A New Vernacular

Everyday urbanism must include the practice of incorporating a vernacular that effectively and respectfully embodies its origin. Cities of concrete and glass (the modern city) often diluted and devalued identity in favor of the modern ideals of the city. While some cities require this method because of new construction requirements (mainly postwar), others have maladapted modernism in favor of character.

But architects like N. John Habraken are trying to understand a different approach, using methods that encapsulate the character of a city in a way that aims to improve, not simply to replicate. In some cities like Amsterdam, Habraken notes projects that attempt to incorporate stylistic signifiers that attempt to liberate the city from often-criticized, sterile modernism of glass and steel.

Identifying signifiers of tradition in architecture is one of the many ways that Habraken claims can strengthen the richness of a city, like the traditional green color of many Scandinavian houses. 

Contrary to how much of the modern world designs its cities nowadays, Habraken's "Structure of the Ordinary" focuses not on the iconographic nature of architecture, but on how everyday spaces create living environments that people can inhabit and enrich with their personal lives. Architects today must learn about different strategies that allow for unprogrammed spaces that can strengthen a city's identity.