Edmund Bacon

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Edmund Norwood Bacon (born May 2, 1910 in Philadelphia , † October 14, 2005 ) was an American architect , city ​​planner and author . He is the father of actor Kevin Bacon .

Bacon studied at Cornell University in Ithaca and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills . He was a member of numerous committees for urban development and environmental issues, including a. 1970 an advisory commission set up by the President of the United States .

Life's work

Edmund Bacon was instrumental in the planning of the new downtown Philadelphia , the principles of which received strong attention. Its main goal was to restore the quality of life through renovation and organic integration of the historical building fabric into an urban cityscape as well as consistent traffic calming. Residential areas, parks, sports and meeting places as well as shopping centers with extensive pedestrian zones were clearly separated from the major traffic arteries. Bacon also dealt with the development of house types and with general theories of modern urban planning, including landscape aspects. He has made several films about architecture and participated in the documentary My Architect by Nathaniel Kahn .

After having been an Associate Member ( ANA ) of the National Academy of Design for eleven years, Bacon was elected full member ( NA ) of the Academy in 1994.

His friends included u. a. Richard Buckminster Fuller and Louis Kahn .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "B" / Bacon, Edmund NA 1994 ( Memento of August 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 17, 2015)

Works (selection)

  • Design of cities . Thames & Hudson, London 1982, ISBN 0-500-27133-X (reprint of New York 1974 edition)
  • Urban planning. From Athens to Brasilia ("Design of cities"). Artemis-Verlag, Zurich 1968.

literature

  • Anonymous: Urban planning and the work of Edmund Bacon. A selected bibliography (Architecture series; 1256). Vance Books, Monticello, Ill. 1984, ISBN 0-89028-126-2 .
  • Jonathan A. Saidel et al. a .: Philadelphia. A new urban direction . Saint Josephs University Press, Philadelphia, Pa. 1999, ISBN 0-916101-28-2 .
personal data
SURNAME Bacon, Edmund
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bacon, Edmund Norwood (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect, urban planner and author
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 2005