Research Portal

July 1, 2022

Introducing Supergrids, Superblocks, Areas, Networks, and Levels to Urban Morphological Analyses

Moudon, Anne Vernez. (2019). Introducing Supergrids, Superblocks, Areas, Networks, and Levels to Urban Morphological Analyses. Iconarp International Journal Of Architecture And Planning, 7, 1 – 14.

View Publication

Abstract

Urban morphological analyses have identified the parcel (plot), the building type, or the plan unit (tessuto in Italian) as the basic elements of urban form. As cities have grown in geographic size disproportionately to their growth in population over the past seven decades, new elements have been introduced that structure their form. This essay describes these new elements and proposes that they be formally recognized in urban morphology. It introduces a conceptual framework for a multilevel structure of urban space using areas and networks and including supergrids and superblocks to guide morphological analyses.

Keywords

Morphological Elements; A Posteriori Approach; A Priori Approach