Giancarlo de Carlo
The idea that architects and urban planners should learn from the real everyday needs and activities of ordinary people isn't new, but was pioneered for several decades by the Italian architect Giancarlo de Carlo. De Carlo, a member of the anti-fascist resistance in Italy was a member of Team X and the editor of the seminal architectural journal Space and Society. He died in June this year, a few months after the publication of John McKean's detailed book about his work: Layered Places.
You can read an interview with Giancarlo on the Archis website:
www.archis.org/plain/object.php?object=773&field=&theme=45
There is a short review of Layered Places in the Architectural Review:
www.arplus.com/book/reviews/nov04decarlo.htm