Open Space Technology: A User's Guide

Open Space Technology: A User's Guide
Average customer rating:

Useful handbook of a counterintuitive approach

Bible of Open Space

One of the most valuable books in the world

a "How to" book

A Good Read!

Open Space Technology: A User's Guide
Harrison Owen
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1576750248

Book Description

Open Space Technology: A User's Guide is just what the name implies: a hands-on, detailed description of facilitating Open Space Technology (OST). Written by the originator of the method - an effective, economical, fast, and easily-repeatable strategy for organizing meetings of between 5 and 1,000 participants - this is the first book to document the rationale, procedures, and requirements of OST. OST enables self-organizing groups of all sizes to deal with hugely complex issues in a very short period of time. This practical, step-by-step user's guide details what needs to be done before, during, and after an Open Space event.

Customer Reviews:

Useful handbook of a counterintuitive approach.......2007-03-02

Open Space Technology is nearly identical to the "unconference" approach to workshop and event planning that's currently fashionable (see "Foo Camp" or "Bar Camp" or many other geek-oriented "camps). Basically, abandon a traditional agenda and force the workshop participants to self-organize a schedule, goals, and work. It's profoundly counter-intuitive, everyone assumes that a strict plan is necessary...but it turns out to work. People really enjoy participating in an event where their opinions matter, and where everyone's responsible for raising issues they find important.

This book can come across as annoyingly new agey and dippy at times (I see someone's tagged it "embracing group genius" here on Amazon...your mileage may vary a bit from that). It's probably more helpful in getting you the facilitator into the right mindset, and encouraging you not to fall back on the crutches of detailed schedules or keynote speakers. It's pretty dated when it talks about using computers in your event, but that doesn't really matter.

Bible of Open Space.......2006-07-12

This is a very good hand-book for open space newcomers.Easy to understand and easy to read.I strongly suggest this book for anybody who want to start learning open space technology

One of the most valuable books in the world.......2003-12-26

As Brookings revealed in 2000, most of the world's 10000 biggest organisations don't yet have the measures to govern the vast majority of value now produced in services and knowledge businesses because as our networking age blossoms value dynamics are mainly intangible, deeply woven into the human relationships we self-organise, not for precise planning and overpowering command and control from the top. Value multiplication is a core gravity which should be embedded in everyone's right to work, learn , behave openly.

Whilst some of those of the transparency communities interlinking at http://www.valuetrue.com open source the simplest maths of intangible systems, others have much more fun voting on what are the safest methods to protect your system from doing an Andersen or a NASA self-destruction of its greatest purpose. Open Space is voted as the number 1 method uniting transparency communities, and because of its simplicity I predict it will always be the gateway to anyone who prizes self-organising, a term which actually means making the most of everyone's time, learning and passions to make a diffeernce to our overall purpose. A very valuable book, which in my dreams would start any MBA course or any professional's training.

Open Space is now 21 years young and over 100000 experiences mature and networked by people who are both most open with their knowlhow and conscious that you learn something subly more about human relationship trust from every Open Space you particpate in. It is as near as organisations (seen as human relationship infrastructures) can get to a modern day miracle, and long may Harrison light up the open world. See his latest deep concerns with conflict resolution applications at http://www.practiceofpeace.com

a "How to" book.......2001-06-18

I recommend using open space tehcnology and/or other large scale intervention techniques to mine the collective emotional intelligence of a group of people (this may be your company, or people from an acadamic field you belong to).

This book gives you the details on HOW to organize and facilitate an open space meeting - (what kind of location you need, how to organize the room, how to use break up rooms, how to facilitate, ...). You'll also get imporatnt rules and lessons for making this technology work. In short, it's pretty good at doing this "HOW TO" part.

WARNING: If you want to know WHY it works and if you want some examples, there are 2 other books to take a look at:

- tales from Open space (Harrison Owen, Editor, 1995)

- Expanding our now (Harrison Owen, 1997)

Good luck!

