in the nineteen fifties the editors of the architectural review serialised a collection of articles on something about urban planning they termed townscape. the authors of these articles asked why so much of the scientific town planning of the post-war years seemed inferior to planning of earlier centuries. their goal was to discover if the earlier examples of urban planning held some overlooked principles of design and what could be changed about recent inferior design by studying the earlier examples.
some of the articles went further, asking why and how those towns specifically italian seemed especially attractive and more humane places to use. they argued that while the romantic image of italy and sometimes accidental effects of older town plans may contribute to the sucess of italian civilia, but also wondered if the effects were intended and built into the townscape by the designers. and more importantly if the secrets were rediscovered the rules could be utilized to design more livable modern cities. some of the research from the italian themed articles was later reworked by ivor dewolfe and represented in a book titled "the italian townscape".
one of the design ideas listed in the book as making a more liveable and interesting townscape was the side or service-mens entrance. this is a minor entrance which stands out because it is as visible as the main entrance of a building. an example of this piece of townscape can be seen at the east end of yorkville avenue where the side entrance in the west wall of the building on the east side of yonge street terminates the end of the view.
Posted with Blogsy