Kevin Lynch studied with Frank

Lloyd Wright at Taliesin and

later obtained a Bachelor of City
Kevin Andrew Planning degree from MIT. After
Lynch (January 7, 1918 – a long and distinguished career
April 25, 1984) was an on the faculty of the MIT School
American urban of Architecture and Urban
planner and author. Planning, he was named
Known for his work on Professor Emeritus of City
the perceptual form of Planning.
urban environments and
was an early proponent “Like a piece of architecture, the city is a construction in
of mental mapping. space, but one of vast scale, a thing perceived only in the
course of long spans of time. City design is therefore a
temporal art, but it can rarely use the controlled and limited
sequences of other temporal arts like music. On different
occasions and for different people, the sequences are
reversed, interrupted, abandoned, cut across. It is seen
in all lights and all weathers.”
- THE IMAGE OF THE CITY
CHAPTER 1 - THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Kevin A. Lynch
Kevin Lynch's books are the classic
City Sense and City
underpinnings of modern urban planning
and design, yet they are only a part of his
Design brings together
Lynch's remaining work,
rich legacy of ideas about human purposes
including professional
and values in built form.
design and planning
The Image of the projects that show how he
translated many of his ideas
City is one of his most
and theories into practice.
influential books. Mr.
Lynch, supported by
studies of Los Angeles, Site Planning has
Boston, and Jersey remained the only
City, formulates a new comprehensive source of
criterion— information on all the
imageability— principal activities and
concerns of arranging the
and shows its potential value as a guide outdoor physical
for the building and rebuilding of cities. environment.
The wide scope of this study leads to an
original and vital method for the Good City Form
evaluation of city form. extension of Lynch's vision for the
exploration of city form.
Imageability/
Mental Map
The book – image of the city - is
the result of a five-year study
of Boston, Jersey City and Los
Angeles on how observers take
in information of the city, and
use it to make mental
maps. Lynch’s conclusion was
that people formed mental maps
of their surroundings consisting of
five basic elements.
Imageability/
Mental Map
Way-finding in his theory is
related to two things:
physical elements and a
map drawn in peoples
mind, this map is what
Lynch named mental map
or cognitive map.

Mental maps of individual can be identified

by:
• Asking for directions to a landmark or
other location.
• Asking someone to draw a sketch map of
an area or describe that area
• Ask to name as many places as possible
in short time.
Lynchian Elements
Kevin Lynch identifies 5 elements
that contribute to the imageability of
a city.

1. Paths
They are the channels of movement
within which the city can be conceived
such as alleys, streets, railroads,
motorways, canals and the like.

characteristics that enhance

prominence of any path:

• Identity
• continuity
• directional quality Brussels, Belgium. Dagenham, London,
England
2. Edges
Edges are the linear elements not used
or considered as paths by the
observer. They are the boundaries
between two phases, linear breaks in
continuity.

Strong edge should be visually

prominent, continuous in form and
impenetrable to cross movement, as
unpleasant edges seem to be
mentally omitted

Lucca, Italy Antofagasta, Chile

3. Districts
Districts are character areas perceived
to have common characteristics, a
separate visual identity from the rest
of environment.

Districts are character areas perceived

to have common characteristics, a
separate visual identity from the rest
of environment.

Thessaloniki, Madrid, Spain

Greece.
4. Nodes
Nodes are the strategic foci into
which the observer
can enter, typically either junctions
of paths, or concentrations of
some characteristic

Nodes can be recognized even

when they are shapeless, but
when supported by a strong
physical form, then they become
memorable

Good recognizable node should

has its identity through singularity
and continuity of walls, floor,
La Plata, Argentina Barcelona, Spain
planting, lighting, topography,
silhouette, function, clarity of
shape and intensity of use.
4. Landmarks (Points
Of Interest POI)
• In contrast to nodes, which can
be entered, landmarks are
external features to the
individual that act as reference
points (Lynch, 1960).
• Landmarks vary with an
individual's personal
experience.
• They are usually static

Characteristics of good landmarks

may be visual, semantic or
structural attractions
 Lynchian Elements

Imageability/
Mental Map

ADITH SONEY | 01| S8 B.ARCH