An important urban design concept that falls into both the Cityscape and Streetscape scales is the view corridor. What this generally refers to is a relatively distant view of some important building or other amenity “framed” by a gap in the surrounding buildings. Often these views are in a relatively dense urban area and are designed to give a distant view from a public place. Examples might include a view of a nearby mountain from a civic square through an open “corridor” between otherwise closely spaced surrounding buildings, or a view of a church at the end of a street, as shown on the title image from the previous page, or simply a view of water at the end of a street–as seen all over the city of San Francisco. Existing view corridors can be protected, or new ones created by sensitive and respectful new development. The purpose is to provide a strong contrast between the nearby or up-close views, and the more distant vistas, providing interest, visual drama and excitement to the setting. Both narrow and wide view corridors are employed, and they can also be created by trees, as shown in the adjacent photo where carefully removed tall trees form a magnificent view corridor to Yosemite Falls from the visitor area. Just how valuable view corridors are can be evaluated by imagining them not there, replaced instead by a blockage of the beautiful view at the other end.
