Ritual House: Drawing on Nature's Rhythms for Architecture and Urban Design by Ralph Knowles

Author:Ralph Knowles [Knowles, Ralph]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Architecture, General, Urban & Land Use Planning, Methods & Materials
ISBN: 9781597266239
Google: cJnucF3BaLQC
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2006-02-02T23:43:05.136775+00:00

Plan of Typical Village, Ashtabula County, Ohio. Drawing by Lauren Chattigré. (Redrawn from Atlas of Ashtabula County, Ohio, Titus, Simmons and Titus, 1874.)

The village could appear as timeless in the landscape as a farm. One could see all or most of its parts just by standing in place and turning around. There were only a few basic components, but villages could include different kinds and different numbers. Still, the rhythms of life remained familiar, easily recognized from year to year.a

Houses, more than land, were essential to the village, although behind most houses there was a vestigial farm, smaller and less perfectly developed than its rural counterpart. There was a barn and a well. Beekeeping was customary; sometimes there was a cow or a few goats. And there was a garden that furnished vegetables, fruit, and, for festive occasions, flowers. A garden did not provide all the necessary sustenance, so most villagers worked at some additional task. They occupied a village as well as a private household and took responsibility for maintaining both.

Settlers from New England brought the idea of a “village green” to the Midwest. A public place, usually in the village center, was often reserved for common use, undivided and owned by all. Sometimes it was only an expanded crossroads; more often it was made distinctive in some way. Trees were planted for ornament and shade. Under the trees, pathways crisscrossed a flat lawn and came out at streets on all sides. At the edges of the park, statues or cut stones carried inscriptions of dedication, remembrance, and inspiration. Across the streets and surrounding the park were the few other unique items in the village, buildings that focused the collective attentions of people on education, worship, or trade: the school, the church, and the general store.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.