Name Herbert Jacobs | Role Journalist | |
Died May 20, 1987, Berkeley, California, United States Books Building with Frank Lloyd Wright: An Illustrated Memoir, A Practical Guide for the Beginning Farmer | ||
2018 KNU Architecture Computing / Herbert Jacobs House / Frank Lloyd Wright
Herbert A. Jacobs (April 8, 1903 – May 20, 1987) was a journalist for the Milwaukee Journal and later a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
Contents
- 2018 KNU Architecture Computing Herbert Jacobs House Frank Lloyd Wright
- Houses
- Jacobs method for crowd size estimation
- Death
- References
Houses
Jacobs was a friend of Frank Lloyd Wright. Jacobs and his wife Katherine commissioned Wright to design a house for them. This house, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, was notable as the first example of Usonian architecture.
Later, they commissioned Wright to design another house for them, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs Second House.
Jacobs method for crowd size estimation
Jacobs worked for the Milwaukee Journal from 1931 until 1962. After retirement, he taught journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
Jacobs was present in Berkeley during the Berkeley riots. It was at this time that he devised a method for measuring crowd size, the "Jacobs Method":
[Jacobs's] office was in a tower that overlooked the plaza where students frequently gathered to protest the Vietnam War. The plaza was marked with regular grid lines, which allowed Jacobs to see how many grid squares were filled with students and how many students on average packed into each grid. After gathering data on numerous demonstrations, Jacobs came up with some rules of thumb that still are used today by those serious about crowd estimation. A loose crowd, one where each person is an arm's length from the body of his or her nearest neighbors, needs 10 square feet per person. A more tightly packed crowd fills 4.5 square feet per person. A truly scary mob of mosh-pit density would get about 2.5 square feet per person.
Death
Herbet Jacobs died of cancer on May 20, 1987.