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Gordon Cullen (1914-1994)

was an English architect,

an urban designer who carried the Townscape movement theme.

Later on he wrote and published the “Townscape” book in 1961.

He was a key motivator and activist in the development of British theories of urban
design in the post-war period.

After his death, David Gosling & Norman Foster collected various examples of his
work and put them together in the book ‘Visions of Urban Design’.

Gordon Cullen got famous by the Concise Townscape.

The “Townscape” book, one of Gordon Cullen’s masterpiece, illustrated with over
300 works selected from the drawings Gordon Cullen made during his lifetime, this
anthology documents his influential career as an Urban Theorist, artist and illustrator
from 1930 to 1990.

The majority of his drawings have never been published before except in
professional reports, and this book contains numerous drawings executed for the
pleasure of observation as well as the product of his many consultancies.

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Gordon Cullen – the Concise Townscape

•townscape is that it is a design philosophy based upon satisfying a fuller range

of human needs including those which are met by the visual environment.

•the starting point for design is the individual's experience of the environment.

•Therefore if towns are designed from the point of view of the moving person
(pedestrian or car) its easy to see how the whole city becomes a plastic
experience.

•You cannot have a here without a there, a this without a that. Some of the
greatest townscape effects are created by skillful relationship between the two.

TOWNSCAPE ELEMENTS
•CONCERNING OPTICS
•CONCERNING PLACE
•CONCERNING CONTENT

GORDEN CULLEN

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Articles that formed the basis for

Townscape (1961) first appeared in The
Architectural Review. Like Jane Jacobs,
William Whyte, Kevin Lynch, Robert
Venturi and others in 1960s–70s, Gordon
Cullen (1914–1994) approached urban
design based upon ‘the experience,
perception, and particulars of specific
places, as opposed to the rationalism of
modernist urban theory, which was seen
as abstract, formalist and disengaged.
While there may be a tendency to see his
position as picturesque and as the
superficial use of “heritage” and cosmetic
streetscapes, Cullen’s seemingly
lighthearted sketches were meant to
illustrate a more theory based not on
Images but on underlying visual
relationships that evoke a broad
range of human response.
GORDEN CULLEN

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SERIAL VISION
Serial Vision is to walk from one end
of the plan to another, at a uniform
pace, will provide a sequence of
revelations which are suggested in
the serial drawings opposite, reading
from left to right.

Cullen developed the term serial

vision to describe what a pedestrian
experiences when moving through
a built environment. The
pedestrian’s view continually
changes when following a curving
pathway, entering a courtyard, or
turning a corner. The changing view
provides a sense of discovery and
drama. In contrast, Cullen writes, “A
long straight road has little impact
because the initial view is soon
digested and becomes
monotonous.” (Cullen 1961, p. 11)

GORDEN CULLEN

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GORDEN CULLEN

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the scenery of towns is often

revealed in a series of jerks or
revelations. This we call Serial Vision
GORDEN CULLEN

GORDEN CULLEN

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PROJECTION AND RECESSION:

This street demonstrate the Charm of

projection and recession. Instead of
the eye taking in the street In a single
glance, as it would in a street with
perfectly straight facades, it is caught up
in the intricacy of the meander and the
result is a repose or dwelling of the mind
which is wholly appropriate to the
Subject, which is a street of houses and
not a fluid traffic route.

GORDEN CULLEN

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GORDEN CULLEN

GORDEN CULLEN

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JUXTAPOSITION
Relationship between two categories.

The hopeless mixture of elements

which turns all into a dull chaos.

JUXTAPOSITION
GORDEN CULLEN

JUXTAPOSITION

GORDEN CULLEN

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