusion rhe Nonh End, bur it is naw blocked and [his was confusing
berwecn [he two occurred at times. howe\ler. The only other Scollay Square ..... ,ometime, <.,ended ro include Bowdoin Square,
possible simiiarity would be with Copps Hill in the North End: some(imel nm
also on a hill, old, and residential, but di!ferlng ,hacpty io cia", The Pembc((on Square enrrance was nor generally remcmbered,
space. detail. lack of trees, and absence of boundaries. excepr by old hand,. Cambridge Street, however, made a clear joioc
Thjs unique area. therefore, stands Oll( over rhe c.l(y cemer. linking with ScolJay Square, and its curve was vivid. Tremonr Sneer was
Back Bay. Common, dow mown, and Ihe West End; and in ·poren.rial known w BO in) ｢ｵｾ＠ rhc emrance was ncirher remarkable nor always
dominaling and focusing the entire central region. Potentially again. ceCl3in \Xlashington Saeer was thought by many sub;ecrs 10 run
i [ could expilin and fix the direcdon change tn {he Char{es River into rhl:: Square. and canfUlion was commOn as berween Tremont
bank, Otherwise difficult co rec'illi. yet viral in (he total ｣ｬｾｙ＠ 5rtucmre, Scree(t Cauf( Street, and the imagined pn:sen(e of Wa.5hing(Qo or
When viewing Boston (rom Cambridge. the Hill plays an imporcanr State SHeers. Excepr for (he blocked-off Hanover Srreec, [he
cole, not oaly in enlivening, bur in expbining and articulating {he srrttcs going to Dock Square, North End, or Haymarket Square
sequence of paws appearing in (he panorama: Back ｂ｡ｹｾ･｣ｯ＠ were not individually known or dlfferemiaced. As a grouP. they
HIlI-We,H End. Fearn mher pa.CLS of (hey cilY, however, except the seemed 10 run off downhiii, curving as they went. 1.\'(0.$1 im[,X)flam
Wen End and rhe Common, (he Hill is not visible as an emilY) were the general level relacians: Beacon Hill was above; Scollay
!::.ecaus.e of IU gradual ascem and [he imerveotns obstacles. As a Square was a sloping hillside plateau; CJmbridge and Tremont
traffic obstacle, It guides rhe Rows around its base, and concentrates Strl:'en followed Ｎ｡ｾｯｬｊｮ､＠ the comours; rhe orher 5rrce[S wem away
auenu·oo on {he c(](;lrding paths .nd nodes: Charles Sucer, downhill.
Cambridge S!(eel, Scallay Square. The Square wa.s .shapeless. hard (Q visualize, "iusr anmher crru.sing
The HiH thus proves 10 be a region whose physical characceristics of sneecs," alchough rhe Bowdoin Square end waS .somewhar ､ｩｦ･ｲｾ＠
back up [hc srrenglh of (he popular imagc) and which comains many enrtated from Ihe reR The main feature was lhe central suhway
iilu", .. ions of the psychological dIem of ,he disposing of path,_ emrance, There ｷＮ｡ｾ＠ a pervasive, recognizable lOne of dilapidation,
:dopes, spaces, boundaries, and the coocemralloo of del2lil.It alro marginal usc, and "Iow·class"

173
 Cambridge run:1 lfHU tt, mrvinlit if1ltpennS as .it do<:.$- sO'.
Th. Sq.,... ",If way up • hil! ,nd n.1Ii up or dowo (0 it,
added:

At leas( three could sa.y:

H.IL

[0 Wasbingwn Sueet.

comments:

line.
gQl!'s inro it.

in cwld
thoughts:

.lOOn
-
FIG, 60. S"'''' •• J 'x,,/din';l, S<oll., Squ."

spijce, Ihe
Jong rec·
60 In plan,
spindle
 lUrai ft'I:3(io()shir to DOHan as a whote t is unuauhct'uly irs primary
idenrincJcion fl:Jrun:.
Since Sea !lay Squart' pby.s irs mOlt role as a juncrion
of paths, it is imron3nI to SL"t.' ir, not bur .a:; it reveal$:
it.Helf on arp<o1.,h l ｡ｮｾＡ＠ how one ｬｾ｡ｶＮＺＧｳ＠ it behind ｔｨｾ＠ ;Jp,Ji03Ch
(rom Tremom Scrl't'{, which ｕｩｾｬｓ＠ slighrly ima ir. rl''lL'l.h th."" noJ,,'
as :l of (hf: ｢ｵｪｬ､ｩｮｾ＠ mass., ｲｨＮｾﾷ＠ ohvious tJ.',..: n! {ht:
busintss J.iscrict, wah. J. (lrst vltW of 3n old brick buJJ.in,t:
on (h.l: cornt!r of Cornhill, :;lOU chen an unravding of ｓｾＢＱ｡｣＠
ｾｴＴＡｨｬＺｲﾷ｡Ｇ｛Ｉ＠ siJ:fl.s tL) [he IdL Thert: is ..l. ＼［ｈｩｫｮｾ＠ imprnslon of
Clcs..
ｗｏｬｾｨｩｦｧ｣ｯｮ＠ Sut:et ｴＺ｡､ｾ＠ primarily ro Dock Square, and Coun
Srreet, which ｩｾ＠ [he conm:crion to ScolIa)", appt:!lrs m lx: cnty 3.
minor and Undl.'Hinguisht'J cross ｾｈｴＺＨＧｲＮ＠ alchough rhe COrnt:r is.
marked by the Old Stare House. Coun Su(;'C( Itself leaJs In a r;.uh(;'f
siddong ;md mincing manner up {Q ScoUay Square.
C:;lmbridgt' Srreec got.'.s .southt:a.sc father convincingl}' toward tht'
goal of rhe big and distinctive, if raceless, Telephone /luilJing ;l(

