DISTRICTS

DISTRICTS

TABLE OF CONTENTSFrench Quarter New Orleans, LouisianaOld Town Prague, Czech RepublicOld Town Bern Bern, SwitzerlandSultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey

SoHo New York City, New YorkTrastevere Rome, ItalyWicker Park Chicago, Illinois

Brick Lane London, EnglandChinatown Manhattan, New York

Diagonal Mar Barcelona, Spain

Crystal City Arlington, VirginiaEastern Harbor District Amsterdam, NetherlandsGiudecca Venice, Italy

New Center Detroit, MichiganTysons Corner Mclean, Virginia

Vauban Freiburg, Germany

Broadway New York City, New YorkLas Vagas Strip Las Vagas, Nevada

Les Champs-Élysées Paris, FranceOmotesando Avenue Tokyo, Japan

Detroit Automobile Sector Detroit, Michigan

Silicon Valley Stanford, CaliforniaInovallée Grenoble, France

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail / Consumption

Manufacturing / Heavy Industry

New Economy

3

21

35

45

51

65

75

81

91

101

107

BUILDING CITIES: CITY DISTRICTS

The premise of our approach is that cities are, by and large, comprised of distinctive districts. City-building processes involve complex dynamics of economic, political, social and cultural change, mediated by key actors and gatekeepers (including architects, urban designers, planners, city officials and elected representatives). Through these dynamics, cities, and city districts, are constantly in a state of ‘becoming’, as people, businesses and institutions sort themselves into place. The iterative interdependence of agglomeration, segregation, and clustering processes produces a variety of distintive districts that together comprise the city; and each district thus has a distinctive biography as it is created, modified, and re-created: a palimpsest of economic, political, social and cultural imprints upon the urban fabric.

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

handed on by the past to each other, and therefore, to the whole of humankind. As a constituent part of the affirmation and enrichment of cultural identities, as a legacy belonging to all humankind, the cultural heritage gives each particular place its recognizable features and is the storehouse of human experience.” - 1989 UNESCO Draft Medium-term Plan

“Cultural Heritage – the entire corpus of material signs, either artistic or symbolic,

FRENCH QUARTERNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

The French Quarter is the oldest and most famous district in New Orleans and one of the best-preserved historical neighborhoods in the United States of America. Also known as Vieux Carré (or “Old Square”), the French Quarter became the city center of New Orleans. The French Quarter is bounded by Rampart Street, Esplanade Avenue, Canal Street, and the Mississippi River. Although there are well-known areas of the French Quarter, there are actually several distinct neighborhoods. The most notorious area would be the entertainment section with its famous restaurants, bars, and hotels. Music emanates from the Bourbon Street Clubs, jazz institutions, or just about any street corner on any given day. A stroll down Decatur Street culminates at the bustling Old French Market and throughout the city, ornate iron balconies and galleries begin to introduce you to the wonder and excitement the French Quarter has waiting on every corner.1

La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean Baptiste La Moyne and Sieur de Bienville, members of the French

Mississippi Company. Bienville wanted the colony along the Mississippi River, which served as a major highway of trade to the “New World”. The Native American Choctaw Nation showed Bienville a way to avoid the treacherous waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River by entering Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico and traveling on Bayou St. John to the site where the city now stands.2 The city was built on reclaimed swamp land and centered around the Place d’ Armes which is now Jackson Square.

Due to its unique and desirable location at the Mississippi River Delta, New Orleans was established as the capital of Louisiana and a fortress to control the wealth of the North American interior for the French. The possession of Louisiana has been quite a rollercoaster, changing from French control to the Spanish empire via the Treaty of Paris in 1763, then back to the French in 1801, and eventually sold to the United States by Napoleon in 1803. Although the Spanish empire controlled Louisiana for a relatively short period of time, it is interesting to note

Historical Preservation

4

THE VIEUX CARRÉ

5

The view down Bourbon Street.A

Zachary Lee

that all of the architecture that survived New Orleans’ two great fires during the late 1700s is from the Spanish period.

The Great New Orleans Fire of 1788 started on March 21, 1788 at the home of Army Treasurer Don Vincente Jose Nunez, 619 Chartres Street at Toulouse Street, less than a block from Jackson Square. Within just five hours, the fire, fed by a strong wind from the southeast, consumed almost the entire city. The fire destroyed the original Cabildo, the house of government for the Spanish colony, and virtually all major buildings in the French Quarter including the city’s main church, municipal building, army barracks, armory, and jail. At that time, only two fire engines were operational and they were both destroyed by the fire. The fire stretched from Conti Street in the south to St. Philip Street in the north and between Dauphine Street and the Mississippi River.3

Some Mississippi River front buildings were spared, including the Customs House, the tobacco warehouses, the Governor’s Building, the Royal Hospital and the Ursuline Convent. In the first of the two great fires, over 850 buildings burned down, virtually destroying the entire French Quarter. The Great New Orleans Fire of 1794 destroyed over 200 buildings.

These disasters gave the Spanish governor the opportunity to rebuild the city according to more modern tastes. The city was rebuilt with new, strict fire codes that mandated that all structures be physically adjacent and close to the curb to create a firewall. The old French peaked roofs were replaced with flat tiled ones, and their wooden siding was replaced with fire-resistant stucco, painted in the contemporary fashion of pastel hues. Spanish style central courtyards were also integrated in the designs. As a result, colorful walls and roofs and elaborately decorated ironwork balconies and galleries from both the 18th century and 19th centuries emerged.

Among the newly constructed buildings were the signature New Orleans buildings of the St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Presbytere. One of the few buildings to actually survive the devastating fires of 1788 and 1794 is the Merieult House at 533 Royal Street, which was built in 1792 by

Jean Francois Merieult. It now houses the Kemper and Leila Williams Historic New Orleans Collection.

One prominent and memorable feature of the French Quarter is the wrought iron balconies and galleries that line the narrow streets New Orleans’s historic Vieux Carré. In New Orleans, there is a strong distinction between balconies, which are self-supporting and attached to the side of a building, and galleries, which are supported from the ground using posts or columns. Often described as “lacy”, the French Quarter balcony serves as an expression of the building’s inhabitants. Some balconies may resemble tropical gardens covered in “ivy, bromeliads, begonias, and ferns.”

Others may serve more of an exhibition space, displaying personal treasures such as art, antiques, and even suits of armor. The unique characteristics of wrought iron, especially for its strength, resistance to rust, and malleability, did make it the ideal material for balconies and other ornamental ironwork at the time. However, once mild steel was introduced with its ability to be mass produced, wrought iron, and the craft skills associated with it, gradually disappeared.

Most of the ironwork in the French Quarter is actually cast iron and dates back to the 1850s when this type of adornment became wildly popular. “The Baroness Micaela Almonaster de Pontalba added cast iron

Historical Preservation

6

Garden Galleries with beautiful ironwork at the intersection of Royal & Dumaine.B

balconies to the fashionable row houses she built around Jackson Square after the Battle of New Orleans in 1814, starting a trend that spread throughout the French Quarter with balconies added to many existing buildings.”3 Today, the majority of balcony railings in the French Quarter are actually made of cast iron instead of wrought iron.

Jackson Square, the historic park in the center of the French quarter, has always been the center of community life in New Orleans. Its central location, proximity to the Mississippi River, as well as surrounding church and government buildings contribute to New Orleans successful commercial and community life. Surrounding the square are many historic buildings including the St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Presbytére. St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest, continuously active cathedral in the United States and formed the center of the original settlement. The cathedral has been rebuilt twice, since being built in 1724, due to the great fires and a hurricane. It was designed by French architect J.N.B. Pouilly and is also known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. The Cabildo has also been rebuilt due to the great fires and is now a Louisiana State Museum. The Cabildo is the site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Presbytére was originally known as the Casa Curial, or Ecclesiastical House, since it was built on the site of the residence of Capuchin monks. The square is usually full of musicians, fortune tellers, artists, jugglers and other tourist amusements. Cars have not been allowed on the square since 1971 when parking on all sides was removed.

The historic French Market on Decatur Street is the oldest farmers market in the United States, dating back to 1791. The 24-hour French Market includes both a farmers market and a flea market where you can find everything from dinner ingredients to T-shirts and other interesting souvenirs and snacks. A golden bronze statue of Joan of Arc is placed near the entrance to the market and is an exact copy of the 1880 Emmanuel Fremiet equestrian statue of Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc, called the “Maid of Orleans”, was a French peasant girl who saw heavenly beings, heard their voices, and led an army to break the siege of Orleans. She changed the tide of the 100 Years War and became

a national heroine of France. This Joan of Arc statue was presented to the City of New Orleans as a gift from the French people by President Charles de Gaulle in 1959.

The New Orleans motto “Laissez les bon temps rouler” meaning “Let the good times roll” is exemplified by the nearly 24-hour party atmosphere on the best known party street in New Orleans. Bourbon Street is lined with bars, jazz clubs, hotels, restaurants,

“gentlemen’s clubs”, and boutiques. The street is closed in the evenings to vehicular traffic to become a pedestrian mall and an extension of the parties taking place in the bars and music halls. There is an unwritten rule on Bourbon Street to drink and be merry. Drinking on Bourbon Street is legal and often times encouraged as a way of emptying out the overcrowded bars, as long as you use a plastic cup and maintain orderly behavior.

Today the French Quarter occupies the same six by thirteen blocked area laid out in 1722 and is the only French colonial and Spanish settlement remaining in the United States. Its boundaries are defined by the City Planning Commission as: Esplanade Ave to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, Canal, Decatur, and Iberville Streets to the south, and Basin, St. Louis,

and North Rampart Streets to the west. It is a neighborhood with private homes and other residences and the grocery stores, restaurants, banks, police station and other services that support communities. Many of the over 35,000 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places are found in the French Quarter, which are protected by law and result in the entire district being classified as a National Historic Landmark.

Zachary Lee

7

Map of the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788.C

OLD TOWNPRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Old Town Prague, which was inscribed on UNESCO’s official list of monuments at the sixteenth ordinary session of its World Heritage Committee, is well known for its historic preservation and classical architecture.1 With this reputation as the driving force, it has become a very popular tourist destination ever since the fall of communist rule in 1989. While the money the tourism industry has brought into the city is undeniable, it has produced mixed results for the overall welfare of the city.

Even though it was originally settled around 500CE by a Slavic tribe of Czechs, what we now think of as historical Prague did not begin developing until the ninth century.2 Located at a large marketplace on the right bank of the Vltava, the beginnings of today’s Old Town Square was developed where two long-distance trade routes intersect. It is also near a ford across the river. This marketplace would become the city center of early Prague, as a dense fabric of marketplaces, settlements, noblemen’s estates, and parish churches were developed in the area surrounding

the square. As development continued, the “characteristic tower-shaped Romanesque houses with vaulted ground-floor spaces” began to be built in the twelfth century.2 Commissioned by the Premyslid King Vaclav I in the 1230s, the event marking the official creation of Prague’s Old Town was the construction of walls with towers and gates around the compact Old Town Square area. These city walls, which would eventually be torn down with the creation of New Town in 1348 by Charles IV, are marked today by the streets Narodni, 28. Rijna, Na prikope, and Revolucni. From 1338, the Velflin House in the Old Town Square provided a residence for the primarily German patrician administration of the Old Town. The houses surrounding the Velflin were slowly purchased to provide extra housing as needed. The Old Town area was also the site for the first Central European university, established by Charles IV.2

In the early 1900s a competition was held to design the reconstruction of the Gothic Old Town City Hall. However, the Prague municipality was not impressed enough by

Historic Preservation

8

PRESERVATION AMONGST TOURISM

9

View of Old Town Square in the center of Old Town Prague.A

Jay Nelson

any of the entries to pursue construction. Despite not being selected, the submission by Josef Gocar is particularly noteworthy for its attempt to push the architectural boundaries of the time. Consisting of an abruptly receding stepped pyramid, the work of Gocar made it more acceptable for other architects of the time to push their own designs farther.2

Due to the horrendous hygienic conditions within the area, the decision was made to modernize the Old Town district and Jewish district of Josefov. This provided Prague with its largest urban project of the late 19th and early 20th century. The project was marked by its creation of “picturesque irregular arrangements of winding streets” which came about due to the existing medieval street network.2 One negative result of this modernization project was that it allowed developers trying to build lucrative apartment blocks to damage several architecturally valuable buildings within the modernized area.

Another competition was announced in 1902 in order to resolve the aesthetic aspects of modernization that began in 1893. Winning architect Josef Sakar stayed true to the qualities of “distinctiveness and picturesqueness” originally conceived by Austrian urbanist Camillo Sitte and German art historian Cornelius Gurlitt. The redevelopment in the modernized area centered around Parizska Avenue, due to its capacity to be connected to the Letna through various design strategies. Since most of the redevelopment was done around this street, the buildings lining it represent a slew of different architectural styles being used by the architects of that time period, including neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-Baroque, and the slightly less publicly accepted new Viennese modern style.2

Several important measures were taken by the State Planning Commission that helped preserve the historical architecture of the Old Town that is seen today. The first of which took place in 1922, when the Commission rejected a recommendation to link the city around Wenceslas Square and either the Manes Bridge or Svatopluk Cech Bridge, which would have divided the Old Town through its center. The solution they

countered with, and eventually settled on, was to create a circular road around the Old Town Square, thereby protecting it from the impact of city transport while detouring the traffic onto the steep left bank of the river.2

Another large step was taken in 1928 when, despite external pressure to redevelop Old Town once again, the State Planning Commission published its detailed plan for the development of Greater Prague, in which it decided to keep the historical Old Town intact. With the rapidly growing northwest

sector on one side and the business and office district around Wenceslas Square on the other, the Old Town “became an untouchable buffer zone in front of the steep slope of Letna.”2 Young architects in particular were upset at this decision as they saw it as a major obstacle to the modern development of Prague and did not understand the reasons behind protecting the historical character of the city. One such architect, Jaromir Krejcar, referred to this decision as “the reign of terror…imposed by several sentimental art historians, not

Historic Preservation

10

View towards Old Town Hall and the market in Old Town Square.B

only over architects with modern views and sensibility…but also over the population of the city, by forcing their lives into a tangle of old, narrow streets.”2

One of the surprisingly positive factors in preserving the historic authenticity of the Old Town was actually the set of socialist policies put forth by the previous regime. “There are distinct contrasts between the outcomes of a socialist urban economy, with its homogeneity in terms of socio-spatial urban structures, and those of a capitalist urban economy, with its uneven redistribution of resources socially and spatially.”1 This so-called “socialist city” created an environment basically egalitarian in nature in which residential segregation was eradicated. While capitalist societies typically develop a land-use value system, there was essentially no spatial differentiation within the Old Town of Prague, due to the price and rent controls that were put into place. Consequently, “due to the irrelevancy of location within the cities…there were almost no incentives to invest in the city center, to build new headquarters, hotels, banks, department stores, etc. This contributed to a stability of the physical patterns of urban cores and to the preservation of many historical buildings. At the end of the 1980s, the center of Prague looked the same as it did half a century ago.”1

With up to 300,000 tourists now visiting Prague each day, the tourism industry played a large role in the economic recovery of the Czech Republic in the 1990s. Not all of its effects were welcome, however, as it is partially responsible for the former residential historic core to become

“unequally weighted towards the needs of commercial expansion.”1 The socio-spatial characteristics of Prague have been drastically changed by the tourism industry. Combined with the downfall of the old communist regime as well as the shift toward neo-liberal democratic values, Prague has developed a vastly different urban system since the early 1990s. For instance, even though the population of Prague has risen as a whole, the urban population of the historic core was actually projected at one point to fall by twenty-one percent.1

Aware of the issue at hand, the Department for Strategic Planning in Prague stated that

“in the city, a new income elite has already been emerging with its specific needs, social attributes, and a characteristic lifestyle; at the same time, the number of inhabitants who can be considered as ‘socially weak’ has been increasing. These new facts have to be reflected in both the Strategic and Master Plan.”1 While not necessarily providing a solution, the recognition of the negative aspects of the tourism industry is a positive step in assuring that Old Town Prague does not lose the charm that established it as a tourist destination in the first place.

It remains to be seen how the tourism industry will affect the urban makeup of Old Town Prague over time, however, the city has shown a history of making solid decisions with respect to preserving its historical heritage. That, coupled with the fact that they have displayed a recognition of the problem at hand, does inspire confidence that policies will be implemented to ensure that Old Town Prague retains the characteristics ultimately responsible for its notoriety today.

Jay Nelson

11

Aerial view of the roads that used to form city walls.C

OLD TOWN BERNBERN, SWITZERLAND

The City of Bern is known worldwide as a rare example of early city master planning. The oldest historic district, which is called the Zähringerstadt after the city’s founder (Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen who founded the City in 1191), occupies the area between the eastern banks of the Aare River and the Zytglogge Tower (clock tower) which formed the western boundary of the City until 1256. Today, the City of Bern houses many important Swiss landmarks including the Munster of Bern (Switzerland’s tallest cathedral); many historic arcades and streets; and the seats of the cantonal, municipal, and federal government. Since 1983, the historic center of Bern has been featured in the list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Cultural World Heritage Sites because of its intact medieval core and the elegant incorporation of modern life into a medieval city.1

Unlike most cities, the historic center of the City still shows its connection to the almost one thousand year old ideas of its founders, while at the same time the City

has changed into a modern world capital. The appearance, structure, and uses of the buildings have changed over time to meet the evolving world. Even so, the historic district has not lost its valued culture and historic traditions. Although there are only a few remaining examples of the original structures, the planning, dimensions, and form of the original medieval city are still apparent today.

Bern was founded on a promontory 40 meters above the Aare River. This site had been previously used by the Celts, Helvetians, and Romans due to its strategic location. The river and land elevations served as natural fortification on three sides of the long peninsula. Also, a fortification on the site could easily secure the overland and river traffic in the surrounding region. For these strategic reasons the Nydegg castle and settlement were located at the tip of the peninsula in the Twelfth Century.2

According to legend, Duke Berchtold V founded the city on the peninsula and named it “Bern” after the bear that he

Historic Preservation

12

GRAND DESIGN

13

View of “Old Town Bern”.A

William Morrison

encountered in the area. The city began with the construction of the Nydegg Fortress and it expanded over time to the west as the City periodically grew. The City of Bern has the common features of all Zahringer developed sites, “broad street for market (no central square); advanced infrastructure with utility water source (Stadtbach), sewage (Ehgräben) and drinking water supply (Quellfassung); right-angle street grid; lots divided into tracts of equal dimensions (so-called homesteads measuring 100 x 60 feet); imperial citadel (Nydegg Fortress, now the site of the Nydegg Church) separated from the main city: and public buildings (Cathedral and Town Hall) set aside from the main city axis (which was reserved for commercial purposes).”3

Both the Zahringer master plan for the City, and the geography and topography of the long narrow peninsula determined the pattern of growth of the City. The natural hills and hollows of the site formed the boundaries of the City at each stage of its expansion to the west. When the City expanded farther west, the existing fortifications (moats, walls, and even towers) were often removed, leaving wide open squares that stretched the whole width of the expanding City. The first Zahringerstadt expansion was a market settlement of close to 50 homesteads each with the dimensions of 100 x 60 feet, as planned. The first western boundary was a fortified double wall enclosing the Rathaus (city hall) that ran parallel to Kreuz Street (a North-South cross street). The City was essentially made up of three generously spaced long streets running East-West which avoided the typical maze of small alleys found in most cities. The center street of the City was the main passage and the locus of commercial activity. This street named Gerechtigkeit (Justice) Street was made up of “homesteads”, mobile market stalls, guild halls, and inns. This main boulevard extended from the western fortifications to the Schwend Plaza and the Nydegg Bridge. By the Thirteenth Century, the City began to expand westward again and the settlements became more developed. The original street width of 60 feet was narrowed by the addition of new roofs, upper stories, and the beginning of permanent market stalls that were a precursor to today’s City arcades.4

The second expansion of the City of Bern, which was completed before 1218, was the addition of sixty-four new homesteads which expanded the City’s western boundaries to the Munz Gully and Bader Gully. The City expanded by lengthening the main boulevard (Kram Street) down the central axis of the City; Kram Street has which is known today by many as one of the most beautiful street in the world. Around this same time period, the mobile market stalls were replaced with

a market building. Two new streets called Brunngasse and Herrengasse were also added. Brunngasse Street is a semi-circular street on the north edge of the City, while Herrengasse Street is south side street connecting what would be later called the Munster Cathedral (at that time, it was a smaller church) to Kram Street. Also, a wooden bridge was built over the Aare River which allowed increased traffic and trade, which limited settlements on the east bank of the river. New western fortifications were

Historic Preservation

14

The three first expansions of the City of Bern that make up “Old Town Bern”.B

established which included the famous landmark and excellent example of the Old Town’s evolution, the Zytglogge Gate Tower. Originally, the tower was built as part of the Thirteenth Century fortifications of the City. At that time, the tower was only about 52 feet tall, but as the City expanded farther, the tower grew in height, but it was no longer used as part of the City’s fortifications. Over time, the tower’s battlements were replaced with a slanted roof, and the tower was converted to a jail in 1258.4

In 1353, the City of Bern joined the confederation of the Swiss cantons. The City was granted self-administration, its own court of justice, and it had control over its own market. This prominence spurred the City’s further expansion toward the west creating what is referred to as the “New Bern.” Catastrophe struck in 1405 when two-thirds of the entire City’s structures, which were mostly wooden construction, were destroyed by a massive fire. Most of the original wooden buildings were burned down including part of the Zytglogge Tower. After the fire, the jail was closed and the tower was rebuilt and converted into a clock tower, and the sloped roof was replaced with the now recognizable peaked roof. Since then, renovations and additions to the tower and clock’s works have gone on continuously, even as recently as the late Twentieth Century. A majority of the market streets in the City were severely damaged by the 1405 Fire. Under the guidance of one of the world’s first building codes, a majority of the reconstruction of the City was done in sandstone in similar medieval styles (not wood) throughout the next three centuries. The sandstone structures were rebuilt with the same or similar dimensions, forms, and functions as the wooden structures which formerly stood on the City’s original streets. Also, as a result of the fire, stone arcades were added throughout the Fifteenth Century as houses expanded their upper stories over the streets. Ironically, these medieval arcades, which are the most prominent aspect of the historic district of the City were built a result of the City’s greatest disaster, the 1405 Fire.

