The Death and Life of Great American Cities A Book by Jane Jacobs www.amazon.com Dead citiesThe dishonest mask of pretended orderThe plan must anticipate all that is neededThe city's most vital organsEyes on the street+48 More 125 Best Architecture Books urbanismcities
Haven't you noticed? I remember my mother sitting me down at the age of about five with pencil and paper to draw an acacia tree in the yard while she busied herself with her own sketchbook. After a while she came over to see my efforts. “Splendid! But haven’t you noticed how the trunk narrows as it rises? And see how the branches flatten out sideways, not like that oleander over there, where they all go up at a steep angle. Now don’t rub that one out, just do another drawing to compare with the first one.” Jonathan Kingdon, In the Eye of the Beholder Looking Closely is Everything seeing