Résumé
Urban Identity is the second in the successful Learning from Place series that draws upon the wealth of experience in the Academy of Urbanism. This edition deals with the subject of urban identity and character. Why is it that all modern towns and cities look the same, as they become dominated by identikit buildings, multi-national corporations, even arbitrarily imposed urban design rules? How can we preserve and foster the sense of local identity and character that so value without falling into the trap of historical pastiche?
Four leading urban thinkers take this theme as the staring point for chapters on urban identity. The classical architect Robert Adam delivers a broadside to modern architecture that he sees as the multi-national face of globalism. The Architect and academic John Worthington ponders the difference between how a place is seen, its identity and how it wants to be seen, its brand. While the architects Anthony Reddy from Ireland and Frank Walker from Scotland explore the notion of local and national identity in architecture and design.