Patrick E.C. Merlevede, MSc -- author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"

A Good Read!.......2001-04-24

Harrison Owen presents a hands-on, step-by-step manual for putting on an open space technology workshop. In OST workshops, participants basically set and facilitate the agenda with some guidance from a facilitator. Here, the book's examples are particularly handy. Owen suggests conference duration, agenda and techniques including how to set up a meeting, invite participants, prepare the logistics and meeting site, facilitate activities and more. While these workshops generally involve hundreds of people, you can also put on an OST event with as few as five. If you want to read gripping business philosophy, look elsewhere - this is a practical how-to manual, a task it accomplishes quite well. We [...] recommend this informative guided tour of the OST process to those who want to know how, because they already know why

People Places: Design Guidlines for Urban Open Space, 2nd Edition

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If you are a not a specialist, this book is great.

People Places: Design Guidlines for Urban Open Space, 2nd Edition

Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471288330

Book Description

people places Second Edition Design Guidelines for Urban Open Space edited by Clare Cooper Marcus and Carolyn Francis A resurgence in the use of public space continues throughout North America and many other parts of the world. Neighborhoods have become more outspoken in their demands for appropriate park designs; corporations have witnessed the value of providing outdoor spaces for employee lunch-hour use; the rising demand for child care has prompted increased awareness of the importance of developmentally appropriate play and learning environments; and increased attention is being focused on the specific outdoor space needs for the elderly, college students, and hospital patients and staff. Now available in an updated, expanded second edition, People Places is a fully illustrated, award-winning book that offers research-based guidelines and recommendations for creating more usable and enjoyable public open spaces of all kinds. People Places analyzes and summarizes existing research on how urban open spaces are actually used, offering design professionals and students alike an easily understood, easily applied guide to creating people-friendly places. Seven types of urban open space are discussed: urban plazas, neighborhood parks, miniparks and vest-pocket parks, campus outdoor spaces, outdoor spaces in housing for the elderly, child-care outdoor spaces, and hospital outdoor spaces. People Places contains a chapter-by-chapter review of the literature, illustrative case studies, and design guidelines specific to each type of space. People Places has a number of features that can be easily incorporated into the design process:

Clear, readable translations of existing research on people's use of outdoor spaces.
Performance-based design recommendations that specify key relationships between design and use.
Design review checklists that help readers plan and critique designs.
A clearly organized, concise format equally useful to the design practitioner and the design student.

The newly revised edition of People Places also includes:

Discussion of accessibility issues, including ADA regulations and the concept of universal design; and of design responses aimed at crime reduction.
Procedures for conducting post-occupancy evaluations of designed outdoor spaces.
Updated and new information on each type of outdoor space, with special attention to hospitals, child care facilities, and campus outdoor spaces where specific advances have occurred since 1990.
A completely new color-photo section and 50 new black and white illustrations.

Winner of the Merit Award in Communication from the American Society of Landscape Architects, People Places is an essential working tool for landscape architects and architects, city planners, urban designers, neighborhood groups, and anyone else concerned with the quality of urban open space.

Customer Reviews:

If you are a not a specialist, this book is great........2000-03-25

I read this book as part of a research project I was doing about the design of college campuses. I found it to be extremely helpful in my project and I plan on refering to it in the future; I am pursuing a Master's of Landscape Architecture. What I liked about this book is two-fold:

1. Each chapter is a self-contained guide to designing a plaza, park, campus, or playground with people in mind. This important to me becuase I try to focus my designs around the people who will be using them. Each chapter gives useful design tips and helps about the given topic.

2. This book was academic while remaining readable. The authors refer to studies relevent to the topic at hand, but do not become bogged down in theoretical nonsense.

Book Description

The team behind the best-selling Mexicolor and Mexicasa has unlocked the gates to Mexico's patios, courtyards, and walled gardens. From private homes to luxurious resorts, In A Mexican Garden celebrates Mexico's hidden oases where lovers meet for margaritas at sunset and families gather for spirited fiestas. The dazzling array of featured properties includes rustic coastal hideaways, elegant Spanish Colonial mansions, rural haciendas, and Modernist architectural masterpieces. Melba Levick's stunning photographs capture page after vibrant page of bold Mexican design elements: swirling mosaic floors, elaborate frescoes, hand-carved stone fountains, and lush native plants. Gina Hyams' informative text explains the historic roots of these uniquely Mexican outdoor spaces. Garden design enthusiasts, fans of Mexico, and anyone who appreciates a siesta in the sun need only open this book to hear the quiet babble of fountains and glasses clinking to toast another beautiful sunset.

