Understanding The Historic City*

Abstract

The primary aim of this paper is to develop a new perspective in the contemporary urban design problem of the historic city. It will argue that the city is not an object of ideological and economic choices but rather the subject of architectural phenomenon. In this sense one of the main differences between the pre-industrial and modern city is the role and appearance of architecture. The lack of architectural quality and duality appears because of discontinuity in the intrinsic rules of the city building itself which are the result of accumulated architectural culture of its society as its maker and user. This paper is based on the argument that new interventions in those ancient cities should follow their own architectural rules, which can be grasped by careful analysis of the urban structure.