Cities set the tone for a society. When they’re beautiful, they inspire confidence and goodness in those who live in and around them. We make them beautiful when we combine three elements: beautiful buildings, pleasant spaces, and public squares.
Design beautiful buildings
Beauty is a visual signal that tells our instinctual hunter-gatherer selves, “Life is abundant here. Things are comfortable and safe.” When it comes to buildings, the way to make them beautiful is to echo the structures of the natural world:
- Symmetry. Like the symmetrical bodies of humans and animals, symmetry tells us, “This thing is like us. We can interact with it.”
- Ornament. Like the fractal branches and leaves on a tree, ornament makes things interesting to us. It tells us, “This is a living thing that grows.”
- Curves. Like a bend in a river, or a female human body, curves signal fertility and comfort. They tell us, “This is a safe place. There’s food here.”
Create pleasant spaces
To create pleasant outdoor spaces, we can follow the same general principle used to make buildings beautiful: echo natural structures that humans instinctively like.
We humans love forests, so a city should include wooded parks and tree-lined streets. Parks lift our spirits by connecting us with nature, and street trees not only look nice, they make pedestrians feel safe and comfortable, as they protect sidewalks from traffic and shade them in summer.
We humans also love water, so there should be fountains through which it gently flows. Ponds and canals, with fresh flowing water, give us a sense of comfort and calm.
Include public squares
A beautiful city is designed to comfort and delight the people who live there. We humans are social creatures, so do that, it must have a central place for us to meet. That is, a public square.
Around the square, buildings should come right up to the square, and have retail shops at ground level. This makes people feel sheltered, and also makes it easy to buy and serve food.
Public buildings should have plazas in front of them where people can gather. If they’re big enough, they should be built as hollow squares, with wooded courtyards within.
