The City Shaped

By Spiro Kostof,

Book cover of The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History

Book description

Spanning the ages and the globe, Spiro Kostof explores the city as a "repository of cultural meaning" and an embodiment of the community it shelters. Widely used by both architects and students of architecture, The City Shaped won the AIA's prestigious book award in Architecture and Urbanism. With hundreds of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The City Shaped as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

We can understand cities not only through their societies, their experience, and their history, but also by studying their physical form. Spiro Kostof describes how cities across the world have distinct yet still interrelated patterns of streets, blocks, plots, and buildings. Rather than taking a chronological approach, Kostof illustrates the form of cities through time and space through four main types of urban form, from organic shapes and grids to diagrams and grand interventions. If you look at your own city, you will likely find a combination of all of the above! This is one of the first books on…

From Conrad's list on the exciting life of cities.

If you love The City Shaped...

Ad

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS By Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

Want books like The City Shaped?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The City Shaped.

Browse books like The City Shaped

Book cover of Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention
Book cover of The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Book cover of The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,590

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in cities, architecture, and ancient Egypt?

Cities 37 books
Architecture 83 books
Ancient Egypt 123 books