The city has been compared to a poem, a sculpture, a machine. But the city is more than a text,and more than an artistic or technological. It is a place where natural forces pulse and millions of people live—thinking,feeling,dreaming,doing. An aesthetic of urban design must therefore be rooted in the normal processes of nature and of living.
I want to describe the dimensions of such an aesthetic. This aesthetic encompasses both nature and culture; it embodies function,sensory perception, and symbolic meaning; and it embraces both the making of things and places and the sensing, using, and contemplating of them. This aesthetic is concerned equally with everyday things and with art: with small things, such as fountains, gardens, and buildings, and with large systems, such as those that transport people or carry wastes. This aesthetic celebrates motion and change, encompasses dynamic processes rather than static objects and scenes, and embraces multiple rather than singular visions. This is not a timeless aesthetic, but one that recognizes both the flow of passing time and the singularity of the moment in time, and one that demands both continuity and revolution.
這個(gè)城市比作一首詩，一個(gè)雕塑，一臺(tái)機(jī)器。但這個(gè)城市是一個(gè)多與文本，多藝術(shù)或技術(shù)。這是一個(gè)地方，自然力量的脈搏，數(shù)百萬人生活，思想，感情，夢(mèng)想，做什么。一個(gè)城市設(shè)計(jì)美學(xué)，因此，必須植根于大自然的正常秩序和生活。
我想說明這樣一個(gè)審美的維度。這種審美既包括自然和文化，它體現(xiàn)的功能，感覺知覺，和象征意義，它包含兩種事物和場所，使感測，使用，其中考慮。這同樣的審美關(guān)注與生活用品，并與藝術(shù)：小東西，如噴泉，園林，建筑，以及大型系統(tǒng)，如那些運(yùn)輸?shù)娜?，或進(jìn)行廢物。這種審美慶祝運(yùn)動(dòng)和變化，包括動(dòng)態(tài)的過程，而不是靜態(tài)的物體和場景，并包含奇異的愿景，而不是多個(gè)。這不是一個(gè)永恒的美感，而是一個(gè)既承認(rèn)傳遞的時(shí)間和時(shí)刻的奇異交流，既需要一個(gè)連續(xù)性和革命。
城市形態(tài)演變的時(shí)間，以難以預(yù)料的方式，是復(fù)雜，重疊的結(jié)果，交織對(duì)話。這些對(duì)話都是當(dāng)前和持續(xù)的，有些人憑直覺感到，有些是清晰易讀。他們一起組成了一個(gè)地方的環(huán)境和所有它所對(duì)話的人。這些內(nèi)住的想法，其時(shí)間，目的，交流的體現(xiàn)，和響應(yīng)，系統(tǒng)核心正是這種美學(xué)。