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Barcelona: The Urban Evolution of a Compact City (ORO EDITIONS) Paperback – May 1, 2014

by Joan Busquets (Author)

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Barcelona can be regarded as a prototype of a European Mediterranean city with a long urban tradition. As such, it has undergone a specific process of historic formation: density and compactness of urban form, evolution by extension rather than by reform, etc. A history of urban planning necessarily includes a summary of the territorial and urban experience, and pays particular attention to the physical dimensions of the city that condition its cultural and economic development. This book centers on the construction of Barcelona, taking as its basis the most important planning operations and city projects, and drawing on various sources for the different phases. Its urban development was very varied, even without taking into account the interventions of royalty or aristocrats that produced large avenues and parks. The local scale of many of the projects contrasts with the cosmopolitan aspirations that have made some of these interventions so innovative; these might include some of the major projects carried out for special events, such as the events in 1888 (World Exhibition), 1929 (Electrical Industries Exhibition) and 1992 (Olympic Games). Now, in the 21st century, new prospects are opening up thanks to the recent European institutional framework, particularly changes in the economic system to a post-industrial phase, during which the various means of communication are coming to the fore. It is difficult to gauge the spatial repercussions, but the urban planning history of Barcelona shows how it has already overcome major contradictions in recent centuries.

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About the Author

Joan Busquets is Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the GSD, Harvard University. A world-renowned urban planner and architect, Busquets has been awarded with many prizes for his urban projects developed in several cities around the World.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Applied Research & Design (May 1, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 468 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1940743052
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940743059
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.24 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #2,495,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #386 in Architecture Study & Teaching (Books)
- #829 in Regional Architecture
- #1,661 in Urban & Land Use Planning (Books)

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Joan Busquets

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Prof. Joan Busquets

JOAN BUSQUETS. Architect, Urban planner and Chair Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Graduate School of Design - GSD, Harvard University since 2002 Before he was professor at School of Architecture in Barcelona UPC-ETSAB. Founder of LUB Barcelona.

A world-renowned urban planner, urban designer and architect, Busquets served as Head of Urban Planning for the Barcelona City Council in the preparations for the Barcelona Olympics 1992. Urban projects in The Hague, Delft, Geneva, Rotterdam, Toledo, Lisbon and Toulouse among others around the world like Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo and Sao Paulo. Awarded with the 2012 Paris Grand Prix Spécial de l'Urbanisme (France) and 2011 Erasmus prize (The Netherlands). Elected Full Member of the Académie d'Architecture de France (2016). In 2021 he was awarded with the Patrick Abercrombie Prize from the UIA.

Busquets has published many books, including: L’Urbanització marginal (1999), Toledo y su futuro/ Toledo and its Future (2000), Barcelona, Ciutat Vella: un pasado con futuro (2003), Bringing the Harvard Yards to the River (2004), Six projects for Downtown's Den Haag (2004), Barcelona: the Urban Evolution of a Compact City (2005), New Orleans. Strategies for a City in Soft Land (2005) , A Coruña: a nova ciudade marítima no porto/A Coruña: a maritime city in the port (2006) , Cities X-Lines: A new lens for the urbanistic project (2007), Cerdà and the Barcelona of the future, Reality Versus Design (2009), Maastricht Urban Surplus (2009), Shenzhen Designing the non-stop transformation city (2010), Spoorzone Delft-Railway Zone Public Space Design (2010), Joan Busquets -City in layers - Erasmus prize 2011 (2011), Niewe centrum, Nesselande, Roterdam (2011), Dunkerke projet de réaménagent du centre-ville (2012), Innovative Boulevards in Lisbon (2013), World Architecture Magazine n º 272 WA - Designing Urban Architecture: Joan Busquets+BAU/BLAU (2013), Barcelona: the Urban Evolution of a Compact City (2014), Toulouse - Identité et partage du centre-ville (2014), Barcelona: the evolution of a compact city (Chinese Edition) (2016), Hangzhou Underlays: Grids from Canal to Maxi-Block (Redesigning Gridded Cities) (2017), Manhattan Framework: Rectangular Grid for Ordering an Island (Redesigning Gridded Cities) (2017), Chicago Boundless: Two Grids Between Lake and River (Redesigning Gridded Cities) (2017), Barcelona Collage: Manifold Grids and the Place of Cerda (Redesigning Gridded Cities) (2017), ), Savannah: Rethinking the multi-scalar capacity of the city project (2018) and Urban Grids: Handbook for Regular City Design (2019).

Professionally based in Barcelona since the 1970s, His firm BAU B. Arquitectura i Urbanisme SLP was founded in 1992 in Barcelona and has designed and executed projects in Europe. His firm BLAU B. Landscape Arquitectura y Urbanismo SL was founded in 2008 in Barcelona/Shanghai and has designed and executed projects in China. Busquets received his degree in architecture (1969) and his doctoral degree (1975) by the Architecture School of Barcelona ETSAB - UPC.

www.bau-barcelona.com