Customer Reviews:

Mexican Garden.......2007-09-27

I was very surprise whith the quality of the presentation and the beautiful pictures. Excellent!!

Beautiful Photo's.......2007-09-03

I love this book! The beautiful photographs give the reader great ideas on how to design and decorate.

great book, terrible binding!!.......2007-07-19

I love the pictures and ideas presented, but after 2 days, the binding had pulled away from the pages!! I think that is flaw that needs fixing.

Mexican Garden.......2007-07-06

I chose this book to help give me some ideas as to how to " Mexicanise " my garden.
So what with the yuccas, agaves & cacti i'm well on the way, just need to add more colour & fragrance to it.

I also bought Mexicasa and Mexicolor.

It's a nice book..........2007-06-13

Your basic coffee table book, nice photos of exactly what the book claims to be: Courtyards, Pools, and Open-Air Rooms. A lot of the subject matter is authentic, old and sometimes dilapidated. Don't expect to see many pictures of new or well kept patios, pools or gardens. This is the real McCoy, just like you'll see when visitng Old Mexico...not that there'e anything wrong with that.

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Drifter's Escape
A chiseled paean to the high plains of Wyoming
Surprises
Well Written
A love affair with Wyoming

The Solace of Open Spaces
Gretel Ehrlich
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140081135

Amazon.com

"Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are. We are often like rivers: careless and forceful, timid and dangerous, lucid and muddied, eddying, gleaming, still." Whether she's reflecting on nature's teachings, divulging her experiences as a cowpuncher, or painting vivid word portraits of the people she lives and works with, Gretel Ehrlich's observations are lyrical and funny, wise and authentic. After moving from the city to a vast new state, she writes of adjusting to cowboy life, boundless open spaces, and the almost incomprehensible harshness of a Wyoming winter:

"When it's fifty below, the mercury bottoms out and jiggles there as if laughing at those of us still above ground. Once I caught myself on tiptoes, peering down into the thermometer as if there were an extension inside inscribed with higher and higher declarations of physical misery: ninety below to the power of ten and so on."

After experiencing the isolated life of a sheep herder, she writes, "Keenly observed the world is transformed. The landscape is engorged with detail, every movement on it chillingly sharp. The air between people is charged. Days unfold, bathed in their own music. Nights become hallucinatory; dreams, prescient."

Ehrlich's gift is one of subtle precision. She writes beauty into the plainest of thoughts and meaning into the simplest of ideas: "True solace is finding none, which is to say, it is everywhere." --Kathryn True

Customer Reviews:

Drifter's Escape.......2007-02-15

I have to confess that part of my enthusiasm for this volume resides in the fact that Erlich's poetic leanings summon similar images from my rural surrounds, unlikely as the thought may be of Central Australia's arid bush from Wyoming high country. Her slim volume, polished from journal observations, realises her hopes to make authentic art with parallel qualities of earth:'weather would land on it harshly; light would elucidate the most difficult truths; winds would sweep away obtuse padding'. Her hold over this reader slackens after her marriage, as if the budding sexual tension gave to her writing, her observations, a newcomer's keeness of perception. Of course these don't suddenly disappear after consummation. Something in the rythym of the construction weakens; the warp and weft between perceptions of elements, the gossip, the events, the researched historical passages that inform the present. I haven't followed Erlich's career. Annie Proulx's,'Close Range', in the sense I'd prefer, has, assuming the deft observational writing with more expanded takes on her characters that the 'solace of open space' has ellicited. The Erlich book is a tonic for jaded urban spirits and confirmation that the elemntal life can regenerate a metaphoral attitude.

A chiseled paean to the high plains of Wyoming.......2006-02-16

Outsiders (Easterners, city types) are generally disoriented by Wyoming upon first encountering it. 99% of them probably equate the place with the far side of the moon and hope they never have to return. Ehrlich is one of the remaining 1% who came to Wyoming from "outside" and fell in love with it enough to move there permanently (I put myself in the same category though I haven't moved there - yet). In this book, actually a series of short essays, she tries to capture the allure of the place for her readers. She writes about the land, of course, and the weather, but also about the people who "are strong on scruples but tenderhearted about quirky behavior." Much of her time is occupied with sheepherding, something she describes as "a slow, steady trot of keenness with no speed." Ranch life, living on land short of water, and winter, which "laminates the earth with white, then hardens the lacquer work with wind" - all come under her scrutiny. She describes a rodeo which she thinks must only make sense to a rancher. Like Wyoming itself, it's a tough though gentle book, unsentimental and honest. An excellent book.

