Cities

Book excerpt: This is a collection of photographs of clay models of fifty significant towns and cities all to the scale of 1:14,000. Because the models exhibited only the gross topographical and architectural characteristics of each locality, a city's general pattern, shape, and area can be apprehended immediately and compared directly with the form and size of the others included. The models were the work of a second-year studio in architecture with help from other members of the student body. They were built from white plasticene, balsa wood, and paint to the scale of 1:7200 (600 feet to an inch) and photographically reduced to the scale of 1:14,000 (1200 feet to an inch). For the most part the settlements are represented at the peak of their historical importance, whether in ancient, medieval, or modern times. Included are Aigues-Mortes, Amsterdam, Angkor, Assisi, Athens, Avila, Babylon, Bruges, Cambridge, Carcassone, Chandigarh, Chartres, Chichen Itza, Granada, Hook, Karlsruhe, Kristiansund, Lubeck, Machu Picchu, Middelburg, Miletus, Monte Alban, Mont-Saint-Michel, Moscow, New York, Nordlingen, Palmanova, Paris, Peking, Pergamum, Persepolis, Philadelphia, Pompeii, Portofino, Priene Pyramid Complex, Rome, Saarlouis, Sabbioneta, San Gimignano, Savannah, Siena, Tikal, Timgad, Venice, Versailles, and Washington, D. C.