New Urbanism Book list

Towns and Town-Making Principles
Duany, Andres and Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth

A collection of sketches, plans, design codes, and photographs depicting some of Duany's and Plater-Zyberk's work at designing new villages and revitalizing existing towns. Contains brief essays by Alex Kreiger, Leon Krier, William Lennertz, Patrick Pinnell and Vincent Scully, Jr.

Edited by Alex Krieger
Out of print
1992

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Alexander, Christopher, Murray Silverstein, and Sara Ishikawa

As a companion piece to Alexander's "Timeless Way of Building," this volume expounds upon the idea of planning with a "pattern language". Three sections devoted to towns, buildings, and construction explain common plans for strcuctures as varied as the "six foot balcony" and the vegetable garden.

New York University Press
2001

The Fractured Metropolis: Improving the New City, Restoring the Old City, Reshaping the Region
Barnett, Jonathan

The accomplished urban designer Jonathan Barnett devotes his latest book to exploring ways of ameliorating the split between the `old city,' which used to be the center of things, and the `new city' on the metropolitan periphery. Barnett discusses an impressively broad variety of recent plans and designs for controlling sprawl, improving urban centers and edge cities, and fitting new buildings in with old. One of the best available overviews of how urban and metropolitan design issues are currently being dealt with. -Progressive Architecture

Harper Collins
2001

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape
Beveridge, Charles E., et. al

not available

Rizzoli
2001

The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community & the American Dream
Calthorpe, Peter

A concise work by one of the founding members of CNU. Establishes many of the principles found in CNU's charter, and explores projects (mainly located in California) based on these principles. Additonally, the book is based on ecological principles of balance, diversity, and decentralization.

Princeton Architectural Press
1993

The Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States
Jackson, Kenneth T

A scholarly history of two centuries of American suburbia.

n/a
2001

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jacobs, Jane

One of the most complete and incisive critiques of bad urbanism, with prescriptions for change. A half-century later, we're just starting to get it.

Vintage Books
1951

The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community
Katz, Peter

A copiously illustrated compedium of recent townplanning projects by a range of designers. Includes essays by Todd Bressi, Peter Calthorpe, Andres Duany/Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Elizabeth Moule/Stefanos Polyzoides.

McGraw-Hill
1994

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
Kunstler, James Howard

An aggressive criticism of suburbia with humor.

Simon & Schuster
2001

Home from Nowhere: Remaking our Everyday World for the 21st Century
Kunstler, James Howard

A follow-up volume to "The Geography of Nowhere," this book spends less time exploring the problem of sprawl and more time identifying solutions and success stories.

Simon & Schuster
1996

Common Place: Toward Neighborhood and Regional Design
Kelbaugh, Doug

An accessible book that combines architectural and design theory with an in-depth look at five charrettes in the Seattle area. An excellent resource of general knowledge for the layman as well as practical advice for orchestrating a charrette. 334 pages, b/w illustrations.

University of Washington Press
1997

Charter of the New Urbanism
Congress for the New Urbanism

Founded in 1993 the "Congress for the New Urbanism" (CNU) was formed to foster a new vision for restoring balance to cities and towns. With essays and case studies by a world-class roster of designers, developers, elected officials, and academics, this book is an essential introduction to New Urbanism, as well as a resource for seasoned professionals.

Leccese, Michael, and Kathleen McCormick, eds
McGraw Hill
2000

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck

A concise and highly readable exploration of sprawl: its causes and manifestations. The authors are experts at illuminating the key details which support New Urbanist philosophy, and draw from a wealth of historical examples. 289 pp., b/w illustrations.

n/a
2001

New American Urbanism: Re-forming the Suburban Metropolis
John Dutton

New American Urbanism presents the recent resurgence of town planning in
America, in particular the movement of the New Urbanism, through a series
of critical themes. It also attempts to place this movement in the recent
resurgence of American town planning.

Skira (distributed by Rizzoli in the USA and Thames and Hudson in the UK)
2001

Community by Design: New Urbanism for Suburbs and Small Communities
Kenneth Hall and Gerald Porterfield

- A practical guide to implementing New Urbanism principles in suburbs and small communities
- Case studies present clear solutions for typical suburban problems: the need for pedestrian access, the lack of parking, the presence of industrial-park eyesores, and the issue of how to create a "sense of place"
- Illustrations take architects and planners step-by-step through the design and development process

McGraw Hill
2000

The Celebration Chronicles
Andrew Ross

A readable ethnography of life in Disney's large new urbanist town, Celebration. Combines incisive criticism with telling dialogue.

Ballantine
1999

Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth from Communities Across America
F. Kaid Benfield, Jutka Terris, and Nancy Vorsanger

The Natural Resources Defense Council proudly presents the first book to
tell the full story of how smart growth works to save our landscape and
strengthen our communities. Shining a spotlight on 35 inspiring
examples of inner-city reinvestment, innovative suburban development,
and rural conservation from around the country, Solving Sprawl features
accessible text, color photographs, sidebar discussions of issues
related to smart growth and sprawl, and summaries highlighting basic
project data, the parties responsible, and the features that make each
project noteworthy.

Island Press
2002

New Civic Art: Elements of Town Planning
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Robert Alminana

Modeled on The American Vetruvius: An Architect’s Handbook of Civic Art (1922), an enormously influential work that articulated principles of architecture and planning based on centuries of experience, The New Civic Art illustrates best urban design practices with an eye to contemporary problems in urban design, including sprawl, auto-dependency and zoning laws.

Rizzoli International Publications
2003

Traditional Construction Patterns: Design and Detail Rules of Thumb
Stephen A. Mouzon with Susan M. Henderson

In many ways, architecture functions like a language: it meets universal human needs for shelter, privacy and community, it communicates national or regional culture, and it expresses individual idiosyncracies. In Traditional Construction Patterns, hundreds of illustrated architectural terms, ranging from abutment to transom, compose the vocabulary of traditional architecture. In the hope of reviving the language of traditional architecture, Traditional Construction Patterns gives ordinary people the words they need to understand and demand good everyday architecture in their homes, schools and civic buildings.

McGraw-Hill
2004