The final word on the language of urban planning and design. The Language of Towns and Cities is a landmark publication that clarifies the language by which we talk about urban planning and design. Everyday words such as "avenue," "boulevard," "park," and "district," as well as less commonly used words and terms such as "sustainability," "carbon-neutral," or "Bilbao Effect" are used with a great variety of meanings, causing confusion among citizens, city officials, and other decision-makers when trying to design viable neighborhoods, towns, and cities. This magnificent volume is the fruit of more than a decade of research and writing in an effort to ameliorate this situation. Abundantly illustrated with over 2,500 photographs, drawings, and charts, The Language of Towns and Cities is both a richly detailed glossary of more than seven hundred words and terms commonly used in architecture and urban planning, and a compendium of great visual interest. From "A" and "B" streets to Zero Lot and Zeitgeist, the book is at once comprehensive and accessible. An essential work for architects, urban planners, students of design, and all those interested in the future of towns and cities, this is destined to become a classic in its field.
DHIRU A. THADANI, AIA is an architect and urbanist who has taught, practiced, and worked to place architecture and urbanism in the public eye.
Dhiru was born in Bombay, India and moved to Washington, D.C., to attend the Catholic University of America (CUA) from 1972-1978, where he received his undergraduate and graduate education in architecture. He has taught at several universities and actively lectures on urban issues the world over.
Since 1980, Dhiru has been the lead designer for many new development, urban retrofit, neighborhood revitalization, and infill densification projects. The projects range in scale from new towns for 500,000 inhabitants to smaller resort communities, as well as small-scale residential infill interventions in revitalizing neighborhoods.
He has created neighborhoods that are walkable, and contain a balance and diverse range of workplaces and housing. In addition, these new developments reinforce regional planning for open space, and feature architecture that is responsive to the culture, climate, and context.
Dhiru has undertaken several self-directed research initiatives to produce measured drawings and collect data on public open spaces, city plans, college towns, academic campuses, university related research parks, and the development of Washington, D.C. The methodical research has developed into an expertise in these fields, which has been incorporated into several award-wining projects. Between 2004 and 2008, Dhiru received four CNU Charter Awards for projects that he was instrumental in designing. These include: the master plan for Vedanta University, Orissa, India, a new university to serve 100,000 students; a vision plan for the City of Long Beach, Mississippi, one of many cities along the gulf coast which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; master plan for the college town in Lexington, Kentucky; and for the revitalization plan for Macon, Georgia.
Since its formation in 1993, Dhiru has been a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and was appointed to the board in 2005. He is a 2001 Fellow of the Knight Program in Community Building.
He conceived and co-edited the following publications:
1. Leon Krier: The Architecture of Community. Island Press, 2009.
2. Windsor Forum on Design Education: Toward an Ideal Curriculum to Reform Architectural Education. New Urban Press, 2004.
3. Making Towns: Principles and Techniques. University of Maryland, 1993.
4. Five Architects: Twenty Years Later. University of Maryland, 1992.
5. Building the City: Where Nature and the City Meet. Smithsonian Institution, 1991.
Dhiru resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Terry Schum, and children, Adrienne and Dylan.