frG 61. ｓＬｯｬＮｾ＠

nOt SO
Scollar Square sbould become an unmistakable ptac", Jil.pitla,
tion and manr of (he uSes .art' common TO ouInermu: ｾｏＨ｡､ｯｮＬｦ＠
co rhr.: downtowo ana, aoJ combinatfQo
and inhabitant
;rtgt{)(l Sr:et:c ch.os
at a multiple int,vntrf'tOnn
and

00[ visually
 into Spa.,,1
C""O,l, a iUf!nel
righl
figuration
in lite'
The do.,ohill stl ••ｴｉｾｓｵ､｢ｲｹＬ＠ Hanover, ami COfnhill- ｾｉＮｈＧ｛＠ or ｾｵＧｉｙ＠
111",,,,,,,,0 n.o.
aU pick up a marked slope 35 rhey approach the Square. On each,
there is some ROse of opening ahead, anll perhaps of a thickening o.
of bars and other assoCillted uses, but generally (he- Square itstlf is
far less per<eprible in advance than is (he COunty Courthouse Annex ,-RO)tTAGI. Of ItAAIl.,
｟ｾｉﾷｃＮ｜ｍ＠
On Pembtrton Square, which 00 the skyline', Stollay Squac,
ClC..AI" lII:.eTaNMilM'fI!I
seems cO simply ar) end, or a twist. in the s(reet. The
curve of Cornh,ll i, pll!3.anl
designed to be), bu( the-
es[' from rhe uphill ｳｩ､･Ｇｾ＠
Street. the ｓｱｵｾＨ･＠
il- ,,,,;ist'fllIl'li,,mll>le,
､･ｳｰｩ｛ｾ＠ the confusion
wlth !omc quality of identiflability.
l'he direction Out on Cambridge Street is also rela(ivciy clear,
while the once imponaor Hanover ｓｴｲｾ＠ is now hard EO ､ｩｳｴｮＦｵｾＱ＠
from rhe "sr. e'xcep! for some enta width. Sudbury Street as well,
wh;ch now cl1uie¥ appred:able tntffic seems: iby iu SilE an.d oorder-
p

Jng use ro be 11 very sueet. As set2:n from the nonn, rhe

mtran(e iO the important ｔｲｾｭｯＺ＠ Street sh3fpl}' turned and
aJmosf invisible. Many interviewees difficulty locau'ng this
exit, but onc.e It is found, the dt!enJoo T'remotu Sx't'ect tS
clear. 0/ such
Hill Cit. pel, rhe Tremont Tem-
ple, rh. Com"""",
The very srronsiy downhill and
.!thollll" rhe aUtomobile
ooe-"IM:lY up into [he' at The Square Bolins some cOlllteaion wirh the exterior) mher dun
walk Coun Streett there is
croWl). by slopes or p:uhs, by means Ｈｈｊ｛ｷｾｲ＠ views. These include (he
ｗｵｨｪｬＧｴｾｲｏ＼＠ Sr{{!er, and one [s only 31 Bowdoin Squ ....nd Counhouse Anne<
The relatioft of (which .rchi!l!c[ut<l!y .lmos, .nd,,·
ro Scollay Square is thllS oollCured in borh diu:(tions, 'ff' . alld the highly
dtllrU.rd,abh: Ｚｸ｣･ｾ＠ (or their d! ･ｲｮ｣ｾ＠ 111 ｾｳ＠ rhe
It is confusing (hat COUrt Suter 2.nd CorflhilJ ttn4:l!:!'r rhe CuStom House Towel, vlililble ('0
Square", closely together, and yet • blotl away have denin;li01lls rl< 01 lo",.r end of Slate Sueer .nd {he ",..edIMI- M",r
which seem psychologically as far apart as Scone Scree( and :Dock ill. f In 00 the skyime
su1kins of the ma§"s 0 0 (e . .
Square. Again we conclude chat in otnward movement [he Cam- (0 Ihe sou!h, which indicate5 rhe Pose Square diStriCt. aru.l
briJ8e Street p;l(h i5 (he only dearly idemitlable on('1 ahhough ([le "'hich m.ke, ,lear ScoU.y mar gin.1 .. ,he
ftoub1t at Tremoot lS rather brier. of [he downtown core

