Gordon Cullen studied architecture at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, but never qualified as an architect. He started his career working as a draughtsman in various architectural practices before spending a couple of years in Barbados. He then returned to Britain and joined the Architectural Review as Assistant Editor in 1946. He later became a writer on planning policy and contributed numerous editorials and case studies in urban and rural planning.

His major contribution to the field of urban design is his 1961 Townscape. Like most of Cullen’s work, this book deals with the “art of relationship” between the various components of the urban landscape. The purpose of this art is “to take all the elements that go to create the built environment: buildings, trees, nature, water, traffic, advertisements, and so on, and to weave them in such a way that drama is released”. (Cullen, 1961, p.9)

Cullen’s approach to urban design is therefore primarily visual, but it is also based on the physical relationship between movement and the environment: “the scenery of towns is often revealed in a series of jerks or revelations.” (Cullen, 1961, p.9)

It is for this reason that Cullen developed the concept of serial vision. This method of representation can be used as a tool for surveying, analyzing and designing. A serial vision is a series of sketches that represent the changes and constrasts in the character of the built environment that one experiences when moving around the city. The sketches should be shown along with a map identifying the ‘journey’ and the viewpoints from which the sketches are drawn.

In Cullen’s own words, “the even progress of travel is illuminated by a series of sudden contrasts and so an impact is made on the eye, bringing the plan to life”. (Cullen, 1961, p.17). As you will see in Unit 1.3., this is close to Fleming's idea of the town as narrative.

The concept of serial vision and, generally speaking, Cullen’s approach, can be applied to design as much as it can serve survey and analysis : “if […] we design our towns from the point of view of the moving person (pedestrian or car-borne) it is easy to see how the whole city becomes a plastic experience, a journey through pressures and vacuums, a sequence of exposures and enclosures, of constraint and relief.” (Cullen, 1961, p.10)

But design does not solely rely on visual methods. Cullen’s book is a fine example of the importance of using specific vocabulary when describing the built environment:
 

Gordon Cullen’s work reflects the Townscape and Picturesque Movement of the mid-twentieth century. In England, this type of design was also advocated by urban planner Thomas Sharp whose work focused on village design. Nikolaus Pevnser, a German-born scholar who specialized in the history or art and architecture, said that “Nearly everything that encloses space on a scale sufficient for a human being to move in is a building; the term architecture applies only to buildings designed with a view to aesthetic appeal ».
 

• Was Cullen an architect?
• Which school did he attend at the Royal Polytechnic Institution, and what was his final orientation?
• What were his major ideas?
  If you find it difficult to answer those questions, click on the red arrow for help.

• When was « Townscape » published ? Can you think of the reasons why Cullen published a book in favour of picturesque urban design at that particular time ?
• Select four items from the examples given of Cullen's terminology in the table above and give your definition of them, of course in an architectural context.
• Do you agree with Pevnser's view that architecture only designates aesthetically-oriented construction? Click here for language help.
• Produce your own « serial vision », using the method developed by Gordon Cullen. Your production should include a map, and a series of sketches or photos. This visual information should be supported by text: each sketch/photo should include a short caption that describes the urban environment as precisely as possible.