(b Chicago, IL, 7 Jan 1918; d Gayhead, Martha's Vineyard, MA, 25 April 1984). American urban planner, teacher and theorist. His early training included an apprenticeship (1937-9) with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, Spring Green, WI. Lynch received a bachelor's degree in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, in 1947 and then began a long teaching career there. A major influence on his work was provided by Gyorgy Kepes (b 1906), his teacher and then colleague at MIT. Lynch is best known for his theoretical studies, put forth primarily in a series of books. The Image of the City (1960), his most influential work, has 'imageability' as its central idea, and Lynch argued for clarity, cohesiveness, legibility and identifiable structuring in urban planning in order to create this quality. Site Planning (1962) is more technical than theoretical and subsequently became a standard introductory textbook on urban planning. The View from the Road (1964) is concerned with the problems generated by the introduction of motor vehicles into the city, and it presents ways in which highways might be more thoughtfully planned. What Time Is This Place (1972) is the culmination of Lynch's theories, arguing that 'a desirable [urban] image is one that celebrates and enlarges the present while making connections with the past and future' (p. 1). Lynch was also engaged in private practice as a consultant with Carr Lynch Associates. He assisted in the development of plans for Boston's Government Center (late 1950s-c. 1960), in the redevelopment of Boston's city waterfront area (1960s), and in the creation of Columbia (1969), a new town in Maryland. He retired from MIT in 1978. Through his teaching and writing, Lynch had a significant influence on a generation of urban planners and architects.
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