178
179
 Unlike Beacon Hill or Commonwealth Avenue, Scollay Square is langular 'pace, ,he ,pinJle pallern of paeOs, the .ide·hill (C'ttll{ing.
essentially invisible from tht.' oucside, except immediace!), on To fulfill its :!.rruCTural role, [he joim of eac-h
approach. Only [he old hand would remember on nOting (he be ､･｡Ｎｲｾ＠ c;t:plaineJ, inbound and Pon:miaUr j{
could play an elfen mort! srriking visual roit' as the <eoual pOlnr of
Courthouse Annex from a di.staoce dlar if ｩｾ＠ fairly <.lost: to Scollay
Squ.re, the old h•• J of ,he Boston peninsula, the hub "f. wh"le "";'" oj
Jmt:fClally, there is rcia[lvdy little to diffr:renriace direcr;ons or di!tricu Hill. ')}'est EnJ. Norrh EnJ. mark(.'!
distrt(l'. ce;acral shopping uistrl(l). (he node ｾｵＨｨ＠ imrurunr
fi,Ji;urc 62, page 179 pans at the Square_ The principal imeroaL landmark is (ht subway
ｌＮｾｭｯＢｑｪｉＬ＠ (:0",";;':11<, an,) Sudbury Srre<1ls;
entrance anJ newsstand, which ding to a tiny oval in the midst of
the traH1c. Yet even chis is low and harJ to Jisringuistl from a triad of
disrance'. Ir is primarily apparem as a rellow-Ienered sign, and a
Scollay Squ... is
uses Ｂｲｵ｣･Ｇｾ＠ unt:asy-.. . ..j( is
ｨｯｾ｣＠ in ,he Iround, Its imran is reduced by f1fl'scncc
opportunity missed.
similar scruc(ut*!: on a similar oval juSt behind It. This second
doorway ro rhi! under ground) however, is an exit ｯｮｬｾＧＮ＠ with iew uses
Ilnd no ｯ･ｷｳＮｾ｡ｮ､Ｌ＠ and thus perceptually "dead:' The subway
entrance, which seems TO everyone co be "'in the middle of" Scotlay
Squafe, is actually almost at the very end. One orher striking decail
in lhe Square is rhe brighdy leHered mbacco shop an rhe (orner
oi Pembt'ffon and Tremoor Srreers, which lies ar the foor of. and In
sharp conrras.t w, the sheer wall of tile Suffolk Baok.
The>n!' are lew direcrion dues ins-ide tile Square, except for rhe
siJewJId slam and rhe domin3nt" lines of rraffic, which confer an
axial s.ense There is no apptedable gradient in (he space or The
massing of buildings, The ｢ｵｩｬｊｮｾ＠ on rhe skyline (0 rhe-
souch and thL' terminal billboard to Itle oorch arc rhe principal
diffetemiat)ons of direction In [he selling )tselL
There are substantial signals of direCtion in the variety of ｵｳｾ＠ and
aniv)ty, however. The densicy of pedesuians and H.!rning traffic is
highesr on ,he somhern end, where rhere are uses of rhe type nor·
maJly ser .... icing [he dowmown husiness cemer: JrugstOr(;;3-. res-
md tobacconlsrs. Ihe l1edescrian StrO:IABl is tile
nthl'm« of office workers and shoppers. The ｣ｨ･ｾｰ＠ $lores
tend ra coltt·{( morc on [he casr (han the west side' (he Squilre.
while (he flap houses and rooming hotels lie to the iX'IH:tr.1(IDg
upward toward the fringe.! ot the Beacon Hill transition area, The
pedutrians here are those associared wid-, (Ile Square.
Tile dUStN of .second-hand l\J:ores on Cornilill is aomher imernal
clue. The nonhero fringes of the area run off 10 lofrs and ware-
housing, Thus. while phpically inchoate, Scollay Square is imer·
nail}' differenciared and !i(rucfured by the slopes, the traffic. and the
pancrn of use$,

180
 12, Clapart'J<:', EJouarJ, "L'Oriem'Jrion Lointaine," Noutleau Tr.;tit,:
<if' PljchoJogle. Tome VII1, F;uc. 3. Paris, Presses Universi-
[aires de- France, ＱＹｾＳＮ＠
13. Corneu:. V., "Lc Cas E!emcmalre du Scns de- la Direccion chet
fHomme." 8uUellft1. de la Soo:t;; de Gio,grdphie d'lflger, t8e
Annee, ＡｾＱＳＬ＠ p. 742.
14, Cornea, V" '"Observ:uion sur Ie- Scns de- I:a Direction chez
l'Homme," RevlU' der ｉ､Ｎｾ･ｊ＠ 15 Juille{. 1909.
IS. Colucci, Cesare, "Sui di)[urbi dell'oriemamenw WI-"Ograhco,"
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17, Erliocc, Henry Wood, Our /ircric Province, New York, Scrib.
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. Vol. 3. ＱｾＸＮ＠ pp. RI-160, 293-,64. Vol. 6, :.Y9i. ｾｲ＠
11-',6.37-130 Vol. 8, ＡＬｾＹｪＮ＠ pro 1-106, 119-27), n)-
437.
19. finh. R.ymood, We, ,he ｔｩｫｯｐＯｾＬ＠ London, Allen and Unwin
Ltd., 1936.
20. H., "Die Orit'nrierung im Raume bei Wirbeltieren
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Phl"ioJo,i(. Berlin, J. Springer, 1931, pp. 909-

