Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ADVOCACY PLANNING
Advocacism abandons the objective, non-political view of planning contained in
Lee C. Slusser, AICP rationalism. Planners become like lawyers: they advocate and defend the
interests of a particular client or group (which is preferably economically
disadvantaged and/or politically unorganized or underrepresented).
MAJOR PLANNING THEORIES
(I.E., MODELS OF THE PLANNING FUNCTION) • Paul Davidoff was an early champion of advocacy planning. He argued that
there is no one public interest for planners to serve, and
1. SYNOPTIC RATIONALISM thus, that planners have no choice but to become non-objective
In philosophy in general, rationalism is the foundation and embodiment advocates for specific interests and groups.
of the scientific method. It serves the same role in planning theory. The
rationalist model of the planning process generally contains the • Saul Alinsky developed an advocacist vision of planning that is centered around
following steps. socalled “organizations.” Alinsky’s organizations develop where people
feel powerless. These organizations then hire planners (which Alinsky
• Goals and objectives are set. largely sees as political organizers) to identify problems,
develop an awareness of these problems, and generate
• Policy alternatives are identified. action.
• The policy alternatives are evaluated – vis-à-vis effectiveness (in • Alan Altshuler also argued for abandoning the objective, non-political view of
attaining the goals and objectives),efficiency, and planning. He felt that to be effective, planners must become
constraints – using scientific conceptual models and actively involved in the political process.
evaluation techniques (e.g., cost benefit analysis).
5. RADICAL PLANNING
• The selected policy alternative is implemented. In a sense, radicalism takes transactivism to its logical extreme. Radicalism
hates hierarchical bureaucracies, centralized planning, and domineering
professional planners. It argues that planning is most effective when it is
performed by non-professional neighborhood planning committees that empower
2. INCREMENTALISM common citizens to experiment with solving their own problems. The ideal
This theory – which was espoused by Charles Lindbloom in The
outcomes of this process are collective actions that promote self-reliance. Much
Science of Muddling Through – is a practical response to rationalism.
of the radical planning literature that I have personally read is based on Marxist
Planning is seen as less of a scientific technique and more of a mixture
interpretations and theories.
of intuition and experience. Major policy changes are best made in little
increments over long periods of time. Incrementalism very accurately
describes what actually occurs in most planning offices on a daily 6. UTOPIANISM
basis. Utopianism believes that planning is most effective when it proposes sweeping
changes that capture the public imagination. Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago,
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City, and Le Corbusier’s La Ville Contemporaine
are often cited as utopian works.
3. TRANSACTIVE PLANNING
Like incrementalism, transactivism does not view planning purely as a 7. METHODISM
scientific technique. Transactivism espouses planning as a
Methodism addresses situations in which the planning techniques that should be
decentralized function based on face- to-face contacts, interpersonal
used are known, but the ends that should be achieved by these techniques are
dialogues, and mutual learning. Transactivism is roughly behavioralist-
not. Such a situation would be making a population projection just to have it
style planning.
handy when it is needed. Methodism views planning techniques as ends into
themselves.
THEORIES MOVEMENT ORGANIZATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
MAJOR THEORIES OF URBAN SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
FUNCTIONALISM
1. CONCENTRIC THEORY (BURGESS, 1925) The architect should know the needs of your client first before you come up with
a design.
City grows in a radial expansion from center to form
circles
SELECTIVISM
A city is seen as a set of cocentric rings (these rings are Indentifying our architecture in terms of our locality and country.
roughly listed, in order, below). As the city grows, each
ring invades and overtakes the next ring out – a process ECLECTICISM
called Invasion/Succession (thus, Cocentic Theory is Usually applied to any building that incorporates a mixture of historical style.
sometimes referred to as Invasion/Succession
Theory”). STRUCTURALISM
Saw the introduction of the iron or steel construction
• The central business district (CBD)
Joseph Paxton
• Independent worker housing Henry Labrouste
• Better housing Gustave Eiffel
• Commuter/suburban housing
MONUMENTALISM
Based on the notion that the “Form of an Object should last.”
2. SECTOR THEORY (HOYT, 1939)
Le Corbusier
Pulls growth of entire in same direction August Perret
Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe
High-density residential, commercial, and industrial uses Peter Behrens
radiate out from the central business district (CBD) in
“sectors” that follow major transportation routes. More RADICALISM
expensive housing also radiates out from the CBD Demand for a radicalship in emphasis from the building of the past to the design
of those which meet the requirement and demands of the modern times.
– towards large open spaces and higher ground. Less
expensive housing takes whatever land is left over.
NATIONAL ROMANTICISM
Self-emulated style fed by particular local historical motifs and devices as well as
the associative aspects of the great historical period in architecture.
3. MULTIPLE NUCLEI ZONE THEORY
(HARRIS AND ULLMAN, 1945) FUTURISM
Cities grow around several district nuclei
EXPRESSIONISM
Certain land uses group together to take advantage of design ideal that would express emotion and the essence of life
unique facilities (e.g., universities), specializations,
Bruno Taut, Hans Poelzig
codependencies, or externalities. This theory is often Erich Mendelsohn
applied to cities with more than one CBD. Walter Gropius
RATIONALISM CIAM
(Neue Sachlichkeit GERMAN) Congrès Internationaux de l'Architecture Moderne
Architects, in turn, sought to design buildings that might improve the International Congress of Modern Architecture
lives of those within them. They called for designs of great clarity that Was founded to promote social justice and modern architecture
paid strict attention to function and made use of modern materials and
technologies People living in the right environment would be more likely to behave in
accordance with the dictates of society
Johannes Brinckmann
Leendert van der Vlugt
Mart Stam ORGANISM
(ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE)
That every building should relate harmoniously to its natural surroundings and
that a building should not be a static, boxlike enclosure but a dynamic structure,
with open, flowing interior spaces.
NEO-PLASTICISM
Expressing the works using non-color (white, black, grey) with primary Frank Llyod Wright
colors
Peter Eisenman
Frank Gehry
Richard Meier
Rem Koolhaas
FORMALISM
Emphasizes highly structured visual relationships rather than subject
matter, symbolism, theme or ornamentation.
Bauhaus architects.
ART DECO
Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes
(International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts)
This exposition immediately influenced many American patrons and
architects who desired to create a modern design that was not so
austere or lacking in ornament as the modernism
It was a modernism that was not too modern and that incorporated
elegant materials, including new materials such as aluminum, stainless
steel, and early plastics. Art deco used a great deal of ornament with
stylistic motifs such as zigzags and multiple curved forms. Its bold
linear or flat geometric patterns were accentuated by strong color
contrasts.