Build beautiful,

build liveable

By promoting beauty in our built environment, we increase well-being and happiness

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About The Aesthetic City

Promoting the importance of beauty in the built environment through content

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Four Principles of The Aesthetic City

Our philosophy
Well-being comes first

Architecture and urban design should be about the well-being of the final user. This means that there is no place for ego, greed or utopian visions detached from reality in the design process & resulting environments. This also means we need to create urban environments that are safe for walking and cycling, for playing children, with plenty of green spaces and attractive public amenities.

Take Beauty seriously

Not only is beauty broadly predictable and measurable, it is achievable by using tried and true design principles. It does not have to be expensive either. Beauty adds incredible value to peoples lives and is one of the key ingredients for a happy life. The Aesthetic City strives to restore the importance of beauty in planning processes and architectural education.

Strive for time-proven designs & longevity

Design buildings and built environments using principles that have withstood the test of time instead of following currently fashionable trends. This prevents future need of major renovations or demolition, which saves money, precious resources and prevents pollution and the emission of greenhouse gasses. Build with strong materials that withstand for centuries.

Respect the context

Don’t build buildings that contrast sharply with their neighbours. Respect local inhabitants, traditions and history & adapt to local circumstances. Use local craftsmen and techniques. Make sure your design is warmly welcomed, even applauded by locals. Use local materials to lower the environmental impact of your project.

Support a more beautiful future

Every day, more human-unfriendly, unsustainable and ugly environments are built. There are almost no organisations who share the philosophy of The Aesthetic City, so it is an uphill battle.

But there is hope. With enough support, this channel can continue to convince the biggest allies to beautiful environments: the people.

Our aims are high: to have millions of people watching our videos and seeing that there are alternatives.

Become a patron, and support the mission of making our cities more beautiful!

Need help to make your city more attractive, liveable and healthy?

With Aesthetic City Consultancy, we provide advice and services to help municipalities, developers and politicians to get their cities in order.

Learn more about our services

The Aesthetic City Blog

Blog

A Prehistory of The Aesthetic City

Welcome! The aim of this series of blog posts - the ‘Foundation series’ - is…
Blog

A New Beginning & a Call for Beauty

Welcome, world. I am so very excited to start on this journey - and man,…
Blog

The Town That Did The Impossible: Le Plessis Robinson

https://youtu.be/XfonhlM6I7w Le Plessis-Robinson: a town that went from a problematic, decaying banlieue to a beautiful,…
Traditional Architecture and Urbanism Summer School
Blog
Let’s Build a Beautiful City 2023 – Apply before May 1st!
Blog
Summer school ‘Let’s Build a Beautiful City’

Other initiatives

Other great sources about beauty, New Urbanism, the traditional and classical architectural practice and more.