With greater emphasis now being placed on rebuilding and retrofitting of highways, rather than new construction, design of highways needs to be compatible with the surroundings more than ever. Most highway designers and builders have been educated and trained as engineers; hence they tend to get bogged down in the components of design and operation. Highways: An Architectural Approach employs a broader outlook to explain the complete highway project, addressing concerns such as aesthetic values, economies of scale, purpose of the facility, and adaptation of original planning concepts. With this emphasis on the complete picture, it can help professionals in the highway community to adapt to future advances in the field.
Explores the possibility that highway design might be informed by humanistic, and even aesthetic, values. Emphasizing the contribution of architects, outlines the knowledge they must acquire about the principles of highways and highway construction, and surveys some of the expanded roles they might play, such as treating items outside the roadway prism, coordinating neighboring land use, and considering compatibility between highways and plant and animal life. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)