The Boulevard Book: History Evolution Design of Multiway Boulevards

About this book

Silver Award Winner for Architecture in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards. and Winner of the 2001 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers Inc. in the category of Excellence in Design and Production. First built in Europe and grandly imported to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century the classic multiway boulevard has been in decline for many years victim of a narrowly focused approach to street design that views unencumbered vehicular traffic flow as the highest priority. The American preoccupation with destination and speed has made multiway boulevards increasingly rare as artifacts of the urban landscape. This book reintroduces the boulevard tree-lined and with separate realms for through traffic and for slow-paced vehicular-pedestrian movement as an important and often crucial feature of both historic and contemporary cities. It presents more than fifty boulevards?-as varied as Avenue Montaigne in Paris; C. G. Road in Ahmedabad India; and The Esplanade in Chico Californiacelebrating their usefulness and beauty. It discusses their history and evolution the misconceptions that led to their near-demise in the United States and their potential as a modern street type. Based on wide research The Boulevard Book examines the safety of these streets and offers design guidelines for professionals scholars and community decision makers. Extensive plans cross sections and perspective drawings permit visual comparisons. The book shows how multiway boulevards respond to many issues that are central to urban life including livability mobility safety interest economic opportunity mass transit and open space.