Changes in the Zytglogge Tower over time.C

The stone facades of the renovated buildings of the historic district are much of what gives the City of Bern its charm today. This is likely why the City remained mostly unchanged for centuries. Even so, there have been changes in the historic district in recent years. Throughout the Nineteenth Century, many of the old stone buildings were renovated with special attention to leaving the stone facades untouched. The Munster Bell Tower was recently completed in 1893 making it the tallest cathedral tower in Switzerland. The world famous arcades are now just like the original market place, the site of hundreds of stores, restaurants, and clubs.4

Today, the Zähringerstadt can still be seen just as it was originally planned. The historic district is still the location of the City of Bern’s main political, economic and religious buildings.The City still retains the medieval image and city structure from centuries past: “official buildings were situated around the Kreuzgasse (Cross Alley), ecclesiastical buildings were located at the Münstergasse (Cathedral Alley) and Herrengasse (Lords’ Alley), while guilds and merchants’ shops clustered around the central Kramgasse (Grocers Alley) and Gerechtigkeitsgasse (Justice Alley).”1 For this reason, the Old Town of Bern (Zähringerstadt) is one of the greatest examples of the preservation and adaptation of a historic district.

William Morrison

15

SULTANAHMETISTANBUL, TURKEY

The modern day Sultanahmet District of Istanbul is jumble of ancient monuments, tourists, and baklava shops that can trace its origins to a time before the Roman empire. A walk along the wide boulevards of the imperial park separating the Hagia Sophia and the Blue mosque shows a strange marriage of new and old. Street vendors hawk their wares in a very obtrusive manner with broken English or perfect English depending on what they want you to assume about them. The vista of the two grand monuments can’t be separated from this modern day capitalism trying at every turn to take advantage of the areas new identity as a tourist attraction more than anything else. The similarity to Venice is startling once a traveler realizes the only visible businesses feed off of tourism; restaurants, knick knacks, “authentic” ceramic bowls painted by corporate gypsy tribes, all geared toward taking advantage of the amazing range of history encapsulated in this one tiny piece of the world. Byzantium, Rome, and Ottoman Turkey have all left their mark on Sultanahmet, surviving complete destruction more than once as well as social

and political changes that force an entire country to reexamine their cultural identity.

In the beginning there was Byzantium. Legend has it that around 660 BCE. Byzas was instructed by an oracle to build his city opposite the blind. He interpreted this to mean that the citizens of Chalcedon, opposite Byzantium, had been blind to choose their site over his.1 Mythology aside, one of the major factors in the illustrious history of this piece of land was its location. The early city became fairly prosperous, but never held any of the power that would characterize the later majority of its urban life. The sacking of the city by Septimus Severus marks what some historians consider a change in the city that eventually would lead to Constantine’s decision to take it and make it his own. During Severus’ raid much of the city was destroyed and had to be rebuilt, though some of an earlier city wall survived and was found buried under the standing Saray, or Palace. Severus began construction on a much more Roman city, with a forum, public baths, and the partially still visible Hippodrome. The Hippodrome

Historic Preservation

16

HISTORY FOR SALE

17

A man tries to sweep away rain water in one of the park pathways in front of the Hagia Sophia A

Kristin Fields

itself doesn’t seem to have any visible walls anymore, the space is used as the very same public park where the street vendors yell at visitors in broken English trying to sell their pashminas and roasted chestnuts. There are some surviving monuments though, an obelisk and a bronze column from Delphi.2

Constantine found Byzantium in a similar way, he besieged the city in search of an enemy, and once it fell he began to rebuild it in the manner of a grand Roman city. He soon decided that this would be the new seat of the Roman Empire, closer to the Eastern trade that became so very important to the wealth of the Empire, a position from which he could protect their interests and subjects in the distant corner of the Roman conquered land.1 The move has also been seen as one of the major reasons Rome fell. When the capital moved, Constantine took the artisans and artwork most representative of Roman and Grecian spirit, effectively stripping the city of its cultural heritage and a significant part of the city’s Identity. Many of these pieces of art weren’t just private collections, they were public monuments erected throughout New Rome as an outward symbol to the people of Rome as a unified Empire.2 Constantine and his successors also built quite a few churches and basilicas for the new official religion of the Empire, including the Hagia Sophia which still stands. There are no traces in the Sultanahmet of the brief inclusion of the original Pagan religion of Rome from the establishment of Constantinople in 330 CE to its banishment in 416.

Centuries later, after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the formation of the Byzantine Empire with the Greek Orthodox Church at its head, the city was once again besieged: this time by the Fourth Crusade. Many corrupt decisions were made that eventually led to the 3- day sack of the city’s wealth, destroying much of the interior of the Hagia Sophia in particular, in modern day Istanbul’s Historic District. Many other historic monuments and pieces of art were completely destroyed. Byzantium itself became a greatly weakened state after this, leaving it open to the advances of the Turks in the following years. At this point in time it had already lost its former stature as the head of a powerful empire; it had been

assimilated with other ruling states over the years of constant invasion during the Middle Ages. The city still gave the impression of being a place of high culture and great learning, but their back bone just wasn’t there anymore, similar to the beginning of Constantinople when Constantine first weakened Rome by stripping it bare of its cultural identity.

Sultan Mehmet II captured Constantinople in 1453 and proceeded to allow his men the traditional three days of pillaging that would ultimately decimate a vast remainder of the ancient treasures that had barely survived the crusade a couple hundred years before.2 As the soldiers raided the Hagia Sophia in search of treasure, the Sultan entered this Christian place of worship and prayed to Allah, a sign of having conquered

the city for the sake of Islam. It is said in some books that when he returned to the city after the plundering, he wept at the sight of the destruction. Soon after this initial occupation, the Sultan began the process of rebuilding the city as a Muslim settlement. Many of the churches that did survive were rechristened as mosques, including the Hagia Sophia. All of the mosaic images on the walls and ceilings were covered and Islamic symbols were hung in their place. Some Greek Orthodox Christians remained and were given churches to continue worshiping. Over a period of time, though, tolerance actually worsened for the Christians left in the City.1

During the early years of the Ottoman occupation of Istanbul many new Islamic buildings were commissioned by the

Historic Preservation

18

Early Turkish Pictoral Map of Istanbul, includes the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia B

Sultans of the Empire who resided in the city, the Topkopi Saray being one of the first to be erected. The palace holds a large part of the Sultanahmet District and is now open to the public for tours, though it is extra to go through the harem quarters. The imperial architect, Sinan, worked on some additions to the palace towards the mid 1500’s, one of his many architectural credits during his lifetime. Sinan also built many of the most beautiful mosques in Istanbul. One of his apprentices designed the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, the Sultan for which the Sultanahmet district is actually named. 3 Also known as the Blue mosque for its blue interior tiles, the Sultanahmet was built directly opposite the Hagia Sophia, possibly to show that Islamic power and architecture was greater than that of the Christian power that created the Christian basilica.

The Grand Bazaar holds another of the major architectural positions in the urban fabric of the Historic District. The bazaar itself has changed little, having been enlarged by Sultan Suleyman followed by some updates in material and construction as the years passed. This tourist attraction comes directly from the east and has no connection with the former city of Constantinople. Many buildings were designed in the same way, with no regard to past placement other than to group the majority of important and influential structures in this one district.1

The Ottoman Empire engulfed nations and lost them from 1299 until 1922 when it became the Republic of Turkey. In 1299, the newly renamed Istanbul became a crowning jewel in their collection, one that they kept until present day border lines were finalized. The 1900’s saw a new kind of change coming to the city, a social and cultural shift rather than a raid or ransacking. The Turks were invested in trade with Europe, made easy by their hold on the European shore of Istanbul. This close relationship caused many of the Turkish nobles to begin importing European fashions in dress, decoration, architecture, and even city planning. The women of elite harems were responsible for the integration of some European fashion, mainly when they were being painted for a portrait. They were also responsible for some interior decorating changes, considering the interior of their harem quarters was where

Site of The Roman HippodromeB

they spent most of their time. The Sultan’s and officials of the time were concerned that European’s were criticizing them for not having done anything to improve the conditions of their city. At the time most construction was done in wood, which in turn caused many raging fires that regularly plagued the city. On advice from imported European architects, mostly French from L’Ecole d’Beaux Arts, they began rebuilding in masonry after these fires. They even took some of these opportunities to make changes in the roads, in width and direction as well as quality.4

The Sultanahmet quarter seen today is only a shell of what it used to mean to the world. This small area of city held palaces, roman forums, Basilicas, churches, mosques, and life giving cisterns. Empires laid siege to the world from this seat of power for thousands of years. Emperors and Sultans ruled their subjects from thrones in this historic place, subjects that at one point or another reached far into Europe and Asia. Today the palace is empty except for tourists and overpriced tour guides. The harem has

manikins to display what this secret world would have been like in the days of oriental mystery and intrigue. The mosques are still in use, but are swarmed by tourists seeking to soak up some form of culture by simply viewing alien traditions. The streets are lined with those same cheap vendors trying to lure in unsuspecting travelers with their authentic wares, a bowl here, a silk pashmina there; an entire belly dance costume can be found in the bazaar to give women the opportunity to purchase their exotic adventure, to give it a look and a feel. The monuments and buildings will stand for years to come, alluding to the grandeur they each once were a part of. In a modern world of Republics instead of Empires, the buildings of the Sultanahmet have become relics, referencing a vast history of human struggle.

Kristin Fields

19

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

macroscale, it is beneficial because it promotes diversity by increasing the participation rate of middle - class households. Older cities, having watched their population turn increasingly poor and minority - dominated, welcome this new development. On the microscale or neighborhood level, gentrification is detrimental because of the neighborhood resegregation effect. As a result, city officials often find themselves in the difficult position of privately welcoming gentrification while publicly lamenting its effects at the neighborhood level.”

- Michael H. Lang, Gentrification Amid Urban Decline

“From a city - wide perspective, gentrification is a two - edged sword. On the

SOHONEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

SoHo is a district known for its high fashion and high cost stores. It is a mixed-use district in which people can live, work, and have fun within a close area. Most cities don’t have an area in which this can be done because urban planners used to believe that uses should be separated in cities. SoHo mixes the uses of residential, office, and leisure in a way that creates activity over different times of the day. This creates a vibrant district that avoids the deadness of somewhere like the financial district.1

But SoHo was not always like this, its history goes back to 1644, when the Dutch West Indian Company created the first settlement for freed slaves. The area was farmed until about 1800 when the stream became slow and the ground became too marshy to farm.1 This stream, later a canal, and now is Canal Street, separated the area from the lower island and by the marshy Lespenard Meadows. The area beneath the canal is known as Tribeca, mean “triangle below Canal”.2 In 1822 Benjamin Lord built one of the first houses, which is still there, along Canal Street. The only path through the

marshland was Broadway, an old Indian trail, which was also the road to Boston. This area was drained and the middle class moved in because it was a clean and open place to live. It was quoted as being “the place to live, a gracious residential area of three to four story brick houses with trim columned doorways, leaded fanlights and peaked roofs with dormers”. This semi rural area was quickly overtaken by the city’s growth north and a grid was overlaid. This grid was commissioned in 1811 and proposed 12 avenues running north/south and 155 streets running east/west. Most of this land was unoccupied, had no buildings, people, or planned activities. SoHo’s grid is different than the rest of New York in that the short sides run east/west, where as above Houston Street they run north/south. Also the edges of the district are defined from the 1790 grid, which was created by irregular river edges. Therefore SoHo is the moment when the 1790 and 1811 grids clash, in which the streets “had come together, but had no joined”. The neighborhood is generally defined as a twenty-six square block area bordered by Broadway and West

Gentrification

22

CAST-IRON AND THE ARTIST COLONY

23

Looking down Mercer Street in SoHoA

Chris Warren

Broadway, and Canal Street to the south and Houston Street to the North.1

The houses were eventually converted into shops and offices or torn down for hotels and theaters. The area was known as the Eighth Ward. By the 1840s the area had become sought after by wealthy merchants who followed John Astor who was the wealthiest man in the country. A thirty-year explosion of buildings and high-class businesses moved in creating a vibrant mixed-use area. By the 1870s the area was nicknamed the French Quarter with its large storefronts on Broadway, with the warehouses behind the cast iron fronts as glass curtain walls. But cause of the music halls and pleasure palaces, a new demand for brothels was generated, and it became New York’s best red light district. The focus on business and leisure began to drive the middle class out. Then during the Civil War, Houston Street was named Murders Row because it has lost a fourth of its residents. After the war the lack of residents led the way for commerce to move in the next 100 years.1

What happened during mid 1800s when the commerce was high would set the stage for the gentrification of SoHo 100 years later. Victorian businessmen between 1850 and 1890 built cast-iron building fronts when iron architecture was at its prime. The architects who designed these buildings designed more in New York City than anywhere else in the world, and especially in SoHo. James Bogardus built the first complete iron-front structure in 1848. He created a new means for the rapid construction of buildings. This new iron technology gave the commercial businesses good-looking and practical buildings for imports, local manufacturing, and goods from coastal shipping, railroads, and the Erie Canal. The warehouses were set up differently than we think of today. The ground floor had big windows and were the rooms in which the merchandise-woolen or silk or cotton fabrics, fringes, tassels, embroideries, or mourning goods, were displayed ad orders taken. Paperwork and shipping orders were dealt with on the upper floors and merchandise was stored on the top floor. The family firm of P. & G. Lorillard commissioned John Snook to build four buildings between Spring and Broome

Streets to serves as warehouses for snuff and tobacco. He designed brick structures with cast-iron ground floors. The building on 383 West Broadway was the second building and was completed in 1868. It was a five to six-story brick warehouse with a cast-iron façade. The large interior space was used for storing Virginia and West Virginia tobacco, but after 1870 the tobacco was given to factories to make chewing tobacco.2

This building would play an important role in what was to come. In 1968 Ivan Karp opened the O.K. Harris gallery in the old warehouse. He and another artist Paula Cooper, who opened another art gallery on Wooster Street, demonstrated that art could not only be shown but also sold within the neighborhood it was being created. This allowed renting, purchasing, exhibiting, and selling happen which was not possible a few years before. The O.K. Harris Gallery was almost 11,000 square feet. The front of the three rooms was mainly used for large sculptures, the second was best for large painting, and third room was best for smaller art. Sometimes a fourth artist would be displayed in the corridor walls in the rear near the offices.3

The reason that these galleries were such a big deal was because now the artists that during the 60s had moved into the rundown manufacturing buildings had a place to sell and display their art. This helped establish SoHo as an area known to be an artist’s colony. The old cast-iron warehouses and cheap rent created the perfect environment for artists. They could have spacious studios for their huge canvases and sculptures, and possibly their families. Because this area was legally zoned as a manufacturing district the rents were low, some illegal. The fire department resented this saying that they didn’t know which buildings were occupied, but the artists could get a zoning amendment form the city that permitted certified artists to occupy and live in the old buildings. They placed Artist-in-Residence plaques on the entrances to alert the fire department. Art galleries and businesses soon followed the artists. The galleries being mainly on West Broadway, Prince, and Greene streets, while restaurants, bookstores, boutiques,

and performing arts theaters were mixed between industrial buildings.2 “From all over the world, critics, artists, dealers, museum professionals, and art-interested people converge on this factory district in order to see the most innovative works of the day,” said Helene Zucker Seeman and Alanna Siegfried, local artists of SoHo at the time.3

Also in 1968, after study, hearing, and strong demand from the community, the SoHo Artists’ Association, and the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission made the twenty-six blocks of SoHo a historic district. The “South Houston Report” was given out Mayor Robert Wagner Jr. and the City Planning Commission. It saved the neighborhood from being leveled to create wider streets, massive housing developments, and an industrial park. Then in 1973 this area became designated as the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.2 But as the neighborhood’s myth and reputation grew, wealthier residents and commercial businesses moved in, and thus

Gentrification

24

Trucks and debris on Greene StreetB

started the process of gentrification.

In 1979, real estate prices went up in SoHo, which attracted people who were not artists and discouraged the immigration of young artists like only a few years before. They started to move to the East village and then to the Lower East Side and also Brooklyn. A legal document call “the SoHo Letter” let non-artists buy and rent in SoHo as long as they agreed to be financially responsible for any legal problems. This made SoHo a high-priced neighborhood dominated by people who were classy but scarcely rich. It housed millionaires beside people that were economically insubstantial. Some can date the death of SoHo to the appearance of a hairdresser on Prince Street in the late 70’s or the remodeling Fanelli’s, a coffee shop, into a yuppie bar in the mid 80’s, or the closing of the restaurant Food that catered the neighborhood and employed SoHo residents. Eventually high-end retailers of clothing and then furniture exploited SoHo’s reputation for advanced taste. Retail chains moved in that sold clothing to wealthy people, just to add the address to their collection of stores. In the 90’s cosmetic stores moved in and attracted crowds of window shoppers. Then around 2000 skinny women would the street like models, which brought modeling agencies to SoHo. In 2002, Apple opened a very successful store. Today SoHo is full big name and over-priced stores, and million dollar flats. It is no longer an experiment, but a tourist destination. As Caroline Ware put it, “By the 21st century, the great experiment in creating a large artists’ colony within the city had come to an end, and it was time for me to move on.”3

Many visitors of SoHo today would never guess that this neighborhood used to be an artist colony. They are probably too caught up in the excitement that SoHo has to offer. It is a high fashion area in one of the biggest fashion cities in the world. There are hundreds of unique boutiques where one can find some of the best designers in the world. Also, they night life is young and hip offering local pubs, stylish lounges, and elegant wine bars.4 It has become a fun, but expensive district in which people should expect to pay to play.

Chris Warren

25

What Goes Around Comes Around boutiqueC

TRASTEVEREROME, ITALY

Known as a “city within a city,” the district of Trastevere is considered by those who live there to be the heart of Rome.1 The area has always had a distinct culture and demo-graphic profile from the rest of Rome. The residents are even known for speaking their own dialect, a slightly rougher language than elsewhere in the city that is loud and hoarse-sounding – the equivalent perhaps of a thick Brooklyn accent.2 Their cuisine is said to be spicier, with different specialty foods than elsewhere in the city.1 Because of its original relative isolation, the inhabit-ants were considered to be almost a sepa-rate population. The women were consid-ered particularly beautiful because of their dark hair and eyes. They were known for their pride, tenaciousness, and genuine-ness.3 The pride and arrogance stems from the fact that residents consider themselves to be the true descendants of the ancient Romans and can trace their heritage back for generations.

The name Trastevere, coming from the Latin trans Tiberim, literally translates to “across the Tiber.”3 This refers to the location of the

district - across the river on the south side of central Rome. It was originally on the out-skirts of Rome, but today it has been swal-lowed up and is one of the central districts.

Rome conquered this area around the 600s BCE, taking it from the Etruscans. However, they were not interested in developing the land, only wanting it to gain control of and access the river on both sides.3 The em-peror Augustus, the first ruler of the new Roman Empire in 27 BCE, was the first to recognize Trastevere as part of Rome. He divided the city into fourteen districts, giving Trastevere its Latin name and the number fourteen due to its location.2

Traditionally, the area was home to the working-class, starting in the time of the Republic around 509 BCE. Sailors and fish-ermen that made their living off of the river called Trastevere home. The sailors, many from Ravenna originally, were the ones to operate the cover on the Colosseum that shielded spectators from sun and rain. Im-migrants from the East also began to settle here, particularly Jews and Syrians, as well

Gentrification

26

THE HEART OF ROME

27

Buildings bordering the Piazza Santa MariaA

Julie Kroon

as tradesmen like potters, tanners, and cab-inet-makers.4

Under the reign of Aurelian in 270 CE, larger protecting walls were added to Rome which included Trastevere and the Vatican area.3

Several important figures decided to build their villas here, most notably Julius Cae-sar. His infamous mistress Cleopatra and illegitimate son Caesarion lived in the Water Palace until news reached them of Caesar’s murder and they escaped by boat.4

By the Middle Ages Trastevere had turned into a maze of narrow and winding streets. Mignani, structures on the front of buildings, prevented carriages from even fitting down the streets, although these were removed near the end of the 1400s. It was at this time that the first pavement was laid down, first bricks and later the sampietrini, or cob-blestones, some of which are still in place to-day. It was not until 1744 that Benedict XIV modified the borders of the district, defining the current limits. Even when Italy became a unified country in 1870 with Rome as the new capital, Trastevere was still mostly pas-tures and vineyards and was predominately a district of the poorer classes.3

Trastevere was known for a long time as a place of ill-repute, full of crime and prostitu-tion. There is a deep-rooted rivalry between the Trasteverini and people of Monti – a large district on the other side of the river where the Colosseum and Forum are lo-cated. There was stone-throwing, drunken brawls, and fights between rival members of opposing gangs. The only time they were known to work together was when they at-tacked French soldiers during Napoleon’s invasion of the city. This rivalry created a strong sense of identity. People took their names from places in the district, and their loyalty towards other Trasteverini could be counted on. It was important to develop this sense of local solidarity and connection with people. The only way to recover stolen property was to talk to the local boss, as the police were useless. Today the rivalry be-tween the two districts is less intense and mostly made up of good-humored banter, but some distrust and dislike still persists.5

During Mussolini’s reign, the crime rate cre-ated a new problem. The streets in the dis-

trict had slowly been reorganized to provide cover for those seeking to evade authoritar-ian eyes, becoming narrow and irregular. Mussolini had goals of urban sanitation, but he also wanted to eliminate secrecy and gain total regulation and control over the Italians. He started a civic hygiene program and surveillance system that cleaned up some of the streets. Citizens suspected of being Communists were relocated to apart-ment blocks with minimal entrances so po-lice could monitor their comings and goings. Some old buildings were demolished to

make way for wider roads.5 He didn’t elimi-nate everything, though. A scheduled visit by then-president George W. Bush in 2007 was cancelled because there were thought to be too many places to hide.6

Trastevere began to undergo great change in the 1960s and 70s, when artists and for-eign expatriots started to be drawn to the neighborhood. American musicians and Italian film directors and composers were just some of the famous people who moved into the area. Sergio Leone, director of

Gentrification

28

Chiesa di Santa MariaB

Spaghetti Westerns, grew up in Trastevere.3

It became known as a bohemian district, charming and colorful.

