LiMa – the grid system – Herman Hertzberger

In the rapidly growing American cities, the grid principle can be found in its most elementary form and with its characteristic results. It is hard to imagine a better way to incorporate the overwhelming collection of architectural forms – from low-rise to skyscraper – that can hardly be contained in this city of unstoppable free enterprise. Manhattan is without doubt the most exciting example of this. That the grid system inevitably leads to a monotonous cityscape and has repressive consequences is a pure misunderstanding.

Just as the beat in music organizes the piece into segments and gives it its clarity, the metric element in architecture makes distances and size comprehensible.

quoted and taken from: Herman Hertzberger; Vom Bauen. Lectures on Architecture, Aries Verlag 1995, p. 120/121/196