The Language of Design. . .because great places are all about design is the unique result of a three-year effort to find the solution to two profound questions: First, why do people seem to care so little about the design evolution of their own communities and secondly, how can our community leaders and professional staff expect to guide design when they cannot speak the language of design. It is the first book of its kind combining text with hundreds of photographs to make understanding and speaking the language of design accessible to a general audience and most importantly, our decision makers.  Collectively authors Maureen Steele-Bellows and Barry Petit have spent 50 years serving their respective communities as appointed and elected officials, while professionally practicing architecture for 70 years. These parallel experiences have placed them on both sides of the public dais, providing a unique perspective on how communities in America are developed.  Throughout these years they have witnessed an all too common interaction: a developer presents a design and the decision makers offer timid, elementary or irrelevant responses. This verbal struggle is universal.  The book was born when Maureen received a postcard of a Parisian building from a traveling friend. It occurred to her how odd it is that people will fly thousands of miles and spend small fortunes to see beautiful architecture, while allowing their own communities to drown in visual mediocrity. Over coffee Maureen shared this paradox with Barry: Why do people long to travel (or retire) to these compelling places but care so little about the design of their own home towns?  The authors expanded this design puzzle as they considered simple consumer purchases where, for example, people seemed more passionate about the shoes they bought than the ever evolving character of their communities. While many of us can wax eloquently about the shape of the heel, height of the vamp or the toe cap of a shoe, we are stymied by the simple request to describe our response to the design of a building. Ironically, in a short time trendy shoes are relegated to the back of the closet, while buildings may last in full view for generations.  The book is built around two themes: the Power of Design in our daily lives and the common Language designers use to create virtually any object. This second theme is really the core of the book as the authors define nine key Principles used to shape design Regionalism, Context, Scale/Massing, Composition, Hierarchy, Color, Detail/Craftsmanship, Transformation and Simplicity    Applying these Design Principles in a disciplined order teaches our community leaders city council members, planning commissioners, and planning staffs how to engage in meaningful discussions about design of all types and scales. Anyone can easily absorb and use the information in this book to help them learn how to see through the fog of familiarity and become advocates for better design in their own neighborhoods, villages, towns, and cities. Ultimately, the Language of Design calls for a revolution that puts the pursuit of good design at the forefront of all community planning. The authors objective is to change the prevailing dialogue that has dominated city hall from the language of zoning to the language of design. While zoning is important, most of it is about organizational, formula based tidiness. However, the memory of great places is always about design . . . and you must speak the language of design to guide it.

The Language of Design. . .because great places are all about design

Maureen Steele-Bellows

Barry Petit

Tower Publishing

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Books by Maureen Steele-Bellows

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Maureen Steele-Bellows. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Language of Design. . .because great places are all about design