More and more outside people moved into the district. It became increasingly desirable to live there and rents skyrocketed. Many of the long-time residents were unable to af-ford the new prices and were forced to move elsewhere. Foreigners were replacing the old Trasteverini.

With this new influx, tourists started to dis-cover the area. Shops now are catered to this group. Pubs and restaurants have menus printed in English. Dance clubs are popping up everywhere, making Trastevere particularly appealing for its nightlife. In-deed, late at night the streets directly across the Tiber are filled with both foreigners and young Romans.7

The main gathering place is the Piazza San-ta Maria. The church of Santa Maria that borders the piazza dates back to the third century, making it the oldest in the city (quite a claim for Rome, which boasts more than nine hundred churches). In Rome alone, there are eighty other churches named after this one. The square is popular for wedding parties waiting for the bride to come out, street performers entertaining the crowds at all hours, sitting at an outdoor caffe, or simply people watching on the steps of the central fountain.8

Trastevere has also attracted the university crowd. John Cabot University, the American Academy in Rome, and the Rome campus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts are all found there. The Canadian Univer-sity of Waterloo School of Architecture and Pratt Institute School of Architecture share a villa right on the Piazza Santa Maria for different halves of the school year.3

This changeover of residents in the area can be considered a process of gentrifica-tion. Gentrification is a term generally used to describe the immigration of middle-class people to areas of a city where the poor and working-class formerly lived. Also implied is that the area is upgraded, with the new residents restoring the architecture, clean-ing, and painting. This results in a pattern of higher house and land values as well as

rental prices. Gentrification can lead an urban area back to economic health and is one of the few ways of successful urban re-vitalization not dependent on a large-scale infusion of government funds. However, the downsides are the forced relocation of the existing residents.9 There is some argu-ment whether or not this is worth it, as there is a case for saying the people make the place and the old area has been destroyed once new people move in and change it.

In the case of Trastevere, gentrification has led to the restoration of churches, clean neighborhoods, an increase in trendy busi-nesses, and less crime and poverty. Others say it was a change for the worse and that the district was more beautiful when it was all Romans thirty years ago.10 It is getting harder and harder for the old craftsman’s shop or market stall to stay in business.11

Still, much of the original charm remains. There are places to stay of course, but it hasn’t become a major hotel district as of yet.1 Stores tend to still be of the artisan and unique variety, steering clear of touristy junk.

People still shop for their fruits and veg-etables at the outdoor market and buy their fresh bread at the bakery in the morning. Sunday mornings bring a huge flea market. The colorful houses have flowerboxes and climbing ivy and hanging laundry lines. Men set up folding tables in the piazza to play card games. On Friday mornings the local knife sharpener comes by on his bicycle, calling out to tenants to lower down their dull cutlery for sharpening. Children play in the streets.8

The way to discover this side of Trastevere is simply by walking around. In fact, by foot is pretty much the only way to get around. Buses run on the main street only. There is no convenient metro stop; it was not permit-ted for an underground train line to be built anywhere nearby because of archeological reasons. Non-local cars are even forbid-den to park in the district after dark.3 The winding streets can be very confusing, but wandering is the best way to experience the real charm of the area. Trastevere is where a glimpse of authentic Roman life can still be found.

Julie Kroon

29

Map with Trastevere district outlined in orangeC

WICKER PARKCHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Wicker Park is a place of great character and history. It has been home to many diverse populations, from early Irish immigrants, to wealthy Germans and Poles, to Puerto Ricans looking for better opportunities. A smaller but more socially and economically present group has been the young artists and upper middle class young adults. With this many different social and ethnic groups, conflict is inevitable. Whenever change takes place there is some reaction. Wicker Park has undergone dramatic change within the last two decades through a process of gentrification. According to Merriam-Webster, this is “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.”1 Throughout this transition, class, ethnicity and race have divided the community on issues like social housing and economic policy.2 Although there was harsh opposition from the beginning, Wicker Park is now one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago, with expensive real estate, reduced diversity, and trendy shops.

Before the brothers, Joel and Charles Wicker purchased the 80 acres of land that would become the area now known as Wicker Park, the neighborhood was occupied by a large Irish population employed by the Rolling Mill Steel Works factory that opened in 1857. The Wicker brothers purchased the land in 1870 and donated four acres in the center of the neighborhood for a community park. As a neighborhood founded on the idea of “a neighborhood where people of all economic backgrounds could afford to live and work,” they divided the rest of the property into various sized lots to allow investors to build homes from large mansions to cozy cottages.”3 As an unhappy coincidence, the Great Chicago Fire took place the following year, uprooting thousands of Chicago residents from their homes in the city. Due to this event, Wicker Park developed quickly, as large numbers of wealthy European immigrants, mostly German and Polish, moved to Wicker Park and began to rebuild in the areas of Hoyne and Pierce Avenues along the the area’s northern border. “By the 1890’s Wicker Park was known for its unique architectural

Gentrification

30

THE POLITICS OF CHANGE

31

The Flat Iron Arts BuildingA

Jane Jennings

style, with many large mansions in Victorian Gothic and Italianate style circling the park.”3 In conjunction with establishing the image of housing in Wicker Park, this ambitious class of residents also developed the first layer of infrastructure in the neighborhood. Some businesses included German breweries, cigar manufacturers, and many specialized stores for clothing, instruments, or furniture.3

The Puerto Rican and Latino community of Wicker Park and the immediate neighborhoods grew rapidly after World War II. These people were being pushed out of other parts of the city, and so banded together by living in certain areas. After Latinos and Mexicans joined the community, this racial group represented 60% of The Wicker Park and immediate neighborhoods. These dramatic increases of Latino people coupled with a similar increase of the black population, led to disinvestments and significant drops in total housing units. As the immigrant population continued to grow, local business investors and middle and upper class white residents began to move away from the area and the rich architecture deteriorated due to lack of maintenance.2

In the 1950’s the Chicago city government became concerned about the state of its city and surrounding areas, including Wicker Park. A Development Plan for the Central Area of Chicago was issued in 1958 “which called for redevelopment of the CBD [Central Business District] periphery for ‘uses that are primarily used for, but not part of, the main functions of the Central Area [and…] listed middle – class housing and aesthetics as the priorities for such areas.” The same areas were also declared as urban renewal conservation areas by the Department of Urban Renewal, or the DUR.2 The first renewal project planned for the area across the highway from Wicker Park was met with support by the community, but after completion, it became obvious that the renewal project was “focused on physical rather than on resident development” as previous residents were forced to leave when the unit prices were too high.2 Due to these unfavorable results of the first renewal project, the next time the city showed interest in redevelopment in its peripheral communities, it was met with opposition.

Little change was made until the 1970’s when immigration began to plateau.

While the city’s redevelopment plans were in a standstill with public lobbying, the real estate market was quietly pushing gentrification in the Wicker Park area. Lincoln Park, nearby, was almost completely gentrified, so cheap property to renovate was hard to find. Realtors began recommending Wicker Park locations for interested investors because of the low property costs, great architecture and prime location near Lincoln Park and

the CDG. The realtors were successful where the govern¬ment was not. Groups of properties were bought, starting with the original Victorian mansions of the wealthy German and Polish immigrants, and were rehabilitated.2

Artists, targeted and encouraged by the real estate brokers, began to migrate to the cheap rental spaces and great diversity.2 Wicker Park was an ideal location for a displaced artists’ community to reestablish themselves. Many cheap rental properties

Gentrification

32

The Damen Station in Wicker Park provides direct access to Downtown ChicagoB

were available along with empty warehouses and industrial buildings used for studio spaces. This migration also aligned with the height of diversity. “Artists’ interest in locating in marginal neighborhoods whose majority population is poor and usually non-white involves the desire to occupy inexpensive space adequate to their needs.”4

Gentrification followed suit quickly at this point. The influx of educated and cultured young adults sparked the market. “The arts, including small-scale pursuits like poetry readings or experimental visual arts, contribute to a creative milieu that concentrates individuals with diverse competencies and feeds innovative dispositions.”4 The young artists attract new, innovative technologies and enterprises that can use the talent and skill they provide.4 The housing prices rose by more than 200% between 1980 and 1990. This decade was marked by new clusters of gentrification throughout the area. Developers purchased key properties, against the community’s opposition, to make room for large retail facilities and student housing. Hundreds of families were displaced from their homes. Wicker Park and other neighborhoods in the surrounding area, through political movements, were receiving more than half of their spending in money from the city. Also, they were second in neighborhood improvements.2

By 1990, one-fourth to one-fifth of all local properties had been renovated through gentrification. The neighborhood statistics showed that there had been “increases in home prices and white-collar workers along with decreases in household size and minority population.”2 Sealing its fate, Wicker Park was declared an historic landmark. From then on, rehabbers would receive tax credits and historical significance in their work.

The early 1990’s presented the ideal situation for gentrification to fully succeed. It was only possible because of the economic improvements, having two men in political office fighting for a successful gentrification of the area they represent and a city plan to create a real estate market for the middle. Even though some opposition remained, the city and developers had the economic and

Wicker Park NeighborhoodC

social backing to move forward into projects of new construction in the form of expensive multi-family condos. By the year 2000, the “historic homes from the German beer barons of the 1890s [were] still occupied on Hoyne and Pierce, just southwest of North and Damen. Some cottages and bungalows remain[ed] on the side streets, but it [was] the mid-rise developments and townhouses that lure[d] home buyers.”5 Gentrification has all but erased the lower economic bracket of Wicker Park‘s community. Property costs have been driven so high that a piece of land for low-income housing project in the poorest parts of the community is too high to feasibly construct the project.

In its relatively short life, Wicker Park has gone through many changes, economically and socially. Its original developers, the Wicker brothers wanted a neighborhood setting with diversity. At times Wicker Park had a large cross section of industry, nationality, and social and economic inhabitants. However, in the last 20 years, with the decrease in properties available for the city of Chicago to develop, Wicker Park became the target of the developers transforming its once diverse community into

new and renovated homes and commerce for the middle and upper class, erasing the lower economic section of the Wicker Park.

Chicago’s Flat Iron building, built by Holabird and Roche in 1913 at the intersection of Milwaukee, Damen, and North Avenues, is emblematic of the neighborhood, changing as often as the population. This building, sitting at the intersection of the busiest streets in Wicker Park, has been used throughout its history by the most influential groups in the area. First, it was built to house the offices for a Polish organization, the social majority in Wicker Park at the time. As industrialization increased, it was turned into a factory, and then fell empty as industry moved away. When the artists entered the neighborhood, effectively influencing all parts of the economy and society, it was obvious that the Flat Iron would become their flagship studio space. It is now known as The Flat Iron Artist Community. During the day it is home and workshop to some of the neighborhoods many artists and at night it comes alive with street performers and live bands, as well as many bars and pubs along the roads outside.5

Jane Jennings

33

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

“The term or concept of ethnic enclave refers to the marvelous construction of minoritybusinesses into a tight community of buyers and sellers who replicate the center economy in microcosm so that the multiplier effect to their dollars is greatly enhanced. The ethnic enclave commonly includes residences and meeting places but is foremost a community of businesses. The importance of the ethnic enclave notion is that the idea of middlemen minorities had many weaknesses, and these weaknesses included overly narrow and negative views of the immigrant role in bulk cities.”

- Kenneth L. Wilson and Alejandro Portes

BRICK LANELONDON, ENGLAND

London’s Brick Lane has taken on many personalities in its history, most of which have been characterized by the various working class immigrant groups that have come and gone over the years. Located just outside the city walls in the borough of Tower Hamlets, the route along which bricks were carted from Spitalfields to the end of Whitechapel Lane came to be known simply as Brick Lane in the 15th century. The area has become a haven for immigrants seeking refuge from persecution in their home countries. Oftentimes they have fled, only to encounter similar persecution upon their arrival. The first major group, the Huguenots, occupied Brick Lane in the 17th century. They were later followed by Irish and Jewish immigrants. Eventually, immigrants from South Asia, more specifically the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, moved in and displaced the Jewish population of Brick Lane almost entirely. 1 Having long been the site of ethnic tensions, Brick Lane has now been repackaged and sold to white-collar patrons as an ethnic enclave. The recent evolution of “Curry Mile” on Brick Lane as the place to get authentic Bengali cuisine

has led to changes both socially and in the built environment. Brick Lane has shifted from an area of racial conflict to one of commercial success.

Brick Lane first served as an asylum for the Huguenots, who fled France in the 1600’s due to religious persecution.1 Weaving was the Huguenots’ chosen trade, and their immigration led to the development of Petticoat Lane (now Middlesex Street), an area notable for clothes manufacturing just west of Brick Lane. The Huguenots were the first to bring the “rag trade” to Brick Lane, an association that subsequent immigrant groups, most notably the Ashkenazi Jews, have adopted and which still persists today. The Jewish immigrants who turned Brick Lane into a burgeoning Jewish enclave fled from eastern Europe in the late 19th century. They brought their expertise in tailoring with them and helped further distinguish Brick Lane as a focal point in the clothing industry. In the 1970’s, the Bengalis began to immigrate to Brick Lane, taking on menial jobs under the Jews who were already established. As more and more Bengalis

Ethnic Enclave

36

AN AVENUE OF CHANGE

37

Brick Lane during the annual International Curry FestivalA

Sam Robinson

spread word back home of the blossoming community, the new immigrants gradually overtook the Jews. More recently Brick Lane has seen a resurgence of the clothing industry, with non-Bengali designers and fashion houses moving in adjacent to Brick Lane to take advantage of the district’s hip image as well as the desirable address-Fashion Street runs perpendicular to Brick Lane. The first recorded brewery on Brick Lane, founded by Joseph Truman in 1683, now serves as evidence of Brick Lane’s revamped image.1 Formerly known as the Black Eagle Brewery, (currently the Old Truman Brewery) the building is now home to shops and bars, art exhibits and event spaces, offices and fashion markets. The brewery also houses some of London’s trendiest nightclubs. In 2006 a fashion event entitled, “I Love Brick Lane” was held. Despite the name, none of the designers invited to participate were Bengali. The event’s coordinators explained that this was

“partly to ensure excellent quality.”2 Brick Lane’s role as a center for Bengali culture was not being infringed upon by another group of ethnic immigrants as it had in the past, but rather by hipsters.

Within the last twenty years, the rebranding of Brick Lane as Banglatown and the prominence of Bengali cuisine has sparked absurd numbers of new curry houses; there are currently 60, compared with just eight in 1989.3 The repackaging effort has also begotten controversial Asian-inspired arches marking the entrances to Banglatown. Many residents feel as if the designation of Brick Lane as a cultural quarter and the attempts to market the area to tourists and other Londoners are disingenuous and driven by greed, not an earnest attempt to bolster the local economy. One shop owner says, “Banglatown – I think it is a farce! It was opened in name only. They are practically not doing anything. There is no funding, no desire to develop the concept-no budget-just a name.”2 Brick Lane’s Bengalis embrace their shared ethnic background; while there is of course some competition between individual restaurants, Brick Lane is still a tight knit community. When looking for potential employees, restaurant owners help each other out rather than compete. As one owner puts it,

“We work together, there is a strong network. I go to the next restaurant and ask if they know anyone. The whole Bengali chain is running and talking to each other…if you are outside Brick Lane then you do not have this.”2

Since many of the Curry house owners are practicing Muslims and are forbidden to drink or serve alcohol, it is common practice for them to allow customers to bring their own beer; which has certainly been to the delight of the throngs of twenty-somethings who flock to Brick Lane. What was once a

place too dangerous to venture into at night is now a nightlife destination for London’s young adults.3

In an attempt to accept Bengali culture by embracing Curry Mile’s cuisine, some critics and others flocking to Brick Lane have devalued individual restaurateurs by judging their validity en masse. The success of one restaurant on Curry Mile often depends on the collective reputation of Brick Lane, not on the individual merits of that restaurant. Though a generally

Ethnic Enclave

38

Brick Lane is also now a hub for trendy twenty-somethings B

positive impression exists, some level of stereotyping still occurs. To try and combat the resulting frustration from curry house owners and create some distinction between the dozens of curry houses, there are now Curry Competitions where each house submits their best for a group of judges, which this past year included the mayor of Tower Hamlets. These competitions are part of a larger event known as Baishaki Mela, which celebrates the Bengali new year. Such an event must seem surreal to many occupants of Brick Lane. Just a few short decades ago, the streets were filled with National Front and British National Party mobs voicing-and oftentimes physically manifesting-their displeasure with the heavy Bengali presence in Brick Lane. In Rachel Lichtenstein’s book On Brick Lane, she paints a picture of a district in constant turmoil.

“In the 1970’s… the National Front was at its height, the Bengali community were expanding, and racial attacks were commonplace. The atmosphere was tense, as gangs of skinheads repeatedly charged down Brick Lane, smashing windows throwing concrete blocks and bottles. The police did little to stop it. Schoolchildren were let out early and rushed straight home. Stories of young men having their ears slashed off and being beaten beyond recognition started to circulate. The community lived in fear: ‘paki-bashing’ was commonplace and any Asians out alone at night were risking their lives. ‘Most Bengalis wouldn’t move north of the railway bridge unless they moved in gangs of twelve,’ Ken told me. ‘Jerry White’s book on the Rothschild buildings says elderly Jewish people would always tell him don’t walk through Bethnal Green at night because it’s not safe, and it was exactly the same in the 1970’s, you hardly ever saw Bengalis north of the bridge. It was almost as if there were two brick lanes.”4

While the social progress since then has been nothing short of remarkable, many in London still are uncomfortable with or entirely prejudiced towards South Asian immigrants. Monica Ali’s 2002 novel, and its 2007 film adaptation, brought a deluge of tourism and outside interest to Brick Lane. However, they did little to dispel some people’s negative stereotypes of Bengalis. Many were upset by what they say was the movie’s portrayal of them as a “disorderly and irreligious” group of people.5 Locals

staged protests and attempted to prevent the movie from being filmed on Brick Lane. There were also threats of public book burning that never materialized. In the end, reaction to the movie was generally positive and did more to bring business to Brick Lane than it did to hurt the image of Bengalis in London.

Sam Robinson

39

The Old Truman Brewery has become a center for fashion, cuisine, and nightlife.C

CHINATOWNMANHATTAN, NEW YORK

Chinatown is experiencing profound economic and cultural changes from both internal and external pressures. Internal influences stem from new organizational and residential solidarities that have been created by labor and community groups, while the external forces include global economic shifts where the structure of advanced capitalism now includes a heightened mobility of labor and capital.Until the 1950s, Chinese immigrants were excluded from American citizenship. Anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination that caused most Chinese immigrants to be consigned to labor intensive, low wage jobs, such as restaurant and laundry work; jobs that were deemed undesirable by the American public. The Chinese were being denied citizenship rights which was a requirement for many professional occupations of high and low status, making them ineligible for municipal, state, and federal employment. Many of the original frontier and rural Chinatowns either disintegrated or dwindled to a few elderly Chinese living in isolation.

However, Chinatowns grew in the “urban frontier” of low rent districts of central city areas near waterfront locations, transportation stations, and near skid rows or red light districts. During World War II, a favorable diplomatic alliance was formed between the United States and China against Japan, which led Congress to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Acts that denied the Chinese citizenship. The Hart-Cellar Immigration Act of 1965 lifted the national origin quotas of immigration and helped the steady growth of New York City’s Chinatown. The first New York Chinese began congregating in the southern edge of the Lower East Side on what was called the

“plow and harrow site”. During the exclusion era, New York’s Chinatown had a spatial geography scattering throughout the entire metropolitan area though the commercial, social, and political activity was still centered in the vicinity of the old “plow and harrow site”.

To gain a better understanding of social change, it is important to examine the role of the community in the political economy

Ethnic Enclave

40

A DEFENDED NEIGHBORHOOD

41

Chinatown, Manhattan, NYC.A

Zachary Lee

and popular culture. “Chinatown’s social problems have been perceived as a result of stubborn Chineseness, where ethnic traditionalism foils cultural integration. It has been viewed as a cloistered, unchanging community where the residents keep to themselves and thus impedes modernization.”1

A study by two sociologists suggests that there is a strong sense of “community” when in the presence of a “defended neighborhood.” In the case of Chinatown, this community is not trying to impede modernization. Instead, residents are responding to redevelopment and urban change that threatens their traditions.2 Some small and medium sized enterprises and sweatshops do exploit their workforce with low wages, long hours, and poor conditions; however, many immigrants are eventually given opportunities for upward mobility and integration into the American middle classes. Manhattan’s Lower East side has been a portal for immigrant succession since the mid-19th century.