Surprises.......2004-12-18

This little collection of prose is surprising. A reviewer who didn't care for this book mentioned that it didn't do much to develop or push its theme forward. I think that description is accurate, but misses the point: the book, like its subject matter (Wyoming, mostly, NOT Montana), defies being pushed in any direction. It has a way of imposing itself upon the reader. The vividness of phrase dominates the imagination, but the place it brings you to is an open space, where you're only supposed to linger, discovering and uncovering little surprises of detail as they arrive. It is a wonderful experience and highly recommended, though with a warning: you must be prepared to wander a bit and fall into a different rythm, with different rules, for at least a little while.

Well Written.......2004-11-22

I first read this book when i was a junior in college. It was my last block of the year. When i first though of Nature Writing i think of Transcendentalism with Thoreau and Emerson. Though this book among others changed my mind.

Ehrlich writes of living in Montana and during cattle drives. The details of life in the far west are great. The descriptions of what cow hands do with a years worth of money still, by blowing it on booze and fun it great. The book can be slow at times, yet I feel that this is deliberate in that cattle herding can be slow. In some ways the books is evenly paced. When she talks about the reasons for going to Montana to live there for a time one has to wonder if you, yourself, could do that. I know that for me the answer would be no.

This book is for anyone who likes reading about American Nature Writers.

A love affair with Wyoming.......2003-09-22

Gretel Erlich was a poet and filmmaker when she first came to Wyoming in 1976. She was so taken with everything about the place that she became a cowherd, which gave her time to write about the American West. Reading her books, however, is very much like seeing a film, for her filmmaker's eye and awareness of nuance and gesture is evident in the way she chooses her words.
In The Solace of Open Spaces, Erlich presents us with an eclectic bunch of frontier characters that she met while working as a ranch hand. Almost unaware of what's been accomplished, we readers find ourselves shedding former stereotypes of these people in exchange for seeing them for what they are: unique, quirky, interesting, inexplicable men and women. The Weather (and the word deserves that capital letter, as you'll see upon reading the book) plays as large a role as the people in Ehrlich's book.
About the title: When she arrived in Wyoming, Erlich was grieving the death of someone important to her. As she works hard at physical labor, meets new people, falls in love with the land, and sheds her past like sweat running down her back, healing from grief occurs - although she doesn't exactly say this.
Altogether, a beautiful book and a wonderful read.

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How urban areas work
A classic case study for urban design professionals

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
William H. Whyte
Manufacturer: Project for Public Spaces Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 097063241X

Book Description

In 1980, William H. Whyte published the findings from his revolutionary Street Life Project in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Both the book and the accompanying film were instantly labeled classics, and launched a mini-revolution in the planning and study of public spaces. They have since become standard texts, and appear on syllabi and reading lists in urban planning, sociology, environmental design, and architecture departments around the world.

Project for Public Spaces, which grew out of Holly's Street Life Project and continues his work around the world, has acquired the reprint rights to Social Life, with the intent of making it available to the widest possible audience and ensuring that the Whyte family receive their fair share of Holly's legacy.

Customer Reviews:

How urban areas work.......2002-08-29

Years ago I watched an episode of NOVA on PBS on William H. Whyte that explained the background and purpose and accomplishments of his project to study what makes urban spaces in cities work. I sat there riveted, as he methodically and carefully unveiled a vast range of urban phenomena of which I had hitherto been unaware.

The background to his study was this: following the enormous success of the plaza of Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York in the mid-1950s, the city began to give tax breaks to new buildings that included plazas as part of their design. At the Seagram, people found in the heart of the city a marvelous space in which to congregate, to eat lunch, to sit and talk, and just enjoy a few minutes away from the office. While the idea of providing an incentive to new plaza development was unquestionably a great aim, a small problem developed: many of the new plazas were, unlike that of the Seagram, just dreadful. Cold, austere, people unfriendly, unwelcoming, many of them seemed designed more to keep people away than give them a place to enjoy themselves. This is where Whyte comes in. New York City was concerned with codifying what made a successful plaza, and giving tax breaks based more on the kind of plaza being built, rather than any kind of plaza at all. So, Whyte was charged with discovering precisely what goes into a successful urban space. The results of his exhaustive study are summed up in this brilliant monograph.