2!. flanagan, Thomas, "Amid ,he W,ld Ligh" and Sh.dows,"

Columbia University Forum, Wimer 1957.
22. Forster, E. M" A PaJlage /0 Indi_, New York, Harcourt, 1949.
23. Gaccy. Harold, Narure iJ YOMI' Guide, New YOtk.-E P. Du((on,
lCJ;o. .
24. Gaurier. Emile Felal:, MinionJ pu Sahard, Paris. Llbrairic A.
Colin, 19G8.
25. Gay, John, Tr';via, Of, The 1'11'101 Walk,ng ,he Streetl IJI Londor"
｢ｾｲｯｊＺ＠ and nOTes by W. H, Williams. Lond.n, D. O'Connor,
1922,
26. Geugb.e,gan, Rich-ard Henry. The Aleut Language, W-ashingfOn,
lj, S. ｄ＼ＢｾＧＳＨｭｮＡ＠ of Jncerior. 1944.
27. GerTH !Ii, AgoH100, Te.uief, G" and GaHi, A. r ··La Percezione
della Po')izi.)f1C' del (Josuo corpo e dei suoi sposramenti,"
ｉｬｴ｣ｨｩｾｯ＠ 1,./j"'Ao di Psic%gia, I, 1920, pro 104-182.
29. Ge-meHi:, Agostino, "L'Oricnc8zione LOmafl:l net Volo in Aero-
plano," RttJiIlIl Dj PJic%gia, Anno 29. No, 4, Oct.-Dec.
1933. p. 297.
29. Gcnrlf.!'p, A. Van, - Du Sens ｾｊｏｲｩ･ｵ｡ｯｮ＠ dlez !'Homm(-:·
RaigionJ, t\·lorlJrj, el L.i>gf!ndeJ) 31:' ｓ｣ｲｩｾＮ＠ Paris, 1911. p . .ti7.
30. Granpro'·Moliere. M. J., Lunri,,"!,. of rhe N. E. Polder," tran'·
lared from Forum, Vol. 10: 1 2,
 11. Griffin. Donald R.• "Sensory PilysioloiiO' anJ the Orientation of '52. P<:'t<:'rson. Josq.Jh, "][Iusions of Direction Oric:nta(ion," f",rna/
Animals," Americ,m SCientiJ/, April 1<)'5,), pp. 209-2fH. 0/ P/il/()J.p!J'/, PJjc/;oiof,l' and SCit'nllfic ,'fethodj. V.l. XIH,
.12. de Groce. ]. J. 1'01 .• Rehxwn m (hind, Nt:w York, G. P. Putnam's, No.9, April 27, 1916, pp, 225-236
1912 53, Pink, Ollvt' ｾ＠ . . L. "Tht, LanJowncrs in rht' Norrhern DiVISion of
B. Gill, Eric. ,iUIOb'o!'""ph.\, New YOlk Ci,y. Devin·Adair. 19·11. tht, Aranda ｔｲｩｾ＼ＺＢ＠ Ceneral Aus[ralia," Ocean;d. VoL VI. No.
3, March l'll6, pp. ＲＷｾＭｉｏＮ＠
)4. Halbwachs, Maurict'. l..4 ｍｾｭｯｩｲ･＠ Colleclitce, Paris, Presses U nj·
'Vcrsiraircs de rraocc. 1<)')0. ｾＴＬ＠ PInk, Olivl.: M" Anct'srors in a Nonht'fn Aranda Horde-
Counrr)'," Vol. IV, No.2, D«embcr 1933, pf'. 176-
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Paris. Michel, 1951. 186.
ｾＮ＠ Ponclls, S. D., The P.I)·(.;'ule;;;· of a Primilitrf' People, New York
36. JaHarJ, Pierre, "Unc Enqueu: sur la Dt!soril'nraeion cn Mon·
I.a.gm:," BuIlt-lin de Iii SOCIal' Vaudo;u des Scienu Natu- City, Longmans., Green, 1931,
reiies. Vol. ｾＶＬ＠ No. 217, ａｵｾｳｴ＠ 1926, pp. 151-159. 56, Prawiini, Vasco, 11 QUf1rtiae. Firt:nzt', Valles chi, 1947.
17. Jaccard. Pit'rrc, LI.' S'-'I[ de 1d Oirection ('1 ｌＧｏｮ･ｾＯｷｬｊＨｭ＠ Lmn- ｾＷＮ＠ Prouse, Marcel, DII C(;/f de chez Swann, Paris, GallimanJ. l<)"),i.
