My Favorite Plan: Leo Hammond

摘要

Growing up in grey London I often dreamed about going to San Francisco, seeing the Bay, the hills and the Golden Gate Bridge. Without the opportunity to visit it, I read and looked at pictures of the city. When I got to university, I was fascinated to discover Burn-ham's 1905 plan in Sir Peter Hall's Planning History class at the Bartlett and it inspired my love of urban design. Let me tell you why. First, the plan was so carefully prepared. This was an age when the urban designer often drew up plans in isolation from the site and the local community. By contrast, Burnham set up camp at the top of Twin Peaks to study the city with his team and organised a conference where over 200 civic groups shared ideas for improving the city. Eventually the plan was circulated as a comprehensive book of 190 pages with maps, diagrams and drawings.