Whyte took cameras and began filming all kinds of urban spots in plazas and parks, and on regular sidewalks. As a result of this study, he was able first to analyze how urban spaces work, and secondly on the basis of this make, to make suggestions as to how to make successful spaces. He discusses the enormous value and utility of using fountains or falling water both to provide aesthetic benefits and to create a barrier of white noise between an urban space and the street. He shows the value of having a variety of steps and levels in providing fun places to sit. He allays the fears of those who are afraid that a plaza will attract undesirables by showing that the homeless tend to go where other people are not. He displays the patterns of traffic on sidewalks and the function that street food can play. Whyte comes across not merely as a sophisticated urban planner and social scientist: he is revealed as a visionary.

I think that this ought to be a must-read for anyone with any curiosity about cities and the potential they possess for a vibrant and exciting social life. Here in my own city of Chicago, I constantly lament that Whyte's lessons go unheeded and unlearned. We Chicagoans take pride in how clean our downtown area is, but we possess very, very few plazas, instead having virtually all of our buildings coming all the way to the edge of the sidewalk. I lament that there are so few places in the Loop and the near North to sit at lunch, that so very, very little has been done along the river to make it people friendly, and that there are so few places to congregate. We have a gorgeous, inpirational skyline, but on the sidewalk level, things are different. I wish our city planners had more of Whyte's view of things.

A classic case study for urban design professionals.......1998-12-31

Although the photographs are dated, the material is classic. This book is a must for anyone who is involved with design or review of open spaces. It shows how people use open space and identifies the common elements of successful spaces. While the elements all seem logical, the book shows how we often fly in the face of logic when using these spaces. The book focuses primarily on plazas and small parks in New York City, but includes a section for smaller cities with low rise buildings. The information can also be applied to parks in any size town. This book is a facinating case study in social ecology.

The Open Space of Democracy (New Patriotism)

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The Open Space of Democracy
DEEPLY ENGAGING
A Masterpiece

The Open Space of Democracy (New Patriotism)
Terry Tempest Williams
Manufacturer: The Orion Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0913098639

Book Description

Terry Tempest Williams presents a sharp-edged perspective on the ethics and politics of place, spiritual democracy, and the responsibilities of citizen engagement. By turns elegiac, inspiring, and passionate, The Open Space of Democracy offers a fresh perspective on the critical questions of our time.

Customer Reviews:

The Open Space of Democracy.......2006-02-20

Terry Tempest Williams is amazingly articulate. This book while a short, easy read can be read over and over again as her messages can be applied to our everyday life. I bought five copies as this book makes a wonderful gift!

DEEPLY ENGAGING.......2004-09-27

After interviewing Terry on radio, I am convinced that this gentle soul's strong undercurrent provides us with a rich new model of citizen involvement in this, our participatory government. Too many of us dismiss a deeper involvement in democracy with crusty cynicism - we feel ground down by the backhanded tactics used by government officials to strip us of our civil liberties and rape the earth's environment.

What Terry Tempest Williams proposes not only facilitates transformation within our democratic system, but by the simple act of learning to listen with open minds and hearts, we may receive one another's views on a very human scale. If we endeavor to connect in this manner, not only will we have a more functional democracy, we will become better human beings.

Bela Johnson, Medical Intuitive
http://www.belajohnson.com

Host, Alternative Currents
http://www.weru.org

A Masterpiece.......2004-09-18

I have not read a book in the last ten years that I would give this description to, but The Open Space of Democracy will or at least should go down as an American masterpiece, and a seminal contribution to environmental and political writing. I pre-ordered my copy direct from the publisher and so received and read, or rather devoured, it right after it was published. The triptych of essays in this volume are woven together and inseparable from each other in the way that Aldo Leopold's "Land Ethic" is inseparable from the rest of A Sand County Almanac.