lamt' ,h,'"I'Hamme, Paris, Payor, 19 ;2. ＸＮ＠ｾ Proust, Marcel, Aibertine Dhporue, Paris. Nouvelle Revue Fran-
3H. JJ.ckson, J. B., ··O(hef.Dirc([cJ Houses," LmdJcape, Wimer, ,ai,e, ＱＹＲｾＮ＠
1'})(;-)7, Vol. 6, No 2, 59. Rabar,d, Eriennc, L'O,;en/dliml Loin/dine e/ loJ ReCOn1ldilfance
39. ｋ｡Ｂｾｵ｣ｨ＠ Eka:, Three Y"rJ in T,bel, Ad),.r, Madras, The deJ Li('ux. Paris. Akan. 1927.
Thl",saph,,, effice, 1909. 60, H3Slllus5,'n, KnuJ Jollan Victor, The Nenilik EJkimoJ (Rtporr
'10, Kepts, Gyorgr, The Neu' LandJCape. Chicago, p, Theobald, of the hi,', Thule Exp<d,,;on. 1921-2·1, Vol. H, No. 1-2)
1956. ｃｯｰｴｮｨ｡ｾ｣Ｌ＠ (;,-I,leod.l, 19\1.
·11. Kilp3Uick. Fr3nklin p" "Recent E:Kperimems in PerclJpticn," GI, Rattray. R, S.. Ret.xi(m. and Ar' in .iJhan/i, OxforJ, Clart'oJon
Nell' York ACddenJ} of Sciences, Tra!11dCli(mf. ｎｯｾ＠ H, Vol. 16. Press, 1927.
June 1954, pro 'l20-·Pi. 62. RcicharJ, Gluly:, A:nnndll, Navaho Rdixion, a Study of Sym·
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York, Scribner, 1953. 63, Ryan. 'f. A. and ?o.f. S., "C{'_f;r.1;lliic.li Oricnratron," Amahd"
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Smnce New York, Double,d.y, 1957. 64. Sachs, CUrt, RJ;j/J;", mid T"mpo, New York, Norton. 195.\,
4·1. Lyons, IIcN)', "The Sailing Cham of !he MalShall I'landers," ＶｾＮ＠ S:mJ:m"Ol:l, Carl Ivan, Oriellla/ion ill the PreU!n/ Spun'. Srock·
Gc-ot:.! ＬＧｲｾｎＨｻｦＱ＠ JaurntJ!. Vol, LXXII, No. 4, ｏ｣ｲｯ｢ｾ＠ I<)28, pp. holm, Almqvisr anJ Wik,eli, ＱＹｾ＠ I.
>25 - ;2" 66. ｓ｡ｾｩｲＬ＠ Edward, "Lang:.uiig . : and Environmem," ＧＯｾｭ･ｲｩＨ｡Ｂ＠ .1,Jlhro-
4'5. ｽＧｦ｡ｾｧｲｩ｣ｨＮ＠
Brian G ... ·'Tht: Astronomy of (hI:: Aranda and LUfuja pol.J:IJI, Vol. J.1, 1912.
Tribes," Ad("laide Uni..-ersi(i' FiclJ ａｮｩｨｾｯｰｬＨＩ［ｶＮ＠ Cemral 67 Sauer, ｾｦ｡ｲｩｮＬ＠ AH AccOlml 0/ rJ GenF,'I'dphtc(]/ and /1.1trOfJOmtcal
Ausualia no. 10, rakl'n [rom T,.!!,?({{nJoll, 0/ the k.l/il 50(;' Expediriol'i 10 the Nort&'rfl Pulrtr oj RUJlid, Londen, T,
el) 01 South ,'!,IIt,,,/ia, Vol. LVI, 1932. CaJc,11. 1802,
,16. Malinowski, Bronislaw, A,!:onau/J 0/ the Weuer", Pacific, Lon· G8, Sht:n. ｔｾＱｊｮＬｻＡﾷｬｩ＠and liu·Shen-chi, Tibet dnd the Tille/wnJ,
Jon, RoutieJgl', 1922, Stanford, Sro:!n!ol.i University PIt'SS, 19'53,
47. ｍ｡ｲｩｾＮ＠ ｐｩｾｈｴﾷＮ＠ tl ｂｴｨ｡ｾＺｊＨＢ＠ P., "Syndrome: ｾ＠､ Desoricmation dans 69 Shepard. P., "Dt.'aJ Cicies in {ht.' American Wt.'H," LandKape,
I'Espace" R£'"", NCllmir.r.ir)Nl', Vol. 26, No. r, 1919, pp. Wimer, Vol. 6, No.2, 1956-)7
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pp. 188-212.

