TRIGGS' "TOWN PLANNING,"
Nolen, John
Triggs' "Town Planning" By JOHN NOLEN "FROM one end of Great Britain to the other, with the exception of a few cities such as Edinburgh, there is hardly a single really good example of town...
...Here in a single brief statement we have the most essential principles of town planning, but to apply them successfully to any particular situation requires knowledge, patient study, skill, and experience...
...The civic agitation in England, aiming to make the large towns and cities more convenient, healthful, and beautiful, is manifesting itself in many different ways...
...Even the United States in some respects appears to surpass England...
...The filling in of the secondary roads to the main network of thoroughfares should be approximately rectangular, because the rectangle is the most convenient form of building block, and for the actual traffic requirement, the diagonal can always be resorted to...
...And he makes perfectly clear in each chapter that in city making England is far behind all the countries on the Continent of Europe, especially France and Germany...
...The radical form of arrangement is advisable for important focal points: town gateways, railway stations, the approaches to bridges and similar situations Curved streets adapt themselves as a rule better to hilly ground than straight ones...
...Triggs displays in several instances the large wisdom of Stuebben and the German city planners, and quotes and endorses a statement from Stuebben which admirably sums up the most essential truth in city improvement...
...No one can read Mr...
...He brings together the results of the best practice and experience in the past and in presenting such subjects as sunlight in city streets, new methods of street widening, and suggestions for the better handling of traffic, he gives us the benefit of the latest study and investigation...
...The title "Town Planning" suggests a comprehensive treatment of the subject, but as a matter of fact, several large divisions are entirely omitted...
...His treatment of each subject is broad, clear, open-minded, and definite...
...Triggs' book thoughtfully without rising with this impression...
...The cities of the United States are mentioned occasionally, but we have little reason for pride in most of Mr...
...henceforth they should not play a ruling but a subsidiary role...
...Triggs' remarks...
...The day has gone by for the unqualified employment of definite systems...
...They are beautifully reproduced...
...The point of view is that of the architect,— the man concerned with buildings...
...While the plans are necessarily small, they are with few exceptions perfectly clear and nearly always include a scale, so that their significance can be more definitely understood and appreciated...
...Triggs' book will not only stimulate interest in this subject in England, but will also serve as a reliable guide to towns and cities in their attempt to outline and execute definite plans for improvement...
...To the steadily increasing number of landscape architects and architects who are giving attention to planning and re-planning American cities, this book will be indispenable...
...Moreover, Mr...
...There are nearly two hundred in all and they have been selected with extreme care and discrimination from the whole history of town planning,—from the days of Pompeii to the most recent proposals for the improvement of Washington...
...No mention whatever is made of the Boston Metropolitan Park System, nor of the great scheme, now largely executed for the improvement of Kansas City...
...The splendid methods and achievements of Germany in every phase of reconstructing old cities and up-building new ones, is outlined in a way to be helpful to a city legislator, a city administrator, or anyone having the welfare of the city at heart...
...Triggs' opinion, the civic crusade already well started in this country promises to revolutionize city planning in the future...
...However, he shows only superficial acquaintance with conditions here and sometimes gives evidence of inaccurate impressions, as, for example, when he says in speaking of New York, that "No attempt has been made to utilize the beauties of the Hudson River...
...Triggs' "Town Planning" By JOHN NOLEN "FROM one end of Great Britain to the other, with the exception of a few cities such as Edinburgh, there is hardly a single really good example of town planning," says H. Inige Triggs in his recently issued volume on "Town Planning: Past, Present and Possible...
...The book is not organic...
...It is not as complete and systematic a treatise as Stuebben's "Der Staedtebau," but it is the first volume in English to present the subject from the same general point of view...
...The closer a town plan adheres to the natural conditions, the more original and attractive it will be...
...A full consideration for the levels, roads, and boundaries must be the basis upon which all schemes must rest, and these considerations can only be left out of account if they become antagonistic to the legitimate requirements of traffic and town extension, or for economic or aesthetic reasons...
...There can be no doubt that Mr...
...The illustrations—both plans and photographs—are unusually valuable...
...They illustrate...
...The second chapter, "Types of Ancient and Modern Towns," while largely historical, presents a Buggestive survey of the various systems of laying out towns with their merits and limitations...
...The introduction is an admirable, critical review of the modern movement in France, Germany, England, and the United States...
...In discussing these matters, the author gives us the most valuable material that has yet appeared in English...
...For example, the great subject of Parks receives no attention at all, and Playgrounds are not even mentioned...
...The real value of the book, however, is in the four chapters that follow on "The Circulation of Traffic," "Town Expansion," "The Planning of Streets," and "The Planning of Squares and Open Spaces...
...Success in town planning," says Stuebben, "is more likely to be attained by seeking out the natural topographical conditions...
...Moreover, the book is English and written apparently to directly help on the movement in England...
...for wide vistas, distant perspectives, and grand monumental effects the straight line asserts itself...
...Burns' town planning bill, introduced at the present session of Parliament, is far-reaching in its provision...
...indeed, in Mr...
...The first two chapters are general and popular in character...
Vol. 2 • December 1910 • No. 49