This book maps a future for America and Americans that is luminous, hopeful, fierce, and prophetic all in one. Anyone who truly cares about our democracy and about the health of the natural world NEEDS to read this, be inspired by it, and take action in honor of it.

Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide To Creating Open Space Networks

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Look closer: Are these model plans REALLY sprawl alternatives?
More people need to read this book!
Should be a guide for the future of subdivisions!
excellent reference guide that will help combat urban sprawl
this book is a blueprint for land development of the future.

Conservation Design for Subdivisions: A Practical Guide To Creating Open Space Networks
Randall G. Arendt
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Growing Greener: Putting Conservation Into Local Plans And Ordinances
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Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens

ASIN: 1559634898

Book Description

In most communities, land use regulations are based on a limited model that allows for only one end result: the production of more and more suburbia, composed of endless subdivisions and shopping centers, that ultimately covers every bit of countryside with "improvements." Fortunately, sensible alternatives to this approach do exist, and methods of developing land while at the same time conserving natural areas are available.

In Conservation Design for Subdivisions, Randall G. Arendt explores better ways of designing new residential developments than we have typically seen in our communities. He presents a practical handbook for residential developers, site designers, local officials, and landowners that explains how to implement new ideas about land-use planning and environmental protection. Abundantly illustrated with site plans (many of them in color), floor plans, photographs, and renditions of houses and landscapes, it describes a series of simple and straightforward techniques that allows for land-conserving development.

The author proposes a step-by-step approach to conserving natural areas by rearranging density on each development parcel as it is being planned so that only half (or less) of the buildable land is turned into houselots and streets. Homes are built in a less land-consumptive manner that allows the balance of property to be permanently protected and added to an interconnected network of green spaces and green corridors. Included in the volume are model zoning and subdivision ordinance provisions that can help citizens and local officials implement these innovative design ideas.

Customer Reviews:

Look closer: Are these model plans REALLY sprawl alternatives?.......2005-11-09

Check out some of the final subdivision design parameters on page 87. While other reviewers might benefit from the author's justified concern for conserving open space--especially in communities where cookie-cutter style developers 'rule the Board', the end result for some of the plans in this work APPEARS to be large-lot American sprawl, with ecological considerations that don't go far enough. Perhaps Arendt's GROWING GREENER, which I've not seen, will get us closer(?)

More people need to read this book!.......2002-02-08

What a concept! Rather than trying to get the most acreage per lot, make smaller lots with more shared open space. A must read for every developer, planning board, and zoning commition. Easy to follow examples show how to preserve historic and environmental features while adding to the value of the land that is developed.

Should be a guide for the future of subdivisions!.......1999-07-03

If we developed land in the manner the author teaches, America would look so much nicer! A very common sense approach to maintain rural character in an area and stop sprawl from destroying your area. Every developer, planner, new home buyer, builder, conservationist and private citizen should read this and also buy the author's book, "Rural By Design".

excellent reference guide that will help combat urban sprawl.......1999-02-27

Cheers for Randall G. Arendt, et al. For years my government agency has been fighting a loosing battle in Florida with unmanaged and unfettered urban growth. It seemed as though nothing could stem the tide of urban sprawl until two things happened. One was an election of a more centralist government and the other was the introduction of "designing for conservation" into our policy making levels. This concept was brought into clear focus by Arendt's book. The authors not only presented a practical and economically sound guide for growth that can benefit developers, but the reference can act as a mechanism to help preserve the environmental cohesiveness of any community. The policy makers in our community were so impressed with this book that fifteen (15) copies were purchased to be placed into the hands of influential politicians, developers and regulatory agencies.

this book is a blueprint for land development of the future........1999-02-08

As a land developer this book brought into focus the problems that haave been growing as more and more of the land in my area has been consumed, and we have less and less to develop. At first I thought it would be another environmental tirade against land development,but instead realised it was a very practical and economically sound guide for development that would benefit me and also help maintain the character of my community. Arendt's concern is for the environment and the preservation of open spaces and connective corridors of space and natural habitat between differing parcels of land in a given area. His solutions achieve these goals, but of special interest to me as a developer is that his solutions also mean no loss of density, reduced costs and higher land values. Excellent illustrations, easy to understand and worth the price many times over.

