Milan, 1786-1877 City growth over a century, from feudal fortress style to peaceful expansion beyond the walls

Palmanova Classic feudal style embattlements define the edge of the city- okay, not strictly a figure ground diagram but cool nonetheless. Note the open squares ringed by residential(?) buildings, and centraly focused hierarchy of streets- a common tenant of New Urbanism.

Capitals Athens, Cairo, Amsterdam, and Washington D.C. Note the heavy reliance upon axial alignment compliments of L'Enfant and Osiris (There's something going on here about the spirituality of symmetry and the Deism of our Founding Fathers but I just havn't put my finger on it yet, something about a great watchmaker? As if L'Enfant, through the laylines of his design, set into motion the circulation of our Capital and its future inhabitants while he quietly dissapeared into historical texts.) In Athens a clean division between the ancient organic city and the modern angular city is clearly evident (Acropolis on southern boundary of image). In Amsterdam, structure and circulation is defined by the canals and rivers.

American Metropoli Boston and Seattle. At geographic and possible temporal extremes of our nation's city building efforts. Early East Coast settlement pattern mimics those of the Old World- centralized around a common geologic amenity (hilltop or sea port) and radiating out with time. The Jeffersonian grid dominates by the time the West Coast is accessed- confronting the unforgiving shoreline in an uninspired way.