1H4
: 7. Twa;n, Ufe '''' tht: bl')JiJjippi, New York, Harpec, 1917.
7B. Waddell, L. AUH;ne, The Buddhirm 0/ Tib., Or um.;Jm, l.on, Acropolis, 124 Beacon Hill, {f:iruition zone t lG8
don, W, H. Alle,,-, 189), Agc (()CUfan&. 45 (tiff olIO Comnm) view.s OUI, 168
79. Whirch,ad, Alfred NO"h, Symboli"" ."J /" Meoni_g .nd Airporr:..74 We!t End. conlinuum wirh. 64
EifeC/, New York, M.cmil:an, 1958, Air [Javel, 113- Beverly Hills, 41
80. Alb.ny, 136 Binel, M A., 125
ａＡｾｵｲｳＬ＠ 132, 138 Bird.s, nesting territories of. 13:)
8l. Alp"I32 8oMn, 10, 1•. ＱＶＭＲｾ＠
Apparency. to IimDlguit), Qr snape, 22
Arctic, 132 blank｡ｲ･ｾＬ＠Ｚ 20
82. 12(\, 127, 119, no, l}2, 134, ChUaI((Cf.17

83,

connection Qurline map. 18

differentiated ch,,,.,,,•• i,,iCl, p':I.(h.s (Ide Doslun paths)
e:<rernal ｶＱｾｩ｢ｬｻｹＮ＠ t72 p<ninml •• 17, 20, 17, 62
{rom side. HJ2, 1G7 struCfU!e,19.21
;::ovt.'"Fnme-fHaiQcea. 168 views, 11:1
imc[YJew de.s"il'dons, 162 vivid dcmenu. ) 7
I,n<ima,'" 169.171 Boston dt'iuicth 22, 69
locariort. 161 fuel< ll>y. 19, n, H. 60, 61,63,68,69
side, 168 lid], 17, 19,10, ｾＴＬ＠ GJ, 68, 69,
161 72,74, 145, 160-173 (ro • .J,.
Hill)
71
17. 19, 21, lJ, lj, 56, 7 t,

187
 &m:m diurkrs, marKet district. 18, 70, Charles Sneer, lO. 15, )7, 5B, Gl. 162,
168

109
76,17. ＸｾＮ＠ Comrols: co achie:ye urbliln form, 117
alf(l ScoHay Cort':l,48
V .• 134 100
Co.".},,;,oo, between composites of dce(ch
maps ｾｮ､＠ ｩｮＨｦｴｶｗｾＮ＠ 144 100
Cu:rvarure. pCf(ep(iol'l of, 54 orientation ro, 129
Curve, ｭ［ｳｪ･｡､ｾｮﾣＬ＠ 56 O\lerneed, (j ｾ＠
penemnion, 65
urban (JU Cit)' design) Termini,lOO
Ddler.,nri.,ion. direuton:al, 106 47
Bmwn Court House, 81 reduCes communlclifion, 139
C"'lOm Ho",.. 81. 82, 179 Dlre(tiol'l to bue poin!,129 14),
Fane-uB Halt 7{, 79 Disoriemation, 125.134
John Hancock Bulfdtn8. SO. 81. 94. 14j Ｄ｣ｩｬ･Ｍｾ＠ 139 Bl. lOB
Old Sourh MeetioR House. ［ｾ＠ 66-72, 84. IOJ-10S, 130
5"1< HOllie, 17, 79, 81, 86, 162, 168, B,moo. J""y C;IY, Los
Ｎ､ｾＤｴｲｩＺＨｦＵＩ＠
170

67

oorr,08,,n.,,y, 69
!(movel(,7t
linear, 50
mouic. 72, 104
Park Squ:ue. 25, 5a names,6a
Sourn SUllioo, 74 "C."ri," Il 0 sociaJ conoouclons. 45. 68
subway Stations, 74, IBO CarQline [:l12nds, t:;3 nrtlcmre'. 71. 104
BOHOn. !>'1chs, 22 rhemuilC; ＨＧｯｮ｟ｴＢｬｵＮｉｹｾ＠ 67
ArlingtOn SHeer, 51.'7 themiHlc unir, 69. )04 Hl
lid ami, lIyenue, lB. 19. B. SO. 51. 53, importance',67
57 104

Domioonc<'1 LOtS, 113

"Dre;r;m·l'me roads," 126.
Du,," polders. 13
j, 7

ｅ､ｾＢＬ＠ 47. 6l-66, 99-lO0 (Jr. alIO

C;1Y Ｎ､ｬｴｾ［Ｉ＠

188 189

VERSION
ADDS NO
 J",1<Y Cry edges, 29
Hackenuck Ri\'c:;'", 64
Pa li:u:aes, '-0
w;;;ut'ffom, AppaleoCY,
or /lom.li•• 129 Jmcy elly landmalks. 29
diil.remi.,ed,99 JOU1031 Sql.uue aav/!rtlsms signs, 32
N." Jmey M.dical C"",er, 26, }8. 32.
79
Jeney CiiY nodes, 29
HamihonPark.3l,32
snu{ture. Journal 25, 26.
sufficiency, 9 Tonnel1e ｃｩｲｴＱ･ｾ＠
ＧｹｾＬＱＷ＠ Van VO(S( 32
ustful. characteristics of. 9 class disrinCliortS, 37
variation in organitation. 110 (010r 1 41
ｶｬｩ､ｾ＠ 127
lllttutctiom. 7:}. 98 {SB6 aho Bonon) dee,mralizatio,n. 33
JraeJview. method of as n 57, fiO directional differemrtlfloo, 39
BoslOn image d.erived fmm,
Idemi'y. G in &uon sucer. U3
imeneh:rions.hip with SHUCture. 84 Jt'fSry CI:f image derived from, 148 NOtHOnver,genc-e of totee main Hteers y