Average customer rating:

A Great Idea Book for New Projects

Urban Spaces, No. 4
John Dixon
Manufacturer: Visual Reference Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Urban & Land Use Planning | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Urban Spaces, Vol. 3
Water Spaces of the World - Vol. 4: A Pictorial Review (International Spaces)
Urban Spaces No. 5 (Urban Spaces)
S. P. A. C. E.: Selbert Perkins Art, Communications and Environments (Space)
Landscape Architecture: Water Features (Landscape Architecture)

ASIN: 1584710861
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Book Description

The Urban Land Institute has again cooperated with Visual Reference Publication to cosponsor this fourth volume titled Urban Spaces No. 4 showcasing more than 190 outstanding urban/mixed use design projects by leading architects, landscape architects, urban designers and planners.

All over the world, people dependent upon TV and computes are craving public spaces more than ever. Meanwhile, community governments and private developers are increasingly committed to building meaningful public spaces as requisites for municipal and commercial prosperity. This universal appeal of spaces where people can gather continues to inspire new parks, plazas, atriums, and mixed-used complexes, as well as entire new people-oriented neighborhoods and communities.

This 320 page volume with over 750 beautifully reproduced full-color images is an invaluable reference for urban planners, public officials, building committees, and professionals who are responsible for the planning, design, and construction of urban developments of all kinds.

320 pages 750 color images 9' x 12" / hardbound

Customer Reviews:

A Great Idea Book for New Projects.......2006-05-18

In a time when it seems like there is less and less human interaction because of the spreading out to the burbs, TV and the Internet, it seems that there is more and more demand for social interaction in public places.

In this book Mr. Dixon has collected pictures and drawings from a very wide range of projects from designed neighborhoods, cultural facilities, educational facilities, entertainment complexes, remodeling, parks and too many other types to list here. The cover the United States as well as unexpected places like Tokyo, Moscow, Shanghai, Philippines, Australia, Poland and more. The size of the projects vary from giant to surprisingly quite small. It is arranged by the architectural firm that did the creative design work, and these are some of the most creative in the world.

This is basically an idea book, showing what can be done, or what is being thought of for new projects. It is a large format book, and beautifully printed in full color throughout.

The Anthropology of Space and Place: Locating Culture (Blackwell Readers in Anthropology)

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The Anthropology of Space and Place: Locating Culture (Blackwell Readers in Anthropology)

Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Geography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Production of Space
Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience
Senses of Place (School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series)
Place: A Short Introduction (Short Introductions to Geography)
Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory

ASIN: 0631228780

Book Description

Over the last two decades anthropologists have drawn on insights from ethnographic inquiry to challenge accepted definitions and ideas of space and place. Their efforts have led to an understanding that both the conceptual and material dimensions of space as well as of built forms and landscape characteristics are central to the production (and reproduction) of social life.The Anthropology of Space and Place: Locating Culture is an unprecedented collection of key articles presented explicitly for students and researchers in anthropology, environmental psychology, sociology, architecture, geography, and urban planning. The volume includes an introduction that synthesizes existing literature, highlights core issues, and maps potential directions for future research.

L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C. (Creating the North American Landscape)

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L'Enfant's Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C. (Creating the North American Landscape)
Michael Bednar
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Urban & Land Use Planning | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Worthy of the Nation: Washington, DC, from L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission
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AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C.

ASIN: 0801883180

Book Description

Many American democratic ideals are embodied in the public spaces of its cities, especially in Washington, D.C. In L'Enfant's Legacy architect and scholar Michael Bednar explores the public spaces of the nation's capital, examining the context of the surrounding architecture and the roles of the spaces in the changing functional life of the city.

Bednar examines the ways in which L'Enfant's innovative plan of 1791, along with later developments, symbolizes and encourages democratic freedoms and traditions. In the spaces of Capitol Square, citizens expect to encounter their government directly in a dignified setting, a symbolic public forum. On the White House grounds they expect to meet the president where he works and lives. At the National Mall -- America's front lawn -- citizens exercise their rights of assembly and free speech, as well as play football, eat lunch, and socialize.

From historic Lincoln Square, Dupont Circle, and Judiciary Square to the newly developed Freedom Plaza, Pershing Park, and Market Square, Bednar's thoughtful study provides a fresh perspective on the role of public space in the expression of democratic ideals.

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