Chinatown has demonstrated signs of advancement in transnational capitalism as many overseas Chinese banks have entered Chinatown’s retail banking system with an interest in capturing Chinatown’s deposits and financing real estate investments. By taking stake in the local real estate development, they have further contributed to Chinatown’s built environment and the enclave economy. Local government officials often encourage the involvement of foreign corporations, banks, and other producer services in New York City as a means of spurring and securing New York City’s position as a national and international command center of the global economy.

Local governments have historically viewed immigrant communities as obstacles to growth and modernization, viewing them as a “clannish closed society, crowded with unassimilated newcomers who live a life of marked separation from the American mainstream. As a district of crime and social problems, the vice industries of Chinatown are associated with the cultural insularity of a provincial, over populated

foreign colony rather than with the adolescent predators of a deprived, socially disorganized underclass”.1 Chinatown is commonly viewed as a congested den of public housing and filthy sweatshops in which illegal immigrants work in slave-like conditions under the control of organized crime syndicates. This misrepresentation of Chinatown is partly due to formulaic media representations, prime-time televisions serials, and classic Hollywood films, which portray Chinatown as a place overwhelmed by illegal immigrants, poverty and poor sanitary conditions, and organized crime.

As a result, the local government implements policies of investigating and policing in order to clean up the “slums” of Chinatown. Until the 1970s, the workers and business leaders of the community had very little, if any, impact on urban policy and redevelopment projects taking place in Chinatown. However, in the past 20 years there have been a series of political conflicts between the enclave and the government over social policy and urban development. These confrontations illustrate the internal social changes through

Ethnic Enclave

42

One of the many Chinatown groceries.B

a growing sense of Chinatown’s political power by the emergence of workplace and community organizations. Because the local governments are more dependent on property taxes and local levies, they are more reliant on local economic growth and property development for their revenues, especially since the diminishment and end of federal revenue sharing programs.

Chinatown’s lower circuit of petty enterprises has often been of considerable interest to local government managers. The managers have implemented land-use zoning to protect industrial loft manufacturing space to preserve the Chinese garment production industry. They have also recognized the potential of restaurants, groceries, and other retail establishments, as a source of tourism and have introduced industrial and cultural policies to stabilize these productive and commercial uses of space in Chinatown. On the other hand, some government officials still see Chinatown as somewhat of a tenement slum of substandard housing, overcrowding, and criminal activities. The lower circuit continues to be viewed as a nuisance that impedes economic growth and modernization. Public street vendors are viewed as a sanitary and public health hazard that needs to be regulated and controlled. As a result, the New York City Department of City Planning has implemented many street trader clearance campaigns. One such campaign determined that the growing concentration of the street vendors had created great problems of traffic congestion and street sanitation. Major street improvements and the establishment of pedestrian-only roadways in the heart of old Chinatown were among the recommendations to the city. There was a community consensus about the improvement of the street conditions however there was a negative reaction to the idea of pedestrian zoning because many business owners emphasized their dependence on the daily access of delivery trucks and vans.

Another problem the city encountered was that of vendors and peddlers competing with established, tax-paying retail stores. Because many street vendors have traditionally operated in the informal sector outside of municipal regulation, the city

had an administrative sanction to bring this street roaming activity under official control. Aggressive campaigns began to confine street trading to certain municipally designated sites outside of the areas with existing heavy traffic and established retail activity. Public street-trading however gradually made its way back into those heavily congested areas. One proposed solution to the street vendor problem was to relocate the vendors to an open-air market. On opening day, the market had completely filled its 100 available slots but many complaints soon followed and the market has not been a success.

Vendors complained about the strict regulations about the allowable items they may sell (No wine or liquor), the limited hours of operation, and the constant construction that had closed major transportation routes, such as the Grand Street subway station, which is one of Chinatown’s two major stops. This project’s failure provided a political example for groups opposed to its establishment, such as the Chinatown Vendors Association. This group was critical of the vendor relocation effort; they have made many appearances at demonstrations regarding vendor relocation and continue to support the concept of unregulated public street access to Chinatown vendors.3 New

York City rent control regulations keep average rent payments relatively low but vacancy decontrol statutes have allowed landlords to dramatically increase rent, only when the entire building is vacated for renovation or demolition to make way for new construction. Some Chinatown landlords wish to improve housing conditions by building new, affordable housing, but most area land-owners would rather invest in more profitable construction, such as condominiums. Therefore, these land-owners are limiting the housing opportunities for the low income population that depend on affordable housing to survive. As a result, the Chinatown community organizations are getting involved in the business of affordable housing development through the acquisition of fore-closed and fire-damaged properties, which are then renovated with public and charitable funds.

The increase in political voice, government recognition, changes in the global economy, as well as improved rights for the Chinese immigrants are internal and external forces that continue to make a clear impact on the economic and cultural standing of Chinatown.

Zachary Lee

43

Chinese Immigrants in America.C

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

quantity of diversity among uses and among people... this is the underlying foundation of city economic strength, social vitality and magnetism. To do this, planners must diagnose, in specific places, specifically what is lacking to generate diversity, and then aim at helping supply the lacks as best they can be supplied.Planning... must promote continuous networks of local street neighborhoods, whose users and informal proprietors can count to the utmost in keeping the public spaces of the city safe, in handling strangers so they are an asset rather than a menace, in keeping casual public tabs on children in places that are public.”

- Jane Jacobs, Life and Death of American Cities

“Planning for vitality must stimulate and catalyze the greatest possible range and

DIAGONAL MAR BARCELONA, SPAIN

The Diagonal Mar development came about as one of the 1992 Olympic Games legacy projects, part of a strategy to reclaim and redevelop Barcelona’s waterfront. Transformed from an old industrial and working-class neighborhood, the Poblenou district has become a mixed-use development with a focus on creating a knowledge-based economy. This transformation planning began in the early 1990s and was approved in 2000. The result of the design was an elaborate master-plan strategy created by the public sector with many significant urban, economic, and social implications to the area and the entire city of Barcelona.

Until the 19th century, the Poblenou area was a wetland outside of Barcelona. It first developed as an industrial center due to its location and physical features. Being close to the Mediterranean coast and having ample open land, the area provided the Catalan textile industry resources to flourish. During the next two centuries, Poblenou’s urban fabric grew organically, with factories, warehouses, and housing. Even a section

of the waterfront, known as Somorrostro, began to grow as an illegal settlement of shantytowns. During the mid 1960s, a crisis hit the textile industry in Spain, which led to the relocation of such industries to the outer districts of the city. The entire Poblenou district began to undergo a serious crisis. The industries would then change from textile to metalwork and chemical, and then to small workshops and warehouses. By the time of the 1992 Olympic Games, the district included 6342 firms with most being family-owned enterprises operating warehouses and small companies supplying component products for Barcelona’s metallurgical industries and food services. Although being zoned for industry, the district had a population density of 9757 inhabitants per hectare, which is significantly less dense than the rest of the city, but its socioeconomic indicators did not differ much from those of the city.1

The 1992 Olympic Games created a key opportunity for a change at a city scale. This started a period of urban transformation for much of Barcelona. New, much needed

Urban Village

46

AN OLYMPIC LEGACY

47

Parc Diagonal Mar A

Ross Ritchie

infrastructure was constructed including many new lines of public transportation, a new waterfront, ring roads, and an enlargement of the airport. The funding for this new construction was almost entirely by the Spanish and Catalan governments because of a large local public debt and small contribution from the private sector. The local government prior to the Olympics had a socialist policy agenda, which had members from many neighborhood associations but lacked the backing and trust of the business class that could secure major funds. The leadership of the local council knew that this relationship would hamper the ability of the large city projects to become successful. Mayor Maragall started a process to foster economic and social consensus that led to a new model of public-private cooperation, although based on a leading role by the public sector.1

The successful execution of the infrastructure projects for the Olympics resulted in a growing number of tourists and investment into the area due to the positive media coverage during the Games. The council wanted to keep the momentum of the Olympics to counter the post Olympic depression that most cities fall victim to by laying out a future plans of the city that were extremely ambitious and entrepreneurial. The largest of these plans was the redevelopment of the Poblenou district. This plan included a massive restructuring of the zoning policies to expand from single-use industrial and working class neighborhood to a multi-use with knowledge-based activity enterprises. The beginning of this plan included the construction of an underground sanitation plant, whose recycling method has been praised throughout Europe, along with a convention center by Herzog & de Meuron. These projects became the springboard for redevelopment projects in the area and for the rest of the city. The creation of a new high-speed rail route on the outer limits of the district, as well as restructuring of the road network, created a more attractive location for the development of a central knowledge-based district. This idea of creating a knowledge-based economic district on the site of a traditional industrial and working class further exemplified the city-wide redevelopment plan of radical physical, economic, and social change.1

Soon after the concept of this knowledge-based district of Diagonal Mar was put into construction the dotcom bubble collapsed, which led to the re-analysis of the economic limitations of the area. Policy makers soon identified that a diverse group of existing factors were possible for relocation such as universities, national corporation headquarters, and regional and local public institutions. By 2007, 1063 firms were located in the Poblenou district

holding 31,982 jobs, which is a larger area comprising the Diagonal Mar development. The Poblenou district is now seen globally as a competitive metropolitan area having a mix of small and large firms of high-tech or knowledge-based activities. This is noted as a “new economy” area that include interaction of a knowledge-intensive cluster that bridges all sectors including residential and economic.1

The design of the Diagonal Mar district

Urban Village

48

Avinguda Diagonal B

in Poblenou further exemplified the transformation of the city. The master plan includes five residential projects within 15 buildings, three hotels, three office towers, one massive retail center, and the convention center. Tying this design together, half of the 84-acre development, about 15 city blocks, is devoted to open space, which included the Parc Diagonal Mar designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue. This park not only extends the Avenida Diagonal, which runs all across Cerda’s grid, but it connects the main artery of the city to the waterfront. The concept connects the surrounding working class neighborhoods with the beach front using the Parc Diagonal Mar as a green way. The park, laid out in the shape of a giant tree, is seen as a wetland, which comprises playgrounds, seating, sports facilities, an outdoor cafe, fountains, and sprays. The park has weaving paths around a series of ponds leading to the sea that can be seen from above by the high rise residents. The design of the park also includes a number of engaging and interactive elements. Musical squares, sculptural mist fountains, custom playscapes, and unique seating elements are found throughout the entire green space. The park also used many sustainable development principles, which is something that was stressed in the entire Diagonal Mar development. Across from the park lies the massive Diagonal Mar Commercial Center, which is one of Spain’s largest shopping malls. It has 240 stores, a food court with Wi-Fi, cinemas, and services for children including a play area, nursing rooms, and a first aid area.2

A center piece of the master plan is the Parc del Forum, where the convention center is located. The center was initially built for the Forum of Cultures in 2004, but it is now used for business conventions and cultural events. The main structure, Edifici Forum, is a modern construction with two large auditoriums and is also the largest plaza in Barcelona. The plaza has become a favored spot to hold concerts and cultural, city events. It has also become a gathering space for many skaters and rollerbladers because of its large open paved area with many benches and stairs, which are seen a obstacles to them.

Parc Diagonal Mar C

Adjacent to the main forum is the residental district La Mina, which is Barcelona’s greatest social deprivation area. An addition investment of 141 million euros to improve the quality of life in La Mina was provided by the city authorities and from the EU City Neighborhoods in Crisis Fund. This was aimed to help reduce the potential conflict that is generated by wealth and poverty in such close proximity.

Diagonal Mar, which is surrounded by large fences and gates that are locked by night, is indeed a gated community that encourages social segregation and an increase La Mina’s exclusion. By this sense of social isolation, Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public places that build communities, described the park as one “designed by lawyer, a place where no spontaneous, unforeseen event can ever happen. It’s a classic case of design run amok, where creating a place for human use was merely an afterthought.”3 Another problem with the area is the lack of local shoppers with spending money to

sustain such a large retail structure. Since much of the housing development is yet to be filled, the mall relies on out of the area visitors or La Mina residents. The housing development is also plagued by its lack of density. With only 48 dwellings per hectare, the Diagonal Mar hyper-community is seen by many as an urban development disaster. Other thriving districts in Barcelona, such as Eixample, has 150 dwellings per hectare.1

The density of the development is very low. The large broad side walks that line the empty streets are a constant reminder of the lack of life in the area. Nevertheless, many crowds of young parents with their childern enjoy the interactive playscapes of the park the district provides respite from the hustle and bustle of the center of Barcelona. The close connection to the beach and interesting modern architecture makes it an ideal quiet location for a spot to relax and enjoy life.

Ross Ritchie

49

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

conceived place is the physical reconstruction of the old city and the creation of a new urban landscape. This is the result of the need by city governrs to distinguish their city from others in the global marketplace, which has had a particular emphasis on the environmental, social and cultural life of the city. Flagship regeneration projects are important symbols of change in the urban landscape and their design and the design of city areas as a whole play a crucial role in the process of urban regeneration.”

- Matthew Wansborough & Andrea Mageean, “The Role of Urban Design in Cultural Regeneration”

“Hand in hand with the development of a new civic pride and the marketing of a newly

CRYSTAL CITYARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Crystal City is located in Arlington, Virginia, bordered by Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the east and residential neighborhoods such as Addison Heights to the west. According to Robert E. Lang, the district was initially designed for the overflow of government buildings from nearby Washington, DC. Created in the 1960’-s, Crystal City was “an isolated office environment disconnected from the older city of Arlington.”1 It was a type of edge city that maintained the grid-planned street system similar to a city, and the buildings are connected to the streets, not giant parking lots. Although, instead of people using the streets, “it was developed in a modernist theory where you separate people from the streets.”1 Crystal City, although perfectly functional as an edge city, essentially failed when it came to aesthetics. Events occurred that would empty out a vast amount of office space, and it became financially critical for the space to be re-leased as soon as possible. It was designed so poorly in terms of the ambience it created; it needed a complete renovation to attract new tenants or risk desertion. Therefore, it could now be

considered a regenerated district.

Before the Metro system was built, all that stood in that area was “railway lines, a brickyard, and acres of industrial wasteland.”1 Eventually a collection of investors acknowledged the regions two useful location traits. First, being near the 14th Street Bridge, which was one of the only ways across the Potomac that leads directly into Washington, DC. Secondly, close proximity to I-395 that leads to the Pentagon. One of these investors was a real estate developer named Robert H. Smith. He obtained the 18 acres of land in 1961 and commenced to build the utopian-like development that so many now dislike. In the 1960’s this was considered a modern, transit-oriented design, which was successful in serving its function and was common in European cities. His focal point was the Crystal House, which was an 800-unit apartment building that had an “elaborate crystal chandelier in the lobby.” The crystal chandelier became an icon for his eventual 150-acre development, and hence the name “Crystal City” was derived.1

Regenerated

52

EMERGING FROM THE UNDERGROUND

53

Image of the underground shoppihng center/ tunnels of Crystal City .A

Kelsey White

The problem with Smith’s development was not necessarily function, but the visual aspects. In an article Robert E. Lang commented, “Most criticisms of Crystal City come down to aesthetics and design more than practical flaws.” However, in the same interview he admitted that the same design decisions will most likely be avoided in future developments.2 The area appeared abandoned as people traveled in the underground tunnels that connected their parking spaces to the basements of their office buildings. There was never a need to walk into the first floor. Pedestrians used the tunnels due to the convenience of the underground metro connections. Someone walking around would see barren sidewalks and cold concrete forms protruding into the sky. Attempts at breaking up the monotony of the underground tunnels were the addition of shopping and restaurants. However, this allowed virtually everything to be done indoors and there was never a need for anyone to ever venture outdoors even for sustenance. Nicknames began to emerge calling employees inhabiting Crystal City

“Mole People.”2 Nevertheless, some have argued that there is nothing wrong with Crystal City. They felt it to be cozy and convenient. The fact remained that from an outside perspective, it would be difficult to attract new tenants who could only see a dreary space.

The plan of Crystal City could be compared with Le Ville Radieuse designed by Le Corbusier. Corbusier developed his ideas of urbanization in the 1920’s and incorporated many key factors, including separating pedestrians from the “high-speed vehicle.” Ahead of his time, Corbusier realized the future would be run through automobiles, and it is clear in the planning of Crystal City that cars were a very important aspect. One of Le Corbusier’s principles was to separate the pedestrians from traffic by raising separate streets in the air, where they were used solely for automobiles. Perhaps foreshadowing the highway and off-ramps, Corbusier thought, “the pedestrian should quite simply be given sole possession of the entire ground surface of the city,” thereby creating the feeling “as though [the pedestrians] were living in the heart of the countryside.”3 Crystal City’s plan separated the pedestrians and the automobiles but

did the opposite of creating a countryside feel. Instead the plan compared more with another of Le Corbusier’s visions of utilizing an underground transportation network. Corbusier proposed, “The subway network of the Radiant City will…take the passengers on to particular buildings, the basements of which will all include a subway station. The line itself will follow one of the branches of the cross; on either side of it will be the platforms, and beyond the platforms will be located the communal services provided for the personnel working

in the building: restaurants, shops, etc.”3 A multi-use design as well, Corbusier’s plan successfully separated pedestrians and cars and created easier motives of getting around. However, Corbusier’s plans were never built. Meant for the center of Paris, Parisian’s and many others preferred their quaint streets to Corbusier’s “horizontal skyscrapers.” This could be for the very same reason some individuals prefer driving further down Jefferson Davis Highway to Old Town, Alexandria or the Del Ray area. Despite the undeniable effectiveness of

Regenerated

54

Map of the Retail Frontage and Interior Pedestrian Regeneration Proposal for Crystal City.B

- 27 -

ATTACHMENT 3 – Map 2

Crystal Cities’ district, it does not contain the appeal of being outside strolling along unique storefronts. Crystal City and La Ville Radieuse had similar problems of monotonous concrete towers. Yet La Ville Radieuse had a better system of surrounding green space, which Crystal City initially failed at. With only a couple green spaces and the buildings in Crystal City blocking sun, the

“open spaces” were rarely utilized.3

Eventually events unraveled to the point where the drabness of Crystal City could no longer be ignored. Decades of office space, hotels, and restaurants being occupied and used by government tenants began to come to an end with the release of BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) decisions. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office relocating to Alexandria also left 1.9 million square feet of office space empty. Then the “US Airways Group Inc.’s proposed merger with America West Holdings Corp. could send hundreds of local jobs to Arizona.”1 This meant more than 17,000 people and their contribution to the businesses around them would be leaving. Talk of this happening began in the 1990’-s and congressman James P. Morgan worried for the financial stability and attempted to appeal the idea claiming it would cost more money to leave rather than stay. Nevertheless, the Navy believed the move would “pay for themselves in three to four years and improve the lives of [those involved] by relocating them to less expensive areas.”4 For fear of Crystal City completely failing economically, landowners such as Charles E. Smith decided it needed a serious renovation if it were to attract non-government issued tenants.

A working draft in 2008 outlined the future “Crystal City Plan.” It’s vision statement called for “a more functional and pedestrian-friendly urban street network lined with active retail and civic spaces.” It also commented it will help improve the “sense of place” by bringing in cultural venues and more definition of neighborhoods through

“high-quality architecture, open spaces, streetscape designs, and public art.”5 It is clear the main aspect of the plan calls for improving the outside conditions. It is attempting to bring more people out on the streets and therefore aiding the abandoned

View of Crystal City from the Potomac River. C

appearance, which was enhanced in the past years by continual relocation of more tenants. The plans’ main goals were to create a more welcoming exterior, define neighborhoods, relate the architecture to

“the human scale,” improve transportation for pedestrians and other modes, practice sustainable and green design, and preserve the neighborhoods to the west. 5 “Charles E. Smith [renovated] two of the office buildings [in his six building conglomerate called Crystal Plaza, and contemplated] whether to tear down the other four and start over.”1 Overall he contributed $40 million dollars attempting to make his properties and the general area more agreeable to the outside person. He added shops and restaurants and turned Crystal Drive into a two-way main street that made it much easier to gain access to the district. 6

Crystal City was improved immensely. It now hosts popular cultural festivals and events and the restaurants always have customers. Although it still would not be thought of initially when contemplating where to go for nightlife, it is veering towards an extension of 23rd street and the pentagon city area. Even during daytime there is a noticeable difference on the street level. Many more tenants are walking outside to their lunch destinations or meetings. The underground is still in use but is generally forgotten or

ignored by any unacquainted newcomers. It will take time for Crystal City’s reputation to change. Yet it is only a matter of time that people will eventually start migrating over towards Crystal City for its undeniable location and continual expansion with a more environmentally and aesthetically conscious approach.

Kelsey White

55

EASTERN HARBOR DISTRICTAMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

The redevelopment of the Eastern Harbor District in Amsterdam from a once-prominent seaport to a booming residential area on the outskirts of the Netherlands’ capital city has brought about one of the most impressive collections of modern design and urban planning worldwide.

