The city in history

What Hacker News says

1. sarcherJul 2018
   I work in residential construction. Beginner friendly, 'find out if you find this interesting' kind of books:

   "This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House" by Bob Vila.

   An older book, only the carpentry is relevant today, but a nice picture-driven exploration of sensitive home renovation.

   "A Place of My Own: the Architecture of Daydreams" by Michael Pollan

   I didn't get a lot out of this because it was a pretty simple project that was being described, but it's a good look at the challenges of design, and a good primer if you're looking to do your own small project. Plus, Michael Pollan is an enjoyable writer.

   "House" by Tracy Kidder

   Follows the construction of a home in MA with a lot of builder perspective. Explores the common issues associated with running a small carpentry company frame to finish. There is also "The Apple Corps Guide to the Well-Built House" by Jim Locke which is written by a member of the firm profiled in "House" - haven't read it yet.

   "Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville" by Witold Rybczynski

   Follows the evolution of a farm field into a subdivision.

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   A little more challenging:

   "The City in History" by Lewis Mumford

   Best described as a "Tome" - a staple in intro level planning classes.

   "building Construction Illustrated" by Francis Ching

   A good illustrated primer on basic residential construction assemblies, will help with visualization of written descriptions and vocabulary.

   "Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn" by Thomas Hubka

   The evolution of farm yard structures, of interest if you've ever wondered about the repeating patterns you see on New England farms.

   "A Field Guide to American Houses" by Virginia Savage McAlester

   This book will tell you what every type of house is. If I remember right, I believe it also has a section on vernacular houses. A similar book that I own but have not read is "A Field Guide to American Architecture" by Carole Rifkind. I also like, and have read, "American Vernacular: Buildings and Interiors, 1870-1960" by Herbert Gottfried

   "How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built" by Stewart Brand

   A great look at what happens after construction is completed, I love this book for it's treatment of a seldom-discussed reality of the construction trades.

   "Builders Guide: Cold Climates" Joseph W Lstiburek

   Lstiburek is opinionated, and usually right. Find more books of this style at: https://buildingscience.com/

   "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande

   Changed how I approach documenting and completing tasks - in a business like construction where it's hard to go in reverse, it's been a major component of my success since I first read it in 2011. Simple in concept, hard in practice.

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2. elkteaSep 2015
   If you're interested in the history of this sort of thing Lewis Mumford's 'The City In History' is a fantastic read. Brilliantly researched and presented in a very non-dry way.
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3. murtaliApr 2013
   It's fascinating to see how some of the main constructs that help define a city ie. major roads, intersections, are still highly visible and intact over 100 years later.

   Would recommend "The City in History" by Lewis Mumford. Great read about how cities have formed, died, and some renewed throughout history.

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4. JamesLeonisFeb 2021
   Brasilia is a case study in the book Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott. It's a great book that digs into the whole thinking behind such grand plans and why they often fall apart.

   EDIT: The quote at the start of chapter 4 (The High Modernist City) captures the Ideology of these blank-slate planners.

   > Time is a fatal handicap to the baroque conception of the world: its mechanical order makes no allowances for growth, change, adaptation, and creative renewal. In short, a baroque plan was a block achievement. It must be laid out at a stroke, fixed and frozen forever, as if done overnight by Arabian nights genii. Such a plan demands an architectural despot, working for an absolute ruler, who will live long enough to complete their own conceptions. To alter this type of plan, to introduce fresh elements of another style, is to break its esthetic backbone.

   — Lewis Mumford, The City in History

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5. jboynycMar 2019
   Russell Jacoby's The Last Intellectuals (1987) is a book about how the humanities and social sciences professionalized and lost their grander vision. Essentially Jacoby claims that gentrification and the expansion of academia killed the figure of the independent "public" intellectual.

   Some of the books he holds up as examples of intellectual (rather than academic) engagement are Jane Jacob's Death and Life of Great American Cities, William Whyte's Organization Man, C. Wright Mills' White Collar, Murray Bookchin's The Limits of the City, and Lewis Mumford's The City in History. I think most of these would be good candidates for "undead" status.

   A few years ago there was an interesting symposium revisiting the argument in light of changes in the public sphere: https://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/After-The-Last/16

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