*Winner of the Environmental Design Research Association 2016 Place Research Award!*In Cognitive Architecture; the authors review new findings in psychology and neuroscience to help architects and planners better understand their clients as the sophisticated mammals they are; arriving in the world with built-in responses to the environment that have evolved over millennia.The book outlines four main principles---Edges Matter; the fact people are a?thigmotactic?or a wall-hugging species; Patterns Matter; how we are visually-oriented; Shapes Carry Weight; how our preference for bilateral symmetrical forms is biological; and finally; Storytelling is Key; how our narrative proclivities; unique to our species; play a role in successful place-making. The book takes an inside-out approach to design; arguing that the more we understand human behavior; the better we can design for it. The text suggests new ways to analyze current designs before they are built; allowing the designer to anticipate a users future experience. More than one hundred photographs and drawings illustrate its key concepts. Six exercises and additional case studies suggest particular topics - from the significance of face-processing in the human brain to our fascination with fractals - for further study.
#510153 in eBooks 2014-10-23 2014-10-23File Name: B00NTSZG4K
Review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A fair treatment of urbanism and suburbanismBy Jason StokesIve drank the urbanist Kool-Aid; for sure. However; I was very pleased that this book presents both sides of the argument between walkable urbanism and driveable suburbanism. The author; who is a real estate developer and expert; goes through the benefits and drawbacks of each with some fairness; though he seems to prefer the urbanism argument.I particularly liked his framing of the situation in terms of demographics; social policy; and long term effects; and how he posits that perhaps weve gone too far down the suburban path and need to swing back toward walkable urbanism. His arguments describe how Wall Street; large developers; and government policy lead us toward suburban development; and why urban areas are so expensive (longer term building timelines; more expensive land; and most of all; lack of supply.)I highly recommend this for anyone unfamiliar with walkable urbanism; or who might be interested in why our built environment is the way it is. Its a pretty short book but well written and researched; and certainly more even-handed than Kunstler or Kotkin.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A New turn for the OldBy Ravi MadhavanChristopher B. Leinbergers book put a name to a desire I have had in my search to find a new home. I wanted a place where my family had the option of walking to most of the day to day places we tend to visit - school; post office; drug store; grocery store; barber; dry cleaning; coffee shop; bookstore; etc. It turns out the name for this is "walkable urbanism" - its a return to an older time (pre-car) neighborhood; in terms of property value it has a premium compared to drivable suburbanism and there is a small movement making it more popular.This book from a real estate professional offers a logical and positive view of "walkable urbanism" without bashing drivable suburbanism that has dominated the landscape for the past fifty years. It provides a historical context to how we got to where we are and why the next phase will be a return to "walkable urbanism". The benefits to mitigating climate change and eliminating dependence on foreign oil are obvious. However the additional benefits of personal health and feeling a part of a community are also just as appealing.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Visionary!By Pierre GauthierThis book could very well be the `Death and Life of Great American Cities of the 21st century!The author; a specialist in real estate development and not in urban planning; explains how government policies and standardized real estate products have supported the growth of drivable suburbia over the past decades.He demonstrates with refreshing arguments that `walkable urbanism is actually favoured by a large portion of the population and challenges the market and governments to respond accordingly.This concise; well-written eye-opener is light-years away from the rehashed New Urbanism discourses and should absolutely be read by all concerned with the future of our cities!
