A study conducted by Kevin Lynch and Gygory Kepes in Boston, MA from 1954-1959 was the foundation for Lynch’s theories on city planning. The MIT Libraries have digitized many of the study’s 2,000 photos and 1,200 pages of text, making the materials available online.

The Perceptual Form of the City study addressed the legibility and imageability of the American city in terms of the individual’s perception of the urban landscape. The study focused on the cities of Boston, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, California, and Jersey City, New Jersey.

Records include field notes, interview transcripts, collected data, correspondence regarding the progress of the project, and hand drawn maps. See: //libraries.mit.edu/lynch for additional information and to view a slideshow of photos from the collection.