LADDERS by Albert Pope (Architecture at Rice #34)

Rice School of Architecture/Princeton Architectural Press, 1996, First edition, 276 pp. 5 1/2 X 8", Softcover

Fine

Considered a classic in the field of urbanism, Pope's provocative study of five post-war American cities examines the forces--including demographic upheavals, market expansions, and technological developments--that precipitated a change from the open system of the pre-war urban grid to the fragmented and closed spaces of suburban cul-de-sacs, expressways, and office parks. Through an incisive series of diagrams and photographs, Pope reveals the concepts, theories, and rules that have guided their organizational evolution into post architectural spaces whose character is shaped more by the effects of immense urban spaces and infrastructure than built forms.