01 e-nvtfonmenul image, a Los image derived from. 1'0 5'

Ltnlgeab;ilty (", uJso Legibility. Visi· ffililS.
bility, JlpP"rency) office, 140-142 60
aeflOition,9 overlaps in ("ilY images derived ｦｲｯｾ＠
values, 4-:5 lJ2
abscracr.88 sidewalk. 142,
139 ｳｩｾ･＠ and (O,OP<.»(looO of sample. J 5 2 laud·
as referente, l26 Island ｧｲｏｬＡｰｳｾ＠
as. ｯｲｧｾｮｬ｣Ｌ＠ 126
"lOul fidd, ＱｾＸ＠ J.""J, P., In. 129, 130. )13. 134. \36
coherence, (; Jeney CifL cnOlfauer,l9
cornmunjcgbiHcy.9.139 dislim(ivt demenu, 149
(Omponenn, a disuiclS (Uf ｊＨＧｲＤｾＺｹ＠ City disulcu)
COncrete, S8 edges (iet'f Jt':sr'Y eil), edges)
(on!inuity. 109 field ｡ｦＱｩｹｾｪｳＬ＠ l(i, 21.1.J;J
density, t37 or use and ｲ･ｰ｡ｾＮ＠ 32
descripth,e, D4 from inu:rviews.,148
developmefl!, B6,157 imase from sketch maps, 148
diSfOrtillrl.87 tack of ilTJigeabHiry, 30, 32
economy. 9 landmarks u<!<! Chy landmarks)
emotional role, 127 ｎｾ＠ York1Jkylinc. 71. 72
en(oLlta,gil1g nplotarion. it 0 nod., (," C;,y nod •• ) 40.43
enviconmfnlal# 4 path5 (I., pilths)
flexible Structure. 88 railways, 10) S.n
free BS street signs, 31 Skid Row.
function, views, 27 31 f Sprin8 Suet! disrriCt t 36
groupdilferences'n.154,157 \lLvid elements, lei T llInS,l>Qtfarion ｒｯｷｾ＠ 36. 37
ｨｩ･ｦｬｲＨ｣｡ｾ＠ 89 waterfront, 63 1.05 "nsties landmark-I., 3j
re.eh, B6 Jeesc)' Ci,y dimicu, 29 Biltmore Ho.e!, ＳｾＮ＠ 37, 38
menopoJi(an. 11 1. Bi.'rgi.n $.ection," 26 S:ore. 35
ｯｾｮﾷＮ､Ｌ＠ 9, 139 w."
Sid. Park, 32

190 191
 Me'hed< 124. 129 PUhl, directional lhift!, 56 San fernando Valley, 41
ｍｾｵｯｰｨｳＬ＠ form of, 119 directional ｳｩＮｾｦｬ＠ on highways, 57 Sao Francisco. 10
imap;eabilll¥.94, 112 cnara.;:terJuin. ｾ＠ i apprLl<h h 10,99
[Ot.11 paftew of. 115 Sapir. E.. 131
MiciOiH.'li.&o 128 Scollay Squ.,e, 19.44, 74, 7G, 77,8'.
Migration. lu2, 17l-181, /77
Minne,apolis, 13(i approaches co, 177
Mississippi River piloH, ＱＳＢｾ＠ orc.n,,,,,,00,99 as Junnion. 173
Mobiiir}'; residemial t 111 <II ni.'!hr, 17S
Mo!ivfl a:wareo.fSS. to! coonecthom. n7-17R
Mt. Everest, l t di,'tereodared chat,Ufefisriu. l75
Mr. Reani, 134. t 37 exits from, 17ft
external IJts,bility. 180
43 Names ()f places, 108. 123 51 imerIJiew de5Cfip.loi\. 174
Narural !>t"nnR, 110 55,97 iO<lldon, 161
Navig,HoH of the Somh ｓ･ｊｾＮ＠ lB. l34 se(Ue mocton.97 map. 175
t\'ersilik Eskimo, 12'. 132 separa.loo ftom fell of (Hy, 56, 57 pedestrians. lBO
1'.", York City, 67, 136 spadal 51 poteorial rcle, 1H1
skyIine. 16 98 dopes, 173
Node" 47. 71-711, 102-10l (U' aI,. H.9B spatial
Eoswo. Jersey Ci1 1> los. Imgel/!$ 96 nrl!1!'t
!lodes! ".ffie.175,
bounduies, 11 Ule'. 17). lHO
concemrations. 75-76 vjews aUf, t 79
e.xoovl!:rwd. Ｗｾ＠ visual eJemenrs, !79
'demity, 102 Se.m,.j7,6l, 100
Sequence. 113
caunrerpollH, I til
imeHupcib.ility, Ｑﾷｾ＠
ｦｬ･Ｇｷｯ､ＺｾＮ＠ 11,1:
or;:am""wn. III of movements, [31
representation, n9
reversIbility, 1 t·l
Seven Diah. tondon, Di)
Shipron, E. II
ｏｲｾｯ＠ 135 S1mpJidryof (,fm, 105
ｏｲｩｾｮｵｯＮ＠ 129. 131 d. Silva, 11, R. 11
syuemi of, 7 Singubfiry. 105
Skmh map', 144 -145
Hations, Boswn jmi;!C deriveJ from, 146
Rasmussen. V'I 132, U4 )ersl»' CHY r1ed ... ec, from, 1';8
49-61.8·1.96-99, 1)0, lH R. S" Los ａｮＬｌＺ､ｴＧｾ＠ image deriIJeJ from. J ｾｏ＠
Jersey City, Los systems. t2 8
Research in dty design and p('rcepdon,
DG-159
Manhattan, 10 Residential di.Hribur;on. , 53
M.tori,138 Rome, 130

