Kevin Lynch papers

Digitized materials in this online collection form part of the Kevin Lynch papers (MC-0208) in the MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections. For more information about the materials, please consult the collection finding aid.

Collection scope and contents:
Kevin Andrew Lynch was born in Illinois in 1918. He began his study of architecture at Yale University in 1935; then Taliesin (under Frank Lloyd Wright), 1937-1939 and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1939-1940. He earned a B.C.P. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1947. He was appointed instructor in city planning at MIT in 1948, assistant professor in 1949, associate professor in 1955, and professor in 1963. Lynch retired from MIT in 1978 to found, with Stephen Carr, the design firm Carr, Lynch and Associates.
Lynch consulted for many cities in the United States and abroad on projects including Boston's Government Center and Waterfront Park, Detroit's Riverfront, major art institutions in Dallas, and urban design plans in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. Lynch's publications include THE IMAGE OF THE CITY (1960), which summarizes a five-year study he directed with Gyorgy Kepes on how people perceive their cities; WHAT TIME IS THIS PLACE? (1972), which examines how time may be passed in cities, as well as urban conservation; and GROWING UP IN CITIES (1977), which he edited and which explores how environments affect children.
Lynch influenced the field of city planning through his work on the theory of city form, and on the perception of the city environment and its consequences for city design. Kevin Lynch died in April 1984.

Dates:
1934 - 1988

Please note:
Materials in this collection may be under copyright. Please consult the collection finding aid or catalog record and the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for more information.

Citation:
Please cite the source item title (dc.title), collection title and identifier, and repository.

Example: Model Test, three 16mm film reels, 1958. Kevin Lynch papers (MC-0208). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections.

Repository details:
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections

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