Set-Backs
“A building is most often thought of as
something which turns inward – towards its
rooms. But unless the building is oriented
toward the outside, which surrounds it, as
carefully and positively as toward its inside,
the space around the building will be useless
and blank. … Building set-backs from the
street, originally invented to protect the public
welfare by giving every building light and
air, have actually helped greatly to destroy the
street as a social space.”
From: Christopher Alexander, et al., A Pattern Language:
Towns-Buildings-Construction (Oxford
University Press, 1977)
For additional information on how good design can
yield economic benefits by strengthening downtown,
see Adele Fleet Bacow’s Designing the City (Island
Press, 1995) and Edward McMahon’s “Design Matters”
(PCJ #21, Winter 1996; available to download
on plannersweb.com).