Gordon Cullen in Valencia: four urban landscapes

Abstract

The Concise Townscape, by Gordon Cullen, was originally published in English in 1971, and it is a key work in the field of urban design. The Spanish edition was published some years later, in 1974, with the title El paisaje urbano. Tratado de estética urbanística. Gordon Cullen introduced in The Concise Townscape different concepts to describe the visual experience of townscape, showing through drawing and photographs how urban environments could be experienced as a pictorial and temporal sequence. In this communication we will analyze the presence in The Concise Townscape of four images of urban landscapes of Valencia, which Gordon Cullen used to illustrate different concepts of visual and spatial perception related to urban design. The images show the Plaza de la Virgen with its textile roof, a stone sculpture of the Puente del Real, the shop frontage of the Platería del Sol and the facade of the Lonja with a tree located in front of it. We will examine, first of all, the relationship between these urban landscapes and the four urban design concepts to which they are associated in The Concise Townscape: “the outdoor room and enclosure”, “looking into the enclosure”, “handsome gesture” and “trees incorporated”. We will add to it a comparative analysis of the current situation and the changes that these urban landscapes have undergone since the moment Cullen took the photographs for his book