Tuesdays at APA: Urban Morphology

Urban Morphology
August 24, 2010


Urban morphology seeks to understand the spatial structure and
character of an urban area by examining its patterns and the
process of its development. While urban morphology has been a
disciplinary specialization amongst American geographers for
years, only in southern Europe, where there was no historical
separation of planning and architecture, has the work of urban
morphologists been brought to bear in the training of architects.


In the ongoing work of the International Seminar on Urban Form,
Christopher Miller, from Judson University, is exploring with his
students a more research-oriented approach to the American
architectural value in contextual design. Miller shared recent
student work that examines questions like: Can typology be used
to solve the problem of the big box in a 19th-century fabric? How
is morphology a condition for pedestrian connectivity? Can the
connectivity inherent in a historic fabric be the prescriptive
standard for infill.