The Eastern Harbor District was established after the construction of the Central Station in 1885 rendered the open harbor front incapable of accommodating large ships. However, the reason for its creation was the same one that led to its eventual demise as a seaport. As technology evolved in the 1970s, ships became larger and required wider docks and deeper water. This was especially true in bulk transport, such as that of cocoa, one of the most important products being traded through Amsterdam at the time. This necessitated the move of most harbor-related commercial activity to the larger Western Harbor District or to Rotterdam. Coupled with the fact that airlines were simultaneously replacing ships for international passenger travel, this led to the district’s abandonment as a seaport.1

At the same time, the need for public housing was rapidly increasing. In the mid-1970s, the city government had received 60,000 urgent housing applications. This prompted the Urban Development Division of the Department of Public Works to begin searching for new places to build housing. In 1978, a new city council was elected and released its coalition agreement, which had a distinct focus on public-sector rental housing, specifically the feasibility of residential construction in the Eastern Harbor District. Shortly thereafter, on August 15, 1978, “an official working group under the direction of the Economic Affairs division was charged with investigating when and under what conditions the Eastern Harbor District could be redeveloped as a residential area.”1 The population decline in Amsterdam of more than 200,000 people between 1959 and 1984 caused the city to look into possible strategies to prevent this spill-over to surrounding cities.1 The concept of a “compact-city” was developed, which called for 100 housing units per hectare, as a way to combat spill-over.2 Public-sector

Regenerated

56

A RESIDENTIAL SEAPORT

57

Row houses along the inner harbor of the islands of Borneo and Sporenburg A

Jay Nelson

housing on parts of Amsterdam bordering the city center was viewed as a way of addressing this initiative.

Following a reorganization of the Department of Public Works, the “plaberum” system was established as a set of guidelines for municipal urban planning. The implementation of this “plaberum” system assisted the relatively rapid redevelopment of the Eastern Harbor District. With this system in place, everyone knows their role within the planning process and much of the debate about the proposed scheme is avoided.1

Although no construction would begin until 1987, the decision had essentially been made to develop the Eastern Harbor District as a residential area by 1975. During this period, however, people still lived in the regular dwellings near the Lloyd Hotel as well as some gatehouses and company flats. Old captain’s apartments, previously occupied by the higher ranks of shipping lines, were also rented out. Squatters began to occupy the empty commercial buildings located on the KNSM Island as well as a few on Java Island. The area also attracted European adventurers who saw the Eastern Harbor District as the fulfillment of their

“1960’s dream of ultimate freedom.”3 These new residents would play a significant role in the planning of the redevelopment of the islands. Until 1985, all plans had intended to fill in many of the harbor basins in order to allow space for green and recreational activities. The existing residents opposed this idea and promoted their cause using the slogan “blue is green.”3

In 1981, the Master Plan Adjustment Working Group ranked different areas capable of changing into residential areas on when they should be changed and how desirable that change would be based on an examination of housing, employment, recreation, and transport in an integrated way. The report projected 8000 dwellings on the Eastern Harbor District to be completed by the year 2000 under the rapid variant, or 4750 units before the year 2000 and 3250 later under the slow variant, which at the time seemed reasonable since Java Island had ground lease contracts until 2023.1

The Fourth National Policy Document on Spatial Planning, or the “urban hubs policy document,” proved to be an important piece of legislation, as it classified the Eastern Harbor District as a housing construction site near an urban hub, which made it eligible for government subsidy. This was vital for funding of what was originally intended to be public-sector rental housing.1

The first section of the Eastern Harbor District to be developed was the Abbatoir (slaughterhouse) site. This development, made up of 85% public-sector rental housing, was built in the standard housing type of the 1980’s: four or fewer levels of flats accessible by entrance halls and staircases. The lack of height was primarily driven by the goal of cost minimization and affordability, since elevators were not required for buildings with four or fewer floors. These projects were developed in strips due to their rapid and efficient construction and also to avoid corners or angles, which would drive costs up.3

The next section to be developed was the warehouses, although these were more expensive to renovate and were subsequently turned over to private parties for development. These projects marked the first owner-occupied flats but were still affordable and state-subsidized.3

Atelier PRO won the development of Entrepot-West with their proposition of

four slender, seven story towers containing owner-occupied flats both in the private sector and lightly subsidized with one twenty story tower containing solely owner-occupied flats. This design resulted in more expensive flats due to the high construction costs. This also marked the first truly handicap friendly flats to be built in the district. Bridge dwellings were also built over the water with eating and drinking establishments on the lower floors.3

In an effort to attract higher income groups to the district, higher priced rental and owner-occupied dwellings are included from the beginning of the plan for the first time on KNSM Island. The buildings Het Westen and Het Oosten by Hans Kollhof and Bruno Albert contain a very differentiated housing program consisting of very small/affordable and very large/expensive flats side by side. Five previously squatted buildings also survived and were converted into housing. One of these, the “Edelweiss” building, was actually sold by the city to the group of artists who had previously been squatting there.3

Following the design of the KNSM Island, phase three of the plaberum was divided. Phase 3A consisted of the “urban planning program of requirements” and was made by the Spatial Planning Department, while phase 3B consisted of the selection of an outside designer to produce the full design for the project under the supervision of the market players and the city. Since the

Regenerated

58

Pedestrian foot-bridge between Borneo & SporenburgB

market players were directly responsible for the selection and supervision of the design, they were much more inclined to invest in the developments.4 This public demand for solid design was also chiefly responsible for the Eastern Harbor District becoming such a draw for all of the great architects and urban designers from around the world.

Following the unexpected sale of Java Island to the city in the early 1990’s, twenty-five years before the owner’s long-lease contract expired, this new policy was put to the test.4 Coupled with the introduction of lateral canals and the first construction of much desired canal houses in over 200 years, the result was a decrease in public sector rental units to no more than thirty percent of the total dwellings in that section. The prevailing trend of the early 1990’s was shifting towards building for the market. The

“Woonatlas,” or “Housing Atlas,” essentially contained a description of all the different housing types and their needs. This was used by the architects to help determine the highly differentiated housing program for the island. The decision was also made to build along the dock in order to create a sheltered inner area with good pedestrian/cycling connections.3

After witnessing the early success of the redevelopment process, higher income investors were more willing to invest in the area. With the economic boom of the mid-1990’s, the demand for single family, owner-occupied dwellings grew larger by the development of Borneo and Sporenburg. Also new was the concept of “ground connected dwellings,” which are directly accessible from the street but may have other homes above, behind, or under them. With this concept in mind, the firm West 8 designed “a sea of houses, each with its own entrance, and in their midst, three mega blocks to increase density and serve as orientation points in the urban landscape.” The original plan called for each resident to develop his or her own dwelling. While this did happen for sixty dwellings along the inner harbor, the rest were developed by professional enterprises and housing corporations due to impending government deadlines for subsidies as well as the need to accommodate demand for housing.3

The eastern harbor district is one of the most sought after places to live in Amsterdam. It is occupied by people of all types, ranging from young professionals to families. Not originally intended for families with young children, the district has actually turned out to be a quite attractive place for them to live, with parks and public spaces interspersed throughout the neighborhoods. There is a sense of high design to the area, as seemingly every building was designed by a noteworthy architect. This has led to a fair amount of “archi-tourism” with architects and urban planners from around the world coming to see the place for themselves. This is a sign of the overall success of the redevelopment of the district, as it shows no signs of losing its popularity any time soon.

Jay Nelson

59

Map of Eastern Harbor District in Amsterdam C

GIUDECCAVENICE, ITALY

Just south of St. Mark’s Square, across the Giudecca Canal, an island stretches out to the east and west, shielding the heart of Venice from the northern gusts of wind coming from the sea. This narrow strip of land, the largest island of Venice, has always been seen as an auxiliary part of the greater Venice. Because of the separation, the island has developed in a different manner than its greater counterpart. It has been used according to the fluctuating social threads of Venetian society. This led to some periods of decline in the infrastructure and social makeup of the island. Fortunately, the people of Venice and Italy recognized the importance of this island and have enacted several urban planning campaigns over the past few decades to bring the beauty and charm back to the island of Giudecca.

Giudecca was first known as “Spianalonga,” meaning long spine, because of the island’s geography. It is made up of eight smaller islands separated by parallel canals and connected along the northern shore by bridges.1 This northern border, or the spine of the island, is the only continuous east

west path across the island to this day. The final name, Giudecca, is believed to be from the zudegai, or individuals convicted by the Dogal tribunals, who were sent to the island as punishment. At this time, around the 5th and 6th centuries, Venice was in a state of refuge and insecurity from the destruction of the Huns on the mainland and pirates in the water, making banishment to this island dangerous due to the lack of protection from it mother city of Venice.1 As time went on, Venice gained power and wealth. When Venetians were secure in their waters, the upper class began to build on and enjoy the surrounding islands. A 15th century carving, displayed in the Correr Museum in the Piazza St. Marco, depicts the urban structure of Giudecca at this time: durable palazzos and churches made of stone lined the northern shore in view of Venice across the canal while plots of land stretched south of these buildings for gardens and more fragile buildings on the southern border.2 These holiday houses for wealthy Venetians were a haven of gardens and beauty. Churches and monasteries were also built with gardens on the island and often were

Regenerated

60

A CHILD OF VENICE

61

The view of Giudecca Island from San Giorgio Campanile.A

Jane Jennings

visited by people on their way to the Holy Lands.2

However, even though the northern shore across from Venice had some beautiful buildings and gardens, on the outskirts of the city, with few permanent residents, Giudecca began to decline. Laborers, specifically tanners, established themselves on the island, gathering regularly in the Church of Santa Efemia where they founded their Scuola dei Scorzeri. “In 1733 there were 31 such establishments with 200 master tanners, 48 labourers and 2 apprentices.”2 At some point during the rest of the 18th century, the first organized project took place to reclaim land that had fallen into decline. According to a 1810 land registry, gardens had replaced much of the outskirts of town removing the unsavory behaviors of the laborers.2

Great social change took place in the first half of the 19th century. First, Venice was defeated by Napoleon, ending its long history of independence, and second, it was given to Austria in a peace agreement. Venice and Giudecca continued without expansion or change for some time, until a revolt and the third Italian war of independence led to Venice’s inclusion in the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.3

Due to the many changes in government and economy, the Industrial Revolution arrived late to Venice. Because the main islands of Venice were densely populated with no room for expansion or development of industry, wealthy business men began to develop industries on Giudecca. One such person was Giovanni Stucky, who built the Stucky Mill. This enormous building was built along the canal in the style of gothic revival. From 1879-1925, 13 buildings were completed to outfit the company and became a symbol of industrialization in Venice.1 Also built at this time was a clock manufacturing plant and munitions plant in the Junghens district of Giudecca, and a number of other industrial projects such as plants producing goods from textiles, bricks, and beer and new dockyards for the increased traffic of goods to and from the island.2 Some of these projects covered entire blocks of land from north to south. Even at this time, with factories replacing gardens, in some

parts, Giudecca was still a lively place for socialization and enlightenment as it was in 15th century.4

As industrialization grew, so did the importance of social housing. The Venice City Council, with a royal decree from the King of Italy, established an Autonomous Institute for Public Housing known as the IACP in 1914.1 This institute controlled a large number of housing units and had the ability to build more. When the need for low income housing rose after both World

Wars, the IACP chose to build new units on Giudecca for the same reason industries built on the island; the land was open.

In the years that followed WWII, Giudecca began to deteriorate and after the flood of 1966, which damaged many works of art and building structures, the Venetians began to take notice of Giudecca once again. It became important for the people of Venice to protect their historic culture thus setting the terms for Venetian redevelopment. They adopted a more conservative restoration

Regenerated

62

The signature structure of the Junghans Area housing project by Cino Zucchi.B

policy focusing on redevelopment of the historic centers.1

The Special Law for Venice of 1971 required in-depth studies and plans of the entire city of Venice. These plans broke down each area into types of buildings and levels of intervention needed to restore them.1 The IACP, now known as the ATER of Venice, took the first step in this process.5 “The types of intervention in the 1980’s varied from the rehabilitation of industrial areas near the Molino Stucky: the scheme for the Trevisan and Fregnan areas [along the canal at the west end of the island] and the reclaim and reuse of old industrial structures such as the Dreher brewery and a series of warehouses. Also larger reconstruction or upgrade schemes of existing residential areas were implemented. One of the examples is the competition for social housing reconstruction at Campo di Marte.”1 The competition that took place in 1984 between 10 famous European architects resulted in an urban plan by Alvaro Siza Viejra. The first phase of development included designs by the Italian designers, Aymonino Gianfranco Caniggia and Aldo Rossi, and was completed in 2004 providing 51 new dwellings. The second phase of housing includes buildings by Siza, which has been built, and Rafael Moneo Valles.5 Another notable 80’s project is Area Trevisan by Gino Valle. His design was an interpretation of the settlement of the island, in which horizontal building units stretch between canals in decreasing heights. The building style reflects the industrial style of the island. 2

The Giudecca Project is an Urban Renewal program started by the Venetian City Council in 1995 specifically for the island. In the first phase, feasibility studies were done focusing on urban planning and reclamation of unused industrial facilities. The second phase consisted of a series of small scale, infrastructure projects, like workshops and innovative activities areas.2 The most significant project to come out of The Giudecca Project is the urban renewal scheme for the Junghans area on the south side of the center of the island. The existing clock and munitions manufacturing plant closed in 1990 so architect Cino Zucchi developed a master plan for social housing that included some refurbishing, new

Giudecca Island and selected projectsC

construction and slight modifications to the existing buildings and open spaces in the complex.2

One of the most recent initiatives to be enacted in Giudecca’s favor is the Urban Italia program. This is part of the European Regional Development Fund’s strategic plan to support “sustainable development in the troubled urban districts of the European Union” with the “implementation of innovative models of development for the economic and social regeneration of [the] troubled areas.”2 The restoration and reconstruction of the Molino Stucky buildings is an excellent example of this initiative, because it is now one of the most exclusive high end hotels in Venice, and once again exemplifies the wealth and luxury of the people of Venice. According to the city’s requirements, “The new Hilton hotel, [completed in 2006,] has been created without altering the façade or the industrial structure of the original mill,” but it failed to “reserve 50% of the building for apartments of ‘middle class’ prices and 1,000 m2 for cultural activities.”1 This building renovation did not meet all of the criteria set by the European Regional Development Fund but, this restoration and reconstruction project, along with others exemplified Venice’s desire for high design for public projects. Two Buildings, The Ex CNOMV and Ex

Herion Incubators are part of a 2002 initiative called Vdi or Venice District for Innovation. The goals of this program are to promote new development through renovation of properties and establish new business in Venice, specifically small and medium size businesses in the historic center of the city.6 These two projects are located in recently renovated industrial buildings, the CNOMV Shipyards and the Church of SS.Cosma e Damiano complex that had been converted into a textile mill by the Herion family. As incubators for technology, the structures have been equipped with the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced systems available.6

Since the Venetians first inhabited Guidecca Island many transformations have taken place. Over the years this island has been built up with beautiful and lasting palazzos and churches, and also massive industrial structures. Venice has taken the opportunity to preserve and improve the great spaces of architecture and culture that have developed on the island through these cycles of use and abuse. Giudecca sits across the water from one of the world’s most visited travel destinations, yet is not well known. Giudecca has outlasted the test of time, and should share some of Venice’s renown for great architecture, social projects and advances for the future.

Jane Jennings

63

1. Fregnan Area2. Sport Centre Sacca San Biagio3. Stucky Mill Hilton Hotel4. Trevisan Area5. Ex Herion Incubator6. SS. Cosmo e Damiano Housing Project7. Junghans Area8. Ex CNOMV Incubator9. Housing project for the elderly10. Kindergarden Project11. Social Housing Campo Di Marte12. Housing project for Alzheimer’s Patients

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

all the functions a city ever has, albeit in a spread-out form that few have come to recognize for what it is. Edge, because they are a vigorous world of pioneers and immigrants, rising far from the old downtowns, where little save villages or farmland lay only thirty years before.”

- Joel Garreau, “Edge City”

“I have come to call these new urban centers Edge Cities. Cities, because they contain

NEW CENTERDETROIT, MICHIGAN

In the early 1920’s the United States was experiencing a boom. One result of this was the emergence of New Center, Detroit. The district that remains under the name New Center was named after the New Center News, a newspaper concentrated on automobiles that began in 1933 and is still in print but under the name Detroit Auto Scene.1 The fact that it was named after an automobile newspaper was appropriate because it was the automobile and the automobile industries that were vital in the creation of New Center, Detroit. New Center brought with it new jobs, retail and became a commuter haven and essentially the first edge city.

Originally the region was made up of rural residential neighborhoods just west of the Grand Boulevard built in 1891 which wrapped 12 miles around the then intended footprint of Detroit. The Milwaukee Junction was also built around the same time to access the industrial factories that served downtown Detroit. New Center is currently

“bounded by Virginia Park on the north, the Ford Freeway to the south, John R. to the

east and the Lodge Freeway to the west.” 2 It is about three miles north of the city’s original downtown and west of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard.

Downtown Detroit was overly crowded and factories were getting further away thanks to the convenience of the railroad system as well as Ford’s invention of the moving assembly line in 1913. The production of automobiles and other household appliances flourished making it less expensive and more readily available to a growing population. Therefore, instead of continuing to add to the swarming streets of the typical American city, a new type of city began to emerge on the outskirts. The edge city enabled the crowded downtown to spread out. Giving the workingman a new cleaner place to go and make a living. At that time, the environment in most cities was unsanitary, overpopulated, and unsafe. However, New Center offered bright possibilities of more office space, retail, and better living conditions.

According to Garreau, an edge city is defined by first, having five million square feet or more

Edge City

66

THE FIRST EDGE CITY

67

Aerial View of New Center, Detroit. A

Kelsey White

of leasable office space. Secondly, about “600,000 square feet or more of leasable retail space,” which can be comparable to a regular sized mall nowadays. Thirdly the edge city would need to have “more jobs than bedrooms”, which basically means is a commuter refuge. The edge city would also need to be “perceived by the population as one place,” and does not resemble a “‘city’ as recently as thirty years ago.” 3

Edge Cities are popping up everywhere now; yet New Center could be argued as one of the first edge cities. The automobile industry can take credit for the rise of New Center. The economic boom coincided with increased production and interest in automobiles. Therefore patrons such as W.C. Durant head of General Motors and the Fisher Brothers, whom developed the closed carriage, decided it was time for expansion. Henry Ford was also in the process of buying out buildings on the outlying regions and renovating them. They were ahead of its their time in deciding to expand into a rural area and create more jobs, and retail. Enormous buildings were seemingly built in the middle of nowhere and smaller businesses followed suit. Eventually the place became unrecognizably a separate place from downtown Detroit. The companies brought with them many jobs and lined their main floors with retail. What inevitably followed was a mass amount of commuters jumping at the new opportunities.

It was W.C. Durant who first decided to seek out a location for a business hub between the busy downtown Detroit and their outlying factories and settled on what is now New Center. Due to the underdevelopment of the area, W.C. Durant essentially had no restrictions or guidelines for his new GM headquarters. He occupied an entire city block in what used to be a residential neighborhood with his 15-story contemporary office structure completed in 1922 designed by Albert Kahn. The building is approximately 1.3 million square feet and widely mixed-use. So much so that it could be compared to its own miniature city. The original name of the structure was supposed to be Durant Building but it changed to General Motors Building when Durant left the company. Later when GM decided to relocate in 1996, the building was again

renamed the Cadillac Palace and “now houses over 2,700 state employees and ground floor retail.”2 The district served as a corporate center for GM for over 70 years where they successfully built and cultivated an increasingly up and coming district catering to thousands of people.

The Fisher Brothers aided in meeting the quota of office space and retail outlined by Garreau. They built the Fisher Building across from the General Motors and the New Center Building creating a city center

for the district of New Center. The Fisher Building would have been more than three times the size, towering over the General Motors Building had it not been halted due to the Great Depression. However, the one completed side still is truly the emblematic icon for New Center. Also designed by Albert Kahn, the Fisher Building exemplified elegance containing elaborate children’s playrooms employees and clients could drop their kids off, or an eleven-story garage with a valet service. Tunnels were built connecting the three important buildings

Edge City

68

The Fisher Building B

designed by Kahn truly making it a unified entity and center of the district.

The Fisher Building was the final development that really pushed the city away from quiet residencies to a growing example of mixed-use, shopping, business and cultural district. Once the trend was set, other buildings emerged sprouting new jobs and opportunities for those seeking to leave the decrepit conditions of the downtown. Examples of those include: the Cadillac Motor Car Co, Assembly Plant relocated in 1920, Westcott Paper Co. shortly followed suit and still remains to this day, the Ladder Company No. 7 and Engine Company No.17 built in 1923, and Stewart-Warner Speedometer Company built in 1925. Others still followed suit such as: the Cadillac Sales & Service Building in 1927, Chevrolet Service Building in 1927, Walter J. Bemb Buick-Pontiac Dealership in 1927, and the Firestone Building built in 1930. 2

Along with the many jobs and production, a large retail production increased as well. Adding on to the enclosed shops the GM Building and Fisher Building provided, there were retail stores opening businesses all along Woodward Avenue stretching from West Grand Boulevard towards the railroad bridge. This brought an influx of people since the “mall” had not been invented yet; the strip of shops was the place to go. The atmosphere became a plethora of businessmen, workers, and their wives commuting to fulfill the needs not met in their rural residential neighborhoods. Once New Center was running successfully, fulfilling the “American dream,” other edge cities around Detroit started to develop. Other companies saw the advantage of moving outwards, and thanks to automobiles, commuting was no longer a concern. Henry Ford relocated his factory to Dearborn when he switched “from the Model T to the Model A in 1928.” 3 As a result Dearborn evolved into another Edge City. Other edge cities such Troy and Southfield are “currently dominated by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.” In fact, according to Lang’s study of thirteen different metropolitan areas,

“Detroit is the only one in which a single edge city (Southfield) surpasses the central business district” for square feet of office space. 4

New Center today is a region with an area of less than a 1/2 mile ft2. It is currently enveloped by many neighborhoods and districts and is no longer as distinguishable as a separate place. It does not seem so far away from downtown anymore and more residencies have infiltrated the area. Yet it still remains a separate district in name and continues to be a center for business and shopping. As of 2008 according to city-data, New Center had a population of 2,828, the majority being African American, young, and the average household income distribution on the lower side. The common occupation among males was service, production, and transportation and material moving occupation. Among females, it was service and sales and office occupations. It is safe to say the tenants probably work within the area among the many shopping and service opportunities provided. New buildings have halted, and the last influx of homes built was in the 1970’s. New Center became close, if not at its maximum expansion capabilities.5

The area is not as up-and-coming in all the areas as it was when it was initially built. Low-income housing and some inner-city urban sprawl have extended into the area as over time the population increased and expansion of downtown became necessary, eventually colliding into New Center. However, there is still visible remains of the historic extension out of the city of that

offers what every edge city should and still continues to do.

Kelsey White

69

Map of Detroit’s New Center district. C

TYSONS CORNERMCLEAN, VIRGINIA

Tysons Corner is the prototypical Edge City. Occupying a 1700 acre area bounded by the Capitol Beltway, Route 7, Route 123, and the Dulles Airport Access Road in northern Virginia, Tysons is larger than many major cities’ downtown areas. In fact, its size, in terms of retail and office space, trumps Portland, Tampa, and even Miami’s downtown. Although it has no unique zip code, area code, school system, or civic structure, Tysons is home to many companies’ corporate headquarters and one of the best business environments in the country. Driven by governmental industry in the 1960s and the technology boom of the 1990s, Tysons has become a business destination: it has more offices than bedrooms and can be compared more to a traditional central business district than a suburb. It is now “one of the heaviest concentrations of high-salary, high-technology, knowledge-based work on the Eastern seaboard, and may be only second to Silicon Valley as such a center.”1

Although Tysons is an established business environment, it (like most Edge Cities) had

quite humble beginnings. Now a major commercial road, Route 7 could claim only a feed store and a “beer joint” in 1939 according to Til Hazel, the man responsible for purchasing and developing much of early Tysons Corner. In his book Edge City, Joel Garreau states that Hazel has “done more to shape the Washington area than any man since Pierre L ‘Enfant.” This comparison is a valid one, given that at one point in the 1980s, Tysons Corner was the “fastest growing white-collar job market in North America and Europe for four consecutive years.”2 That is quite a stark contrast to its status in 1945, when Hazel purchased a plot of land-a 95 acre dairy farm on the market for $18,000-his aunt asked him what he planned to do with a property “way out in the country.”1 That piece of land is now part of a Washington metropolitan area that is one of the ten largest urban areas in the country.

Tysons Corner’s role as a business hub has been long developing, but can be traced back to a few key events. In 1846, a ten square mile area of land south of

Edge City

70

THE ULTIMATE SUBURB

71

View of Tysons Corner near Route 7 and 123A

Sam Robinson

the Potomac River was reallocated from Washington, D.C. back to Virginia. This land, which came to be known as Arlington, was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s chosen site for the new War Department Headquarters in 1941, later known as “The Pentagon.” The new building’s grand scale required the construction of a network of highways to service it, and the design of the subsequent surrounding roads and parking lots made it nearly impossible to access by foot.3 The reliance on the automobile as a means of access and the location of the Pentagon was the initial driving factor that “led to the development of Tysons Corner.”3 This development of cities at the scale of the automobile rather than the pedestrian is one of the hallmarks of Edge Cities. The completion of the beltway in 1964 and the construction of Dulles International Airport also played a large role in spawning Tysons. The road connecting Dulles to the District, along with Route 7 and Route 123, formed the above-mentioned triangle that had direct high way access to many key points in the area.3

At the time, many of the inhabitants of Fairfax County still commuted to the District of Columbia to work. Jobs in Fairfax were mostly confined to those that served the residential growth occurring in the county: building trades, construction, real estate, etc.”1 There was a concerted effort by Fairfax County’s officials to try to attract commercial interest, and to direct much of the commercial growth in Fairfax to Tysons Corner. The taxes raised from the commercial business would be collected to fund public schools and other homeowner’s needs. This approach to industrial development was first presented in the

“Norman Cole report,” and was the model for all of Fairfax’s growth in decades to come.2 One of the businesses that Fairfax attracted was BDM, an engineering firm who was previously headquartered in El Paso, Texas. Their new headquarters in Tysons Corner, at the corner of Gallows Road and Route 7 was located due to its quick, direct access to both the Pentagon via Route 7 and Dulles Airport via the Dulles Access Road. BDM moved to Tysons in 1965, when the cost of development was about $10-15 per square foot less than in downtown Washington. BDM was the first of many commercial firms

that moved to the area to perform contract work for the Pentagon.

One corporation that came to prominence while doing work for the Pentagon was the Institute for Defense Analyses. A sort of hybrid of government and private interests, the IDA received a lot of bad press and protest during anti-war demonstrations in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. This left the door open for a slew of entirely private corporations that have moved in over the years and been the cause of much of the growth in Tysons Corner and Fairfax. A lot of the work these corporations did was classified, but much of it involved operations research, which consists of reducing weapons systems to equations and calculating the way to use them most efficiently. These calculations are inherently intensive, and the use of computers as tools to make these calculations came into practice in the late 1960s. This was the first technological boom that spurred growth in Tysons Corner. The larger corporations were able to afford their own in-house computers, a rarity at the time. As time went on, companies began to integrate the computers into the weapons systems, which became known as “systems integration.”2 Given the relative obscurity of computer systems at the time and the fact that a good deal of the work going on in Tysons was classified, a negative image about the work was perpetuated. Some even speculated that the work being done in Tysons was illegal and unethical. This image persisted

until the next technological boom.

With the explosion of the internet in the 1990s, Tysons picked up right where it left off in the 1960s. The scope of the sprawl was even greater this time, with businesses and residential development spilling out of Tysons into outlying Reston and Dulles.2 Given the nature of the work of many corporations located in Tysons, most employees were well suited to adapt, embrace, and take advantage of all the opportunities the internet provided them. There was a paradigm shift from government contracts to dotcom initiatives. However, there is not a massive disconnect between the Pentagon’s influence and the internet’s role in the development of the area; ARPANET, the precursor to the internet, was first used in the Pentagon.2

Much of the more recent commercial growth in Tysons has been a result of Tysons Corner Center, the shopping mall that first opened in 1968. Tysons Mall has become a destination all its own, as illustrated by Garreau’s anecdote in Edge City: “Directly below is the mall in whichthearrivalofBloomingdale’s-seenintheearly 1970’s as the epitome of New Yorkfashion-causedasensation.Whenonepioneering diplomatic contingent from BeijingarrivedinWashington,thefirstthingtheywantedwas not a tour of the LincolnMemorial or theWashingtonMonument.Whattheywantedwastogetoutpastthelegendaryeight-lane

Edge City

72

View of Tysons Corner looking west towards Towers Crescent.B

Beltway that reputedly separates Washingtonfromreality.TheywantedtogotoTysons.Theywanted to see ‘Bloomie’s.’ Theywanted a stiffdoseofAmerica.”1

Fast forward to today and Tysons Mall is even more globally relevant. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, chose Tysons as the site for the grand opening of Apple’s retail stores in 2001. L.L. Bean also elected to open their first store (aside from their Maine based headquarters) in Tysons in 2000. Software giant Oracle recently relocated their headquarters to the area as well.3

This points to the fact that the Edge City of Tysons Corner has become more of a business and shopping destination than the actual city that begat it; 57.7% of the Washington D.C. Metro Area’s office space is contained within its suburbs and Edge Cities, while only 31.1% is concentrated in the District itself.5

While Tysons has become a burgeoning business district and commercial center, it still has the same stigma attached to it that other Edge Cities do. Many see Tysons as an unfortunate consequence of America’s obsession and reliance on the automobile. Attempts to navigate Tysons by foot are not just impractical, but rather downright dangerous in many cases. The congested traffic and inefficient planning make environmentalists cringe. Garreau even suggests that some people are “creeped out” by edge cities. “Traditionalurbanitesrecoilbecauseaplaceblownouttoautomobilescaleisnotwhat they think of as ‘city.’ They find the swirlof functions intimidating,confusing,maddening.Why are all these tall office buildings so farapart?Why are they juxtaposed,apparently higgledy-piggledy, among themallsandstripshoppingcentersand fast-food jointsandselfservicegasstations?Bothliterallyandmetaphorically,theseurbanitesalwaysgetlost.”1

Part of what makes Tysons and other edge cities somewhat unfriendly is their lack of a history or narrative, as it is still taking place. Nobody knows what a fully developed Edge City looks like because none exist yet. The ultimate embodiment of sporadic planning, Venice, is lauded. Tysons, which is following a similar course, is jeered. “Venice was just as mercantilist as Tysons. It was full of

land speculators and developers…Venice is a monument to a dynamic process, not to great urban planning.” Many in Fairfax are aware of the perceived problems with Edge Cities. While some believe that positive growth is impossible due to the automobile based infrastructure5, some change is already underway, with higher density housing and four Metro stops on tap. The end goal is a walkable, higher density Tysons with gridded streets centered around each of the four metro stops. The goal is for “every street, even the major boulevards, to be ‘complete streets’ that balance cars, pedestrians and bicycles with ample greenery.”5 As of now, the plan is on hold until infrastructure can be upgraded to accommodate the anticipated increased congestion. Where once infrastructure was the catalyst for growth in the area, it is now preventing it.

Sam Robinson

73

Apple chose Tysons Corner as the site of their first flagship retail store.C

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

buildings so they have a minimal impact on the environment. There are a number of different approaches to green construction, with many of the ideas involving the responsible recycling of existing resources along with the efficient use of environmentally friendly systems to provide water and power services to buildings that are created using a sustainable design.”

- Malcolm Tatum

“Green architecture is a broad term that refers to the creation or restructuring of

VAUBANFREIBURG, GERMANY

Every morning we get in the car to go to work, to go buy food and commercial goods, and to go everywhere else. But one city in Germany decided to build an experimental suburb, which would try to solve the issues of the car and energy consumption. It was a completely new and radical concept that played a major role in the way we view how communities should be designed.

The site of what today is the world famous Vauban, was once a former French military base named after Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, who was a famous French Marshal in the 17th century who built fortifications in Freiburg while it was under French control. The French built the base in 1936 and took it over after World War II. They left in 1992 and the vacant barracks became occupied by various hippies and anarchists, whom after battles with the city government won the rights to four of the twenty barracks.1

But another group was interested in the land too. The so-called Forum Vauban wanted the land for eco-friendly purposes.1

Because it was a planned military base, the

grid was never supposed to have car usage. The “roads” were narrow alleys between barracks. This was already the perfect layout for an eco-friendly district. Then in 1993, the Freiburg City Council purchased the land from the Federal Authorities for 20,000,000 € and gave the citizen’s association “Forum Vauban e.v.” the power to coordinate the participation process. Then in 1995 it was recognized as the Vauban’s legal body by the city of Freiburg.2

The planning of the city district happened between 1995 and 1999. Forum Vauban welcomed citizen participation of who would express the wishes and needs of the future inhabitants thus affecting the design.3 The main responsibilities of Forum Vauban are to organize far-reaching citizen participation, supporting community-based building project called “Baugruppen” (groups of building owners) for co-housing and co-operative building, the realization of a sustainable model with a focus in the design of traffic and energy, and the coordination of social work and the creating of a neighborhood center.2 The main objectives

Green

76

A CAR-FREE COMMUNITY

77

Bikes in a car-free neighborhoodA

Chris Warren

developed from the citizen participation process for the district are: a car-free project combined with the specific traffic concept and the special off of alternative mobility, the promotion and support of building within self appointed groups (co-building groups), the design of special areas for passive houses, and the decision for a central market place and a community center.3 Other objectives were designed for the creation of the city district to be a co-operative, participatory way, which would meet certain ecological, social, economical, and cultural requirements. A list of these taken from the Vauban.de website include: balance of working and living areas, balance of social groups, division of land into small lots and preferential allocation to private builders and co-operative building projects, integration of future building owners, conservation of the 60-year-old trees and the biotopes of the bordering creek, priority to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, privileges to car-free living, co-generation plant and short-distance heating system, all buildings constructed at least with improved low energy standard (65 kWh/m2a, calculated similar to the Swiss SIA 380/1 standard and now (2002) standard in whole Germany, but 6 years earlier preferences for building owners who reach passive house standard (15 kWh/m2 a) in special designed areas, extensive use of ecological building material and solar energy, infiltration of rainwater into the ground, ecological sanitary systems, district centre with shops for the daily needs, primary school and kindergartens, public green spaces, designed together with the local residents, neighborhood center for social interaction, cultural events etc., diversity of building shapes, and family and children friendliness. These objectives are implemented: in the city’s planning process, in a co-operative way (working groups, workshops projects jointly run by the City of Freiburg and Forum Vauban), through the participation process, by private enterprises such as Genova co-operative and Buergerbau AG, by private builders and groups of building owners (Baugruppen), and by many private non-commercial and commercial initiatives within the district.2

The project was structured by three main institutions that worked with the Vauban: Forum Vauban, the citizen’s association and

legal body for the participation and social work, the “Projektgruppe Vauban” (Project Group Vauban), which is the administration of the local authorities of the Vauban project, and “Gemeinderätliche AG”, a committee from the City Council and consultative members from Forum Vauban to discuss the main Vauban issues. While these are the more political groups that administered the project, Forum Vauban did not want to only administer and organize, but also develop suggestions for the planning and construction of the district. The project was opened up to other partners. The City of Freiburg allowed private builders, “Baugruppen” (groups of building owners), building companies, and commercial developers to build in or to create diversity. The building co-operative, Genova, was founded in 1997, and has built two four-story apartment buildings with 36 housing units (10 of which are publicly co-financed flats) in the first development section completed in August 1999. In addition, a communal house, a rentable guestroom, and a communal laundry were built. There are access galleries, a bridge connecting

the houses, gardens, and a nearby lane created semi-public spaces, which gave it a neighborhood feel. They continued to build 40 units in the second development section. The other main corporation was the Buergerbau AG (Citizens’ building Stock Corporation), who specialized in coordinating community building projects. The corporation offered services ranging from starting the development of the project, planning, and building. This variety of potential buyers and allows for an interesting outcome; a variety, which has both positive urban design and a high level quality of life.2

The new district provides dwellings for 5,000 residents and 600 jobs. Vauban has been awarded national and international recognition as great example of a sustainable city district.2 This is mostly due to the Forum’s hard work and connection to the community. All houses are compliant to passive-house or plus-energy standards saving up to 30% energy of the average house in Germany and 60% relative to an average new house. There is a highly efficient co-generation plan with burns 80%

Green

78

Residents customize their balconiesB

wood chips and 20% natural gas, but solar collectors provide the remaining heat (hot water) and generate 65% of the electricity in an eco-friendly manner. In fact, the 59 Plus-Energy home community is the first housing community in the world to create a positive energy balance and sell the surplus solar energy back into the grid for a profit. The anti-car lifestyle promotes living without a car and provides for alternative mean of transportation such car sharing and public transportation. Streets turn into open area such as playgrounds and public gardens. There are wide sidewalks around the main street with the old trees still preserved becoming points for social interaction. With the Forum Vauban being in charge of the social work, citizens started other activities such as (co-operative) shops, a farmer’s market, and a neighborhood center.3

The locals refer to the majority of Vauban’s residential streets as stellplatzfrei, which directly translates to “free from parking spaces”. Cars and trucks are only allowed to drive down these streets, at a very slow speed, to pick up and deliver but are not allowed to park. This is mostly enforced by social standards because there are few official laws. There is no street parking, driveways, or garages.1 The cars must be parked in the two multi-story parking garages on the outskirts of the residential areas. A car-owner can buy a space for $40,000 with their home. This has resulted, as of 2009, in 70% of the families not owning a private car. 81% of residents had previously owned a car, and 57% sold their car to live in Vauban.4 Every year, each household is required to sign a statement saying that they do not own a car, or they do, which entails that they must buy a space in one of the parking garages. There is a city-wide car club in which the Vauban has the highest concentration of its 2,500 members. It has 10 of its cars positioned around the district. Residents use this system for shopping trips or for traveling. Otherwise they use the local tram, which runs down the main street and connects to downtown Freiburg.1

By the year 2001, 2000 people had moved into the district. After 2006, and after three development phases, the district was complete.2 It is now home to 5,500

residents with a rectangular square mile.4 The beauty of Vauban was that it was led by citizens who created political organizations to make their ideas become reality. They got the chance to plan and to build their own homes, but more importantly a community. But it was not successful in everyway. Instead of having a wide range of ages, it was mostly young families that decided to make the move into Vauban.3 This has left the teenagers feeling a bit disconnected to the ideas of the community, many of whom do not plan to stay after college. Also, some view it as a behavioral trap in which one has to conform to living an all around green lifestyle, or being excommunicated.4 But overall, the positives greatly outweigh the negative, and the Vauban has become an example of what political policy can do to a city, and possibly serves as a model for what can and will be the future of the suburbs.

Chris Warren

79

Shared garden spacesC

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

to people and is a phenomenon of life.”

- Hannah Arendt

“Culture relates to objects and is a phenomenon of the world; entertainment relates

BROADWAYNEW YORK CITY, NY

American Theatre became synonymous with New York City’s Broadway in the 1920’s. With over 80 live theatres lighting up the theatre district, the elite of pre-Depression America knew there was no other place to find the best and widest variety of live entertainment. After the stock market crash of 1929, the theatre’s of New York saw a serious decline in ticket sales, causing many either to close their doors forever or to try to adapt to the changing economy and its changing audience. The remainder of the 20th century saw some theatre’s fall victim to the developer’s wrecking ball; some rose up from the ashes to be restored to their former glory, and some, like a chameleon, changed their skin to match the merciless law of supply and demand.1

The Roaring 20’s gave birth to sumptuous live stages meant to entertain the new wealth of many Americans following World War I. The role of the theatres resembled that of the old Opera Halls of Europe; people went to see and be seen. They showed off their style and money while giving the appearance of a cultured upper class frequenting the live

stage of the times. Florenz Ziegfield was one of the many theatre owners in the economic boom. He used his shows to entertain and hold sway over the people who came to see them. Costumes greatly influenced fashion, inspiring those who saw the shows, which then inspired the masses.2 Many theatre entrepreneurs, like Ziegfield, began building their entertainment palaces uptown of some of the older theatres further down broadways immense length. Theatres, like so many other establishments, began close to the tip of Manhattan when the city was still in its infancy. They were located close to the fringes of high society; close enough to be easily reached since the elite were the large majority of theatre patrons. As the city grew the wealthy moved their homes further and further north, and the theatres followed. Most of them stayed close to Broadway, just moving steadily away from old town and the many slums left behind. Broadway was one of the most comfortable streets to walk in the city, being popular with wealthy inhabitants who insisted on keeping it well maintained. It was also one of the first streets to get gas street lamps which kept it relatively safe.3

Entertainment

82

THE GREAT WHITE WAY

83

The modern Times Square section of Broaday is littered with lights and advertisements.A

Kristin Fields

Variety shows were also present during the early years of theatre in New York, but it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that such shows became known as Vaudeville. During the 1930’s, it found its way into many silent and empty theatres along Broadway and 42nd street. The full length dramas didn’t appeal to the masses the way they had before when the aura of grandeur still meant something. Such dying playhouses had few hits and many flops, losing money for the owner who still had to maintain the theatre and pay the actors. For these owners, vaudeville seemed like an attractive alternative to bring in patrons and keep the theatre afloat. Variety shows, for the most part, appealed to a wider audience in the middle class looking for something to entertain the whole family. It brought middle class workers into the same theatre district as the wealthy, allowing them to mingle in a way and affect one another, such as with the fashions mentioned earlier.2

Vaudeville wasn’t always a family friendly event, sometimes burlesque shows came with it, catering to those looking for a more risqué entertainment experience. Burlesque originally aimed to satire high society. Later on it came to include striptease as another counter to polite society. The arrival of these shows in the formerly respectable theatre district could be considered the beginning of the moral decline on Broadway and 42nd Street that would later result in certain areas

being known as disreputable and “shady”. Burlesque brought in more of the lower class patrons interested in a much more rowdy experience. It managed to survive during the financial straits of the 1930’s, getting slightly more risqué with every passing year.3 This encroachment of uncivilized entertainment was partially deterred in the past by the physical relocation of theatres to a more respectable area, but by the time these unseemly shows began appearing it was no longer a necessity to follow the movement of the respectable clientele. Before the advent of the “el” elevated train, the public bus, and the metro, travel time and ease was a major issue. Once distance from point to point became negligible it was time for theatre’s to settle down on their established Great White Way. 2

Also during the Depression in New York City, many live theatres were converted into cinema rather than being used for some other form of live show. Films were a cheaper and more easily maintainable way to bring paying customers into what would otherwise have been an empty hall. Theatre’s became extremely attractive for converting into cinemas considering they already had all of the main components necessary except for a screen and the equipment. This particular evolution seemed completely natural, both in the architecture of the space and the form and delivery of entertainment. Some theatres

turned cinemas evolved what kind of films they were showing as the time passed, for example, foreign films and action films drew a particular clientele. Many of these converted structures were able to survive until current times when cinema has become just as if not more important to society than live theatre.3

With the rise of radio and television came also the need for studios in which to produce the varying programs; a niche that a few theatres filled. In the 1940’s and 50’s, networks such as NBC and CBS began buying or renting theatres for years at a time in order to film shows on the stages, an already prepared backdrop. Radio also had a stage component sometimes, being broadcast live with a live audience able to watch from the stage seating. For some of these studios, though, the theatres had to be altered to accommodate the needs of the renting production company, for example, balcony seats were usually the first things to go.This happened for many other uses as well, including the movie theatres.3

The sexual revolution of the 60’s and 70’s caused many theatre’s turned cinemas to become home to regular showings of pornographic films and striptease shows. This newest use of the theatres of New York was a response to the new and changing social conditions. Society called for an openness and freeness that the film

Entertainment

84

Map of Broadway Theatres 1882-1990B

industry began exploring and exploiting with a vengeance. Already having a history of burlesque stripteases which were popular in the 1930’s and on, it was easy enough for them to take it to the next level with true striptease and pornographic films. This new openness contributed to the transformation of Times Square and 42nd street into the red light district rather than the theatre district.3

After having a serious part in the moral downward spiral of the Times Square/42nd street areas of the entertainment district, the remaining live theatres became part of the new clean up project meant to restore these areas to some of their former glory. For a long time, Times Square was the center of strip clubs and drug dealers, but in the 1980’s, both Mayor Koch and Dinkins began running such establishments out of the neighborhood. Mayor Giuliani continued their work by redeveloping the area into a much more family friendly environment, all though there are still some advertisements for gentlemen’s clubs. The few historic theatres given landmark status are meant to be restored and reopen their doors as live theatres in the Broadway circle.

Throughout the lifetime of many of the theatres, they were opened, closed, used for something else, and reopened as a live theatre, usually as long as the theatre hadn’t been demolished. Young entrepreneurs felt that they could be the ones to bring life back to the dusty stages, bringing in new actors and actresses, but rarely did it ever work in fully revitalizing the stage. The ones that made it to the 1990’s were usually kept afloat by a variety of uses and often long stretches of being closed and empty.3

Though many theatres are being restored, most of the original 1920s theatres were demolished, reshaping the theatre district into what it is today. The districts surrounding this one began to eat away at it theatre by theatre at the beginning of their decline in the 30’s. The garment district took a couple of the theatres for new work houses. Many at some point in their lives were gutted and made into retail space, such as the pictured Earl Carroll Theatre that was later converted into a Woolworth. Still others were demolished for parking garages and restaurants that would eventually service

the remainder of the theatre district. An entire section of theatres was demolished to make room for the New York Convention Center and its pedestrian walkways. The demand for theatres was just too little after the depression and the dawn of the film industry to support so many live stages. New needs had to be addressed, such as the growing number of New York citizens and tourists, giving rise to condos and hotels. The invention of the car facilitated the need for parking. As disappointing as it was to replace a historic landmark with a parking garage, it was another example of supply and demand. The people demanded a place to park their car, the developers supplied.3

The glittering lights of the Great White Way once showed patrons the way to a different time and place. From the birth of this term in 1902 to the present, New York City’s theatres have been affected by economic and social change, even causing some of that change themselves. From the birth of New York City itself, to the Depression, to the Sexual Revolution, the Entertainment

district has been shaped and molded to fit the needs of the people. Though the glory of the 1920’s can probably never be resurrected, the live stage has regained some foothold in modern entertainment, showing great resilience in the face of many cultural dangers. From being unseated by other forms of entertainment, to the crushing pressure of city developers, Broadway has carried on thanks to an unshakable fascination in Americans and theatre goers around the world for the thrill and excitement of live entertainment.

Kristin Fields

85

Earl Carroll Theater 1933b

Earl Carroll Theater (Woolworth) 1990b

LAS VEGAS NEVADA, USA

Las Vegas has a reputation for many of things. The city makes a spectacle of itself, time and again. Much of the city’s architecture is meant to be vulgar and dramatic, to arouse a memory of another time. Las Vegas’ architecture is meant to [re] create scenes and moments from around the world. The buildings and the space in between are a place of theater.4 The rate at which the city has grown and recreated itself is unprecedented. One can also not ignore the ominous signs that tower throughout the city. The constant barrage of signs begins to add new layers of communication and data telling. As America heads into the age of information, it only makes sense that the architecture becomes the electronic iconography.3 The buildings get bigger as time passes, and in one way or another, Las Vegas is trying to sell itself. This is captured best on the Las Vegas Strip. The strip is almost four miles long and is part of the Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada.6

In less than a century, Las Vegas has completely revamped its image. In fact,

one might even consider early Las Vegas a “small-town America- a Main Street of the 1950s, before the evolution of the strip.”4 Before 1931, Las Vegas was a very typical small-town of America. As one walked down the road, the signage was directional and oriented towards the pedestrian. It was commercial and tried to engage the user by being aesthetics from afar and information as one approached. When the casinos started moving into Las Vegas, this is when the city began evolving. The first casino was the “Pair-o-Dice Club” and it was built on Highway 91 in 1931. The first casino on the strip was not built until ten years later in 1941.6 The main gambling culture was prominently in Havana, Cuba up until the 1950s. All of the mobsters would go here to gamble. In 1953, many of the nightclubs in Havana were running a game, “razzle-dazzle,” where it was fixed so that they were hardly a chance to win but a great chance to lose. The Cuban government finally banned this game and deported most of the American mobsters that were gambling. At this point, gambling was legal in Nevada and the possibilities of Las Vegas were finally

Entertainment

86

THE CITY THAT WON’T GO AWAY

87

Postcard of Las VegasA

Allyn Hughes

coming to fruition. From the 1950s and into the early 1980s, the mob control was a presence that was felt throughout the city. Most of the money that could have gone to government-funded projects was stolen by members of the mob. This hindered growth until the investment potential was realized in the late 1960s. Howard Hughes began to buy up many casinos, hotels, television, and radio stations. The federal government also began to crack down on the mob and soon the government was getting their own source of income from the revenue generated by the booming tourist economy.2

In 1969, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown chose to study Las Vegas because they believed that is exhibited the phenomenon of “Auto-city of Urban Sprawl” in its most pure form. Los Angeles was the first city that coined this term, but because Las Vegas was much smaller and centered around the strip, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown decided Las Vegas was a more appropriate study.4 Highway 91 was a crucial element to Las Vegas because it moved through the city for the “fast cars.” The signage began to change at this point and became more oriented towards the driver as opposed to the pedestrian. These were big signs that one could read as they sped by in their automobile. Las Vegas itself was a fairly open space and in order to deal with this, the scale had to be huge. It is important to note this scale change. In order to deal with the change of speed, the building facades started to become the actual signs. They were highly decorative and oriented towards the automobile user. The signage and the scale were so crucial to Las Vegas in this time. The signs became a form of iconography, which through the years began to incorporate technology into its décor. A warm neon glow immersed Las Vegas throughout its formative years.5

As time has passed, the neon glow has faded. The signs have been taken down and the Las Vegas strip has become more like “The Boulevard.” This is due to developers such The Boulevard.” This is due to developers such as Steve Wynn, who pictures Las Vegas as a destination place that began to copy other realities. The city’s population has greatly increased and extended out into the suburbs.4 As of 2008,

the Las Vegas metropolitan area population was 1,865,746.6 Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown refer to the present day state of Las Vegas as the city of “scenography, rather than the city of iconography, where you can circulate as a pedestrian within a stage-set.” The buildings are symbols that represent other buildings. The Las Vegas Strip is a place where the “space between the buildings is the stage where you circulate, whose scale accommodates pedestrian perception from up close, whose technology remains electric… it is now

the city of entertainment.”4 As America becomes more immersed in the information age, architecture will have to move into electronics and signage, which is a concept that is clearly embraced in Las Vegas.

Currently, Las Vegas is in a “Disneyland” state of being. Las Vegas embraces “surface and form, graphic signage and sculpture.” The buildings are sculptural and symbolic and also decorated with signs. Buildings and landmarks are re-created to give a sense of being somewhere when one is not.

Entertainment

88

Paris Las VegasB

It is exotic and daring. It takes all of the good things about a place and recreates it in a fake reality. Within a thirty year time period, Las Vegas managed to give itself a complete makeover, starting with the strip. A vast majority of the buildings here did not exist even ten years ago. People like Steve Wynn are buying into this fantasy world and they want it to expand worldwide. The Wynn-Las Vegas, a five-star hotel, has a gigantic mountain in front of it. When asked about the concept behind this move, Wynn replied, “Well, I want a mountain because we’ve got so much glitz and activity on the Strip: we’ve got volcanoes, we’ve got Sirens of Treasure Island, we’ve got Paris, we’ve got all that… I want enigma and I want intrigue, and intrigue is humanity’s most important emotion.” When Wynn says this, he is taunting the public. He is well aware of the alternate universe that he has played such a major role in creating. So why not wave a flashy mountain in front of the user’s faces?4

Las Vegas’s makeover is something

that was in the making for years. As the government and private investors began to play a larger government and private investors began to play a larger role in the city, the urban sprawl became urban density. All the empty space that was paved over in asphalt became beautiful gardens and perfectly manicured lawns. Las Vegas became a product of the Disney culture. Las Vegas took all the good things about an attraction and left the bad behind. They neon has become a thing of the past and the electronic signs have turned into pixel signs. Las Vegas is full of theater in the sense that it puts on a real show. This change is a reflection of our society’s need to be constantly entertained. Reality becomes blurred and what is fake isn’t exactly clear anymore and it is an “equivalent reproduction.” This is something that everyone participates in, whether they are conscious of it or not.1

Las Vegas has reinvented itself many times and this act is part of the spectacle. Las Vegas has faced many traumas that

would make most cities disappear. In the 1970s, its economy was based around the lucrative casinos. Tribal gaming became legal around many places in America at this time and most people thought this would destroy the aurora of Las Vegas. This was proven to be untrue since the population and number of visitors has more than doubled since then. Many have also argued that one cannot build in the desert. It has long been suspected that Las Vegas would finally dry up and succumb to the ever-looming drought. Somehow, the state of Nevada always manages to make some kind of deal that ensures water to be piped in. Even recently, Las Vegas suffered the highest foreclosure rate in the United States.6 However, Las Vegas is a city that will not go away—the house always wins here.

Allyn Hughes

89

The Wynn Hotel C

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

of them tourists,” said Emmanuelle Gaye, the spokeswoman for Adidas in France. “They will see the label and what products we have to offer, and even if they don’t buy straight away, they may buy later and in another place.”

- Emmanuelle Gaye

“We reckon that at least 150,000 people a day will pass our shop window, 70 per cent

CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉESPARIS, FRANCE

Although considered by the French to be “the most beautiful avenue in the world,” the humble beginnings of this district would not have foreseen the high-style shopping district it has turned into today.

Prior to the 1600s, the land opposite the Tuileries Gardens was mostly undeveloped, with only a few scattered houses and gardens. In 1616, some of the land was bought by Marie de Medicis. Four rows of trees were planted to form three alleys closed at both ends. This walk became known as the cours-la-reine, or course of the queen, designed for the princess and her court when they wanted to go out in their carriage.1

The purpose of this landscape remained relatively unchanged over the next 250 years. The upper classes used the area as a place for strolling and taking in the air. More trees were planted and fountains and statues were added. The name changed to le Grand-Cours and finally to the name we know it as today, les Champs-Élysées.1 Translating literally as “the Elysian Fields,”

the name was taken from the ancient Greek name of the part of the Underworld where the virtuous souls go to rest for eternity.2 This shows how much importance was placed on the gardens at that point.

When Napoleon I declared himself Emperor in 1804, he saw that the orientation of the capital had changed from the east to the west. The Champs-Élysées, previously just a recreation area for the well-born, became the grand triumphal route leading to the emperor’s residence. The eastern route was abandoned, with the seat of government and power facing west, orienting itself to the fashionable part of Paris.3 The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to mark this new entrance into the city and demonstrate his power.4 It stands in the Place de l’Étoile at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.

In 1855, the World Exposition took place in Paris and cafés, a circus, and the Palais de l’Industrie were added among the trees. But the avenue still didn’t offer enough attraction to bring people in. The long alleys were

Retail/Consumption

92

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AVENUE IN THE WORLD

93

North sidewalk at dawn during Christmas seasonA

Julie Kroon

monotonous and dusty with nothing to look at. Crowds of walkers came in on festival days but nothing held them there.1

To fix this, many improvements were made. The gardens were replanted w ith rare shrubs, large trees, and flowers on both sides of the avenue. Places for games and swings were placed at intervals along the path, a theater was built opposite the circus, a puppet show was started, and stalls selling cakes and toys were established. The roads were paved and lamps were added to line the road. All of this was successful and brought more people in, especially families and children.1

It was not until Napoleon III hired Georges-Eugène Haussmann that the transformation of the Parisian street system was accomplished. Haussmann, who as a baron and chief administrator was answerable only to Napoleon, was the man responsible for the boulevards of New Paris. Essentially, he placed a ruler on the map and cut straight lines through the medieval Paris of crowded, narrow streets, clearing everything that

stood in the way of his visions for wide, breathable roads for traffic and pedestrians. More than 40 percent of all houses in the city were torn down to make way for the new boulevards, some of which were four hundred feet wide. The money spent on this construction, which amounted to 2.5 billion francs over seventeen years, was anticipated to be gained back from taxes and the rise in property prices.5

Although Haussmann is reviled by some as the destroyer of medieval Paris and for displacing people from their homes, it cannot be denied that he cleared many slums and rundown areas. The large-scale construction project also provided work for the unemployed and allowed easy access for troops and artillery against the riots that were taking place in the mid to late 1800s. He also cleared areas around large public buildings to provide easier access. As part of this grand project, the Champs-Élysées was given a facelift, lining the road with trees and regulating the façades of the buildings along it with a new Baroque-influenced architecture.5

Turning the Champs-Élysées into a major thoroughfare also established the avenue as one arm of the great cross of the city axes, called the grande croisée. This referenced the Roman tradition of founding a city on two perpendicular axes, called the cardo and the decumanus. The north-south cardo already existed in the Bd. Sebastopol-Strasbourg and Bd. St. Michel. The Champs-Elysées extended the western arm of the east-west decumanus formed by the Rue St. Antoine and Rue de Rivoli.3 This cross created two main arteries for the circulation of the city and bound the city together by having the four cardinal points within easy contact of each other.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées soon became the place where any chic Parisian came to “see and be seen,” and the location of the most sophisticated and upscale residences. However, as the street became increasingly desirable, rents were driven up, and more and more people were unable to afford living in the area. Current rents are as high as 1.1 million euros per 1000

Retail/Consumption

94

Looking down the Champs-Élysées from the top of the Arc de TriompheB

square feet of space, making it the most expensive strip of real estate in Europe. The rents are higher on the north side of the avenue because of the better exposure to sunlight.6 As a result of these steep prices, companies, stores, and restaurants started to move in, replacing the residences with a new commercial area.

By the 1980s, the avenue was dominated by airline offices and car showrooms. The sidewalks were small and blocked in by lanes for parked cars. Rents plunged until 1990 when the mayor of the time, Jacques Chirac, decided to do something. He eliminated the parking lanes, broadened the sidewalks, and laid down large grey granite slabs. More trees and elegant street furniture were added. These improvements made the street a pleasant place to walk along and gave it the look it has currently.7

Today the Champs-Élysées has turned into a tourist location for visitors from all over the world. The avenue runs for two kilometers through the 8th arrondisement.6 Visitors average 300,000 a day, 500,000 on summer weekends.7 The cafés and small stores have moved out to give way to upscale shopping conglomerations. Adidas, Benetton, the Disney Store, Esprit, Nike, Gap, Lacoste, Swatch, Sephora, and Quicksilver, as well as luxury brands like Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Swarovski are just some of the stores that occupy space along the boulevard. Restaurants are mostly limited to such originals as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, and the French burger chain Quick. The car companies Citroen, Peugeot, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota also hold prominent showrooms along the promenade.8

The Triangle d’Or, or Golden Triangle, is the so-called triangle made up of the avenues Champs-Élysées, Montaigne, and George V. These three streets are famous for the dense concentration of upscale fashion boutiques that can found here. They form the central fashion shopping district of Paris. Besides what has already been listed for the Champs-Élysées, the headquarters for Christian Dior can be found here as well as Hermes, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana stores. 5-star hotels and restaurants are also located in this area to match the price

tags of the boutiques.9

The takeover of the street by global companies has been the source of much controversy, with some Parisians claiming that the street is being ruined. One of the only original restaurants to the street is Fouquet’s café, which had its own controversy to staying in business. Fouquet’s opened its doors in 1901 and was a favorite with many film stars and writers, including Charlie Chaplin and Ernest Hemingway. In 1988, the lease was up for expiration and the Kuwaitis who had invested in the building ten years prior wanted to take it over. A committee of celebrities launched a petition to save the café by getting the French Minister of Culture to declare it a historical monument.10 This prevented the building from becoming another office, bank, or fast-food chain. But this was the fate of just one business.

Both the city of Paris and the French government have promised to take action to stop the so-called “banalization” of the Champs-Élysées.7 In 2007, the Swedish clothes chain H&M was refused permission to move in. However, Abercrombie & Fitch was recently approved and will be in

business by 2011. The identity of the most famous avenue in France as a place of entertainment for Parisians threatens to turn into a massive shopping mall for tourists.6

Every year on Bastille Day, the French national holiday celebrated on July 14, the Champs-Élysées holds the largest military parade in Europe. Since 1975, the last stage of the Tour de France and the following awards ceremony takes place on the avenue. During the Christmas season, the whole street is lit up and the trees are strung with lights. The Champs-Élysées has also become the site for many gatherings, like political protests, New Year’s Eve festivities, and World Cup celebrations.6

The Champs-Élysées connects over three hundred years of design, linking the modern La Defense arch all the way to the Louvre. It represents the French love of elegance and provides a visual relationship between many of the great monuments of Paris.5 Whether it has changed for the better or worse over time, it cannot be denied that the Champs-Élysées has become a landmark for France and one of the most visited places in Paris.

Julie Kroon

95

Map of the Grande Croisée with the Champs-Élysées marked in yellowC

OMOTESANDO TOKYO, JAPAN

The modern-day city has gone through countless iterations. It is in a fragmented state, composed of both the past and the present. This holds true in Tokyo, Japan, which is a city that has been rebuilt multiple times within the past century (on account of man and nature.) Tokyo (along with much of Japan) operates as a mega city of cultural polarity. Historical culture constantly informs modern society, creating a dialectic relationship between society and the built environment. The shopping district of Omotesando is a direct result of these fragmented conditions. Omotesando Avenue is a case in which this relationship has developed to the next level, absorbing Western influences to create a powerful cultural center of contrasting organizations. Known as the Eastern Champs-Élysées, Omotesando’s roots come from the liberal movement of the Taisho period, when the democratic parties planned the road as a wide boulevard that would invite large groups of people to the Meiji shrine in a processional gesture of respect towards the previous emperor.4 Over time, the cultural history of the shrine has instigated a layering

effect of new cultures of contemporary society, as the street has now become a center for shopping and retail and more recently a haven for the breeding of new architecture. Aside for providing a path to their enshrined souls, Omotesando Avenue plays host to various upscale shopping outlets.

As the symbolic approach to the Meiji Shrine, Omotesando Avenue is a modern boulevard based on the traditional notion of a proper approach to a Japanese shrine. Lined with zelkova trees, the relationship between the concept of street trees and that of trees lining shrine approaches were heavily considered. The zelkova trees were regarded as an appropriate choice for such shrine approaches based on its connections with the Kanto landscape and they remain taller than any of the buildings here due to specific building codes.4 This notion of the cultural importance of ritual has been transformed to accept a different role as a tool for public space. Omotesando can be seen as a district of urban transformation on the human scale and building scale based

Retail/ Consumption

96

THE JANUSIAN EFFECT

97

Omotesando Avenue A

Allyn Hughes & Daniel Choi

on history and characteristics of the area. During the transformation of cities over a period of hundreds of years, the things that remain are not simply the physical structures such as buildings or civil engineering works, but also the void spaces such as streets and squares. When buildings change as various world brands and labels go in and out of the area, the space or landscape between continues as before. Omotesando Avenue such as the Imperial Palace Plaza, Yoyogi Park and Hibiya Park also continue to exist longer than any structures. This special presence of public space is an open invitation for the masses. This may constitute the lively atmosphere of Omotesando and the increasing waves of people that flock there for the glamour of its shopping and entertainment. The weekly “festivals” around Harajuku Station can also be a decisive factor in forming the city. Groups of teen rebels and fashionistas use the steps of the station as a stage to engage the world and be models for their own personal styles. It is in these spaces that the heart of this fashion and shopping district really comes alive. The basis of the continuity of Omotesando and the greater Tokyo can be said to be the consciousness of people toward their lifestyles and city space.

The spectacle of the grand boulevard serves as the face upon which the masks of the rapidly transforming built environment develop over time. The speed at which these masks manifest and decay are a result of the cultural notions of impermanence. Over history, the Japanese have formed into a culture of impermanence and change. These cycles have created a society of rapidly moving trends in both physical instances and non-physical cultural values. A trend that resonates within the Omotesando district is fashion. Fashion itself is an element that is in constant flux. Each season, the trends of “what’s in” changes and the temporal element is a quality that is celebrated. Fashion is something ingrained in society, whether one chooses to participate in it or not. Fashion is a gesture that represents the person. The hyper nature of fashion is translated into the architecture of Omotesando, more specifically, Omotesando Hills. Tadao Ando

designed Omotesando Hills in 2005. The development features one hundred and thirty shops and thirty-eight apartments at a cost of three hundred and thirty million dollars. In the development of this area, many of Japan’s older buildings were destroyed, including the Bauhaus-inspired Dojunkai Aoyama Apartments, which were built soon after the earthquake of 1923.3 The practice of rapid building and demolition has been a cultural phenomenon in Japanese society for many years. From an historical perspective, the Ise Shrine is an example

of this phenomenon in an expanded time frame. For centuries, Shinto practitioners have built and rebuilt the shrine on two select plots of land, building it up on one site, only to deconstruct and reconstruct it on the opposite plot every fifty years. As generations grow up with the shrine, the following generation can look to the future of the next shrine as their own identity is tied to this constructive process. In another instance, they have experienced large-scale changes not on their own terms, such as the 1923 Kanto earthquake or the bombings of

Retail/ Consumption

98

Harajuka Girl B

Hiroshima. Moments of large cultural impact had a powerful effect on the city as a whole.5 This brought to the surface the question of Japan’s blooming contemporary culture and how the history and culture of the Japanese people plays a role within that.