Sahara, 130
Sailing directions, t33
13,1

192 193

ｶｾ＠
Ｑ＾ｾ＠ %
TERED ｾ＠
VERSION
 Srefln'f.()n, V., 13 2 TopoS"phy. IlO, 131
ｓｾｲ｡ｵＤｳＬａＮｌ＠ 128 Tou",·g. 133, 134
SlCehlow, c.. 131:, 139 Traliic ｯ｢ｾｴｬ､ＨＧＬ＠ 50
SrruClure, of C'f1vironmemal images, 8 TC2.ining the observet'". 11, 111, 120,
fleXlbl" S8 1)8
1e"",88 Trobriand hl.nd" 126, 136
inrerrehuiomhip with identity, 84 Trowb:ldgt:, C. C, 136
lack of, ＱＲｾ＠ Tunisia, 134"
positional, B8 Twain, M., 1}4
rigid,89
Scuan's Bluff Ranges, 13 7 Vegetation, 44 (l8'e "iJo to.s AnAdes)
Studies, tOClpatalive, t 56 Venit<, 10, 131, 138
second. round, 156 Piana Snn Marco, 78, 79
Subway Stadons, ,j, 7.5 (;,. aJm oosfon stte'er!, 102
nodl::-") Visibili,y, ID {Uti' ,u.w App",rency, Legi.
Symbolic diagrJm, 111 J'8 biliry, Imagl'abi:i(:O
"Vj,".1 pl.n," 116
Thre,hold, 144, loiS b.uis for. 15'5
Tiber. 127 Visual SCOP'C'. lOG
Holy Moumain, 13'
Lake Kholgy.l, 135 \1(/adddl, 1. A., 134
Lh ..., 124 Wat('r,4<i
Tikopia, 126, 129 Witkin, H_ 1\00 ＱＲｾ＠
M.,.e,124 Wohl,R.R., 128
MI. Rlani, 134,137
Time series, 107 Yung, E., 132

Credits for Phmographs

26,

halliifi
Gordan Somn1en: 18, 19, 20, 27, 32

194
 Architecture. Planning

THE IMAGE OF THE CITY

Kevin Lynch

What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there?
What can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and
memorable to the city dweller? To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch,
Ｎｾｵｐｬｯｲｴ･､＠ by studies of Los Angeles, BasIon, and Jersey City, formu·
Iates a new criterion - illlageability - and shows its potenti,ll value as
1\ guide for the building and rebllilding of cities.
The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital method
for the evaluation of city form The architect, the planner, ｾｮ｣ｬ＠ certainly
the city dweller will all want to read this book.

What the ｲ･Ｂｩｷｾ＠ have said:

". . . Kevin Lynch has come up with 1\ readable, tautly organi7.ed,
authoritative volume that may prove as important to cily building as
Camillo Sille's The Art of Building Cities." - Architectural Forum
"City planners and urban designers everywhere will be taking account
of his work for yeilrS to come ... The importance of this book in the
literature of urbanism is obvious. . .. we have lackecl l\ theorv of the
city's visual perception based on objective criteria. For some' ·.'h-,mge
renson, in the period dating from the late 19th Century in Germany
ancl lasting until Lynch's efforts .. , there was no experimentation in
the matter of how cities are perceived. All of us can be grateful for the
resumption of this line of thought. The impact of this volume should
be enormous." - Leonard K. Eaton, Progressive Architecture
"This small ancl rel\dable book makes one of the most importi\nt moclel'll
contributions to large-scale design theory. , , To unclerstand Lynch's
［ｉｵ､｡ｾｩｴｹＬ＠ one must go back to 1953, the year when he began his
studies in perception with a travel period in Italy. This was s!'Vel'al yeals
hefore all the 'urban design' conferences, before the coining of the phrase,
and at a time when respectable concerned with anything
but the exploration of ur teacher ...
Ared by the ins ). to tUnl
the tables on Crane,
Jou mal of the

11111 ..

VERSION