The culture of Omotesando is that of consumerism and architecture. If Paris or Milan is the centre of the world of fashion design the Omotesando is the centre of world fashion consumption. At the end of this magnificent procession is Harajuku station, the center of Japan’s most outlandish teenage cultures and fashion styles.5 It is here that the energy and spontaneity of Omotesando Avenue culminates to create a cultural haven for the visionary future city. It is here that consumption is celebrated, and unlike in Western culture, there is no shame associated with it. The greatest architects of Japan are buying into this idea. In Tokyo, cultural identities are formed through loyalty to what particular brand on associates themselves with.

Certain fashion staples begin to create layers of one’s identity and begin to determine their interactions with others. Like fashion, the

shop architecture of Tokyo often only goes as deep as the façade. The interior of the spaces is often left up to the discretion of the interior designer. This is exemplified in Toyo Ito’s Todd’s. The concept of spectacle integrates and explains a wide variety of external phenomena of consumer society where a cult of commodities has begun to create a commodity fetish. In a contemporary urban landscape such as Omotesando, the spectacle primarily expresses a colorful image, it inherently maximizes the strategy of using advertising effects to sell, masked by the entertainment provided by the spectacle and the dynamic expressions that attract and entice the viewer. The creation of depth less, superficial images, or the phenomenon of spectacles as aesthetics, is architecturally comprehended and expressed in urban landscapes of consumption. These images sensibly interact with the public and penetrate into the environment in which we live.1 The structures and spaces that form a living environment are hierarchical in structure. The higher the structures and the spaces in the hierarchy, the longer their life spans. The transformation of these structures and spaces transform the structures and spaces

lower down in the hierarchy, but even if the structures and spaces lower down undergo some transformation, the structures and spaces high up in the hierarchy remain stable. One of the reasons for the chaos in Tokyo, and for the extremely short life period of buildings there, is because the high level structures and spaces which should have a long life span and should be stable, have shown major changes in a short period of time. In order to build a flexible city, which is able to meet the extreme social and economic changes, there must be control of the order, to control city structural elements that should be maintaining continuity, and for changes in the short term.3

Consumption and architecture are not always two things traditionally linked. However, Omotesando presents a rather compelling argument that this might be the future of the city. In a time that demands money and attention, it is important to recognize the significance of social awareness. Tokyo has proven that buildings are replaceable and it is the actions of the people that carry a lasting history.

Allyn Hughes & Daniel Choi

99

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economy

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

- Henry Ford

THE MOTOR CITYDETROIT, MICHIGAN, USA

Detroit has for decades been known as the world’s foremost automotive center. It is a metonym for the American Automobile Industry and no other city has created such a heavy iconic image of the prototypical industrial manufacturing city. There are about four thousand factories in the area. New vehicle production, sales, and jobs related to automobile use account for one of every ten jobs in the United States. It has also recently been in an economic decline of massive proportions. Detroit is so strongly bound with the automotive industry that the outcome of the automobile itself may dictate the fall of its respective “birthplace”. Between 1900 and 1930, Detroit experienced unequaled growth for a city, as it grew six-fold from a population of 305,000 to 1,837,000. This exponential growth was fueled by the concentration of automobile manufacturers around Detroit and by 1929 the automobile industry was the largest industry in the U.S.1 But the industry was not always concentrated around Detroit. Various companies entered the Detroit area through the eastern seaboard and

the Midwest. By 1909 Detroit was home to more than 200 automobile producers and became an automobile center, but it wasn’t until the ensuing time period that Detroit rose to dominance in the industry. After 1909, the number of car manufacturers in the industry fell and within ten years almost all of the leading manufacturers were produced by makers in Detroit. Detroit and the surrounding region became the preeminent manufacturing center as home to the Big Three automobile companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. 2

Detroit was originally had a diverse regional influence in manufacturing but was not considered a top industrial city. A considerable portion of its population lived very close to downtown. Detroit’s growth as a city followed the plan of a common nineteenth-century industrial city as its manufacturing areas stayed close to the river. The river served as a source of power and a path from which goods and supplies could be brought into the city. During this time, Detroit had industries such as metal working, food production, stove manufacture,

Manufacturing

102

THE RISE OF THE AUTOMOBILE

103

Skyline along the Detroit International Riverfront.A

Daniel Choi

drugs and chemicals, and tobacco goods. At the turn of the twentieth century, the manufacture of motor vehicles was among the city’s growing, but still relatively small, industrial concerns.3

Detroit’s first auto plants were very small scale factories. As manufacturing technologies grew, especially through entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford, automobile production grew as firms were expanding on the machine tool and coach building industries. Factories such as the Highland Park Plant had cutting-edge mass production techniques such as assembly lines. It was during this time that Detroit’s stake in the industry was claimed and by the mid-1910s, Detroit area firms were dominating the industry. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were all based in Detroit, Michigan and would overtake the industry for the next 45 years. This rise to prominence in the American industrial scene transformed the city of Detroit, attracting over a million new migrants.

Utilizing this growing number of immigrants, the automobile industry capitalized. Hopeful auto workers rushed into the city from the rural areas of the Midwest, providing a ready supply of workers who had been looking for economic opportunity in Detroit. Ford was at the forefront of this industrial speed and mass manufacturing, especially after announcing a profit plan in 1914 that would pay workers five dollars a day. Thousands of immigrants flocked to the factories in search of these opportunities.

Detroit underwent its most rapid growth in the 1920s, which happens to be the same time period when automobile production soared. By 1930, Detroit’s population had grown to about 1.6 million, making it the fourth largest city in the United States. Although auto production and population growth slowed during the Great Depression, the city continued to attract migrants until the early 1950s, when the city’s population peaked at nearly two million.2

The incoming wave of immigrants and migrants completely transformed the city’s landscape. After settling in Detroit, many immigrant groups decided it best to live farther away from the industrial districts’ many large auto factories. Over the next

50 years, the city’s blue-collar workers would gradually become more and more decentralized.

Detroit’s landscape was uniquely impacted by the rapid developments in car manufacturing. The low-rise city was sprawled outward in every direction, with endless monotonous grids of suburban developments expanding block by block. In comparison, “in New York, workers lived in cramped tenements and apartment buildings; in Philadelphia, they lived in tiny rowhouses, often on treeless

streets overshadowed by red-brick factories and warehouses. In Detroit, by contrast, two-thirds of the structures were detached, single family homes and another fifth were two-family homes, nearly all of them with gardens and yards. Rowhouses, high rise apartments, and tenements were rarities in the Motor City”.3

In terms of the land, Detroit is positioned in an area that is ideal for the formation of an industry center. Detroit is in the center of America’s Industrial Belt, a region

Manufacturing

104

Postcard of the Model T Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan, 1917.B

that extends from lower New England to Pennsylvania and across the Appalachians westward through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The area provided much, if not all, of the raw materials required for the production of automobiles and it was easy to access these materials via river access through the Great lakes and railroads. Pennsylvania and West Virginia’s vast coal resources were accessible by rail no farther than a day’s travel. In Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Cleveland, Gary, and Chicago, large quantities of industrial steel were being produced and were all within a few hundred miles of Detroit. Detroit industries could also access the iron and copper ore regions of northern Michigan and Minnesota through shipping on the Great Lakes. Detroit’s location as the central hub of all these various industries gave its automobile producers easy access to the capital and markets necessary for its extraordinary growth.

In recent times, Detroit has become a major example of the current recession, as the fall of the U.S. auto industry brings down the city with it. This fall indicates Detroit’s inextricable link to the U.S. automobile industry. But the city of Detroit is in the very rare position of being able to reinvent itself at the turn of an economic, cultural, and political crisis. Over the last 100 years, the argument could be made that the automobile industry as a whole has had one of the greatest impacts on modern America. Starting from very simple and humble beginnings, the U.S. auto industry of Detroit grew explosively in the first fifty years of the twentieth century, decentralized and reconstituted its workforce. The Motor City was “made, remade, and unmade by its dominant industry”.2

Daniel Choi

105

Detroit Autoshow, 2003.B

Historic Preservation

Gentrification

Ethnic Enclave

Urban Village

Regenerated

Edge City

Green

Entertainment

Retail/ Consumption

Heavy Industry

New Economyminds. I may be given credit for having blazed the trail, but when I look at the subsequent developments I feel the credit is due to others rather than to myself.”

- Alexander Graham Bell

“Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many

SILICON VALLEYSANTA CLARA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

Silicon Valley refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes all of the Santa Clara Valley, including the City of San Jose, California. Today, it is best known for its development of semiconduc-tors and other modern computing advance-ments, but it was once referred to as the

“Valley of Hearts Delight.” From the era of the Spanish missionaries who established the Santa Clara Mission in 1777 until the 1900s, the valley was largely an agricultural community. Historically, San Jose and Palo Alto were the only cites with populations of over 5,000 people. With the City of San Jose, the county seat of Santa Clara County, as the commercial center for the agricultural economy, Santa Clara County was ranked in the top 15 agricultural areas in the United States. Then, the rapid metamorphosis of this verdant valley in the twentieth century into the densest collection of electronics and semiconductor companies in the world was the result of innumerable key players and events. The most influential were the expan-sion of Stanford University and the war-time spending for research and development by the United States Defense Department.1

In 1876, former Governor Leland Stanford purchased more than 8,000 acres of land in the Santa Clara Valley and founded the City of Palo Alto. On this tract of land, Stanford University was founded in 1885. At that time, the University was one of the few co-educational and non-denominational universities in the Country. In 1925, Professor Frederick Terman, commonly referred to as one of the fathers of Silicon Valley, came to Stanford University with the intent of improving the electrical engineering program. Under his watch, the engineering program was primarily focused on vacuum tubes, circuits, and instrumentation. The campus’ year-round moderate climate and its proximity to the San Francisco Harbor and to the Moffet Field Naval Air Station gave the engineering program the perfect conditions needed to flourish in the years to come. With the influence of Stanford University’s Engineering Department, Silicon Valley’s numerous technological innovations actually began during World War I. At

New Economy

108

BIRTH OF INNOVATION

109

View of Silicon Valley.A

William Morrison

that time, inventions created by Charles Herfold, Cyril Ewell, and other great minds, often under Government contracts with the United States Navy, created the Pulson Arc, global telegraph, and early improvements in radio technology.2 These early developments paved the way for the more radical transformation of the Valley during World War II. Because of the war, there was a massive influx of people to work in the many industries supporting the war effort. Many of the former agricultural areas were transformed into industrial areas used for military purposes. Canning plants transformed into shipbuilding facilities, tractor producers began developing tanks and new aeronautics, and electronics firms were established which were all clustered around Stanford University. Because of the Valley’s climate, on-campus research facilities were able to perform year-round testing. Wartime federal funding also led to the creation of a technological watershed at Stanford University dedicated to developing electronic components and equipment for the military to support the war effort.

After the end of World War II, Frederick Terman, returned to Standford University after spending the war years at the Radio Research Laboratory at Harvard University. Terman was appointed Dean of the School of Engineering. Dean Terman was interested in providing support to the local industries. In this respect, Stanford University’s engineering program was closely aligned with the needs of the Valley’s high-tech companies. Terman was insistent on developing a new relationship between the University and the local industries.3

Dean Terman’s views on the future of the Santa Clara Valley led to the proposal to create the Stanford Industrial Park. Created in1951, the Stanford Industrial Park was originally comprised of 35 acres of land leased only to high technology firms. This was intended to not only bolster the local industries, but to provide post-university employment for the large number of students trained at Stanford University. The Stanford Industrial Park became a model for other high-technology districts with its exceptional landscaping and high architectural standards. The goal of these was to preserve a suburban campus-like

atmosphere while avoiding the obtrusive and industrial feel of most similar parks. A major factor in determining where to build structures on the site was the necessity of placing the buildings on flat areas which made construction on the surrounding hills impractical. Leaving the hills untouched in the site plan, allowed for a verdant backdrop of public parks, hiking trails, and picnic areas and provided an improved quality of urbanization in the Stanford Industrial Park. The result of this site plan was a campus of light industrial buildings that conveyed an architecture of clean, modern, and innovative structures. As Stanford Industrial Park expanded, the lack of useful land for farming pushed many of the remaining agricultural producers out of the Santa Clara Valley. This allowed the expansion of the Stanford Industrial Park which now had the available space and types of facilities that small new firms required to survive with limited resources.5

Two of the important early firms in the Stanford Industrial Park were Varian Associates and Hewlett-Packard. Varian Associates, whose headquarters building was designed by the signature architect Eric Mehdelssohn, was the first tenant. Started in 1948 by Russell and Sigurd Varian, two Stanford University graduates, Varian Associates developed the Klystron. This was the first tube that generated electromagnetic waves at microwave frequencies which was essential for later

developments in radar and in microwave communications. Another early tenant in the Stanford Industrial Park was Hewlett-Packard. Initially located in a shop in a garage in Palo Alto circa 1938, the company was begun by the Stanford graduates, William Hewlett and David Packard, who moved the company into the Stanford Industrial Park in 1953. Hewlett-Packard’s successes quickly led to innovations in the realm of personal computing and printing, which allowed the company to become the largest personal computer manufacturer in the world. Contemporaneous with the creation of the Stanford Industrial Park, the Korean War began, and with it came new Government defense spending. The Korean War continued the flood of federal funds to Stanford University and to the local electronics and defense research and development (“R&D”) companies. Defense contractors sprang up in the area and national companies came into the Santa Clara Valley to be near Stanford University and the Stanford Industrial Park. These companies included IBM, ITT, Admiral, Sylvania, General Electric, Philco-Ford, Intel, Kaiser, and others. Overtime, Dean Terman used the Engineering Department’s faculty, students, and facilities to secure Defense Department research contracts totaling over 13 billion dollars. Under these contracts, researchers and defense contractors in Santa Clara County developed ballistic

New Economy

110

Aerial view of Silicon ValleyB

missile systems and the early semiconductor technology which would soon redefine the Valley and dynamically change the world’s information and computer technologies. Arguably, the semiconductor industry began in 1955 when William Shockley, one of the three inventors of the technology, left the Bell Laboratory to establish the Shockley Transistor Company. At the time, germanium was the semiconductor material used for transistors, but Shockley developed a new three-element design with silicon as the primary material (the Shockley diode). Although they later halted research on the Shockley diode, this was the Santa Clara Valley’s first semiconductor company, and from this company came almost all of the companies which exist today. In 1957, eight of Shockley’s best scientists left the company to continue to continue their work on semiconductors, and founded Fairchild Semiconductors. By 1979, there were at least fifty new spin-off semiconductor companies in the Valley including Intel.4

The unbelievable growth of the semiconductor market was fueled by the Government’s contracts with local firms. By 1960, California companies had been awarded twenty percent of all defense related prime contracts of $10,000 or more, and forty-four percent of all National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) contracts or subcontracts. By the mid-1960s, approximately thirty-six percent of all Defense Department R&D expenditures, and approximately forty-seven percent of all NASA R&D expenditures were for research performed by California companies.1

The center of R&D research in the 1960s were the many small semiconductor firms in the Santa Clara Valley. As the semiconductor components of defense systems grew increasingly complex, there was a large demand to locate companies near their electronic subsystem prime contractors. Also, the interaction and collaboration between the aerospace companies and their semiconductor producing subcontractors was essential given the contracts’ requirements. Even so, industrial space and housing in the Valley was still plentiful and inexpensive. Given this, the Santa Clara Valley prepared

for the influx of venture capital to create and later expand new companies. These developments financed local businesses and also created a large group of wealthy individuals to the Valley. Over time, the creation and expansion of numerous silicon semiconductor technology companies in the Santa Clara Valley led to the coining of the name “Silicon Valley”. The term was originated used by Don Hoefler in 1971 when he wrote as series of articles on

“Silicon Valley USA,” and it has been used ever since.4

Semiconductors are still a major component of Silicon Valley’s economy but the majority of recent innovations have involved software and Internet services. Silicon Valley has significantly influenced computer operating systems, software, and user interfaces through the visionary work of Xerox PARC, Cisco Systems, Apple Computer, and Microsoft. The combination of a massive assembly of minds, the tight aggregation of scientific/electronic firms, and the technology industry’s rapid growth and funds, Silicon Valley is the prototypical high-technology district and is still known today throughout the world as a leader in innovation.4

William Morrison

111

Map of Santa Clara CountyC

INOVALLÉEGRENOBLE, FRANCE

THE FRENCH INNOVATION VALLEYThe innovation center, Zone pour l’Innovation et les Réalisations Scientifiques et Techniques (ZIRST), is based in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1972, ZIRST has emerged as a nanotech leader and the hub of one of Europe’s prime high-tech ecosystems. The success of its growth has much to do with its tradition of moving quickly from research to fabrication. Now ZIRST has been followed by many research centres, both corporate and national, in the Grenoble valley -- which has prompted the name of the area to change to Inovallée, an allusion to Silicon Valley in California. In this paper, ZIRST will be looked at from its genesis to its booming present and recent developments as Inovallée with its over 9,500 employees.

Fuelled by an industrial past, Grenoble has emerged as one of the leading high-technology centers of the world. The development of the high-technology valley is an outcome of long-standing relationships between industry and science. These relationships created an industrial tradition of high-value-added market niches ever

since the seventeenth century glove making industry, which was centered on luxury gloves. This tradition is partly a result of the geographical location of the town: surrounded by the Alps, preventing mass-production industry growth. Also the appearance of hydroelectricity in the region encouraged growth and development of other industries and of academic scientific expertise. At the end of the nineteenth century, the local industries encouraged the development of applied science institutes such as the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, which is still one of the leading engineering institutes in France and in all of Europe. Now Grenoble is the second research pole in France after Paris with 55,000 students and 13,000 research staff in 10 engineering schools, four universities, and five public research institutes.1

The onset of innovation centers in France began in the post-Second World War era when the French began to develop state-sponsored research centers, but most failed to prosper due to very little investment in science and engineering. The second

New Economy

112

Ross Ritchie

Isère River Valley A

113

wave of such centers called for regional development and decentralization to “mobilize the country’s research potential” (Prime Minister Pierre Mendes). This would “rebalance” and normalize the French landscape as a result of Parisian domination of the academics and economics. ZIRST was then founded in 1971 outside of Grenoble in Meylan. Its beginning and growth has been supported by the local authorities in Meylan, being that the mayor, Hubert Dubedout, at the time of its early development was a scientist. One important aspect to its early growth was that there was no central authority in charge contrasting that of the state-sponsored centers. Meaning no direct state funding was given, and new developments were the result of local initiative and strong local identity.

This idea of this collective of enterprises in a regional cluster has been sustained by the ability of the companies to keep a balance of cooperation and competition. Its ability for firms to subcontract to other firms that have the specific expertise to do the work or research. ZIRST continued to flourish by its industrial/academic relationship and its history of moving to from R&D to fabrication for the more lucrative contracts by its ability to get to the consumers fast.2

The idea of the design of ZIRST is highly influenced by the project’s goals of promoting scientific and technological innovation while managing these strengths to promote progress of capitalist production and consumption. ZIRST was a first of its kind in France. It was to combine the high-caliber university research environment and high-tech industries to produce a “milieu of innovation,” enhance the scientific standing of France, and add to the regional economic development. This centre was made to create a utopian place as well as a utopian practice. The planning was led locally by research engineers, scientists, economists as well as local politicians. Many of whom spent time at universities in the US that were closely linked to early innovation centers like Boston’s Route 128 and Silicon Valley in California. This influenced the design as well as incubating an elitist mentality within the scientific community. Some researchers ran for public office in order to allow for public subsides for the project.

These subsidies and zoning regulations led to the ability of the developers to create a grand design. This grand design was to serve as “extensions of the urban fabric” and also to symbolize Grenoble’s “dynamism and excellence.” It also was designed for spatial disposition to influence “social behavior and the capacity for creative work”. It’s elements were of power, authority, and prestige for the appearance of science. Its show of form and rational design became the official image

of applied science in modern France and created the alternative to the “esotericism of the older academic traditions of Paris.” The design called for a natural landscape to enhance the quality of life. ZIRST is sited along the Isère River next to a patchwork of farms and woodlands. This utopian design gave a parklike setting for the buildings to inhabit. The images of its structures were intended to exemplify the ideals of science including strict environmental responsibilities. The selection of companies

New Economy

Montbonnot Area B

114

and their zoning in the centre was to stratify the center for optimum potential. It was to become a “city of sciences” with gardens and ponds that allowed for its people to have plentiful “living space” for leisure, art, and culture.3

The reality of the grand design of ZIRST is much like Le Corbusier’s vision of the city that has an urban hierarchy of the “best qualified people” that bring “prosperity, order, and beauty to society through rationalization.” The criterion of efficiency was very narrow and its selection formalities and exclusions of certain firms hampered any organic development. This modernist ideal of a calculated reorganization of urban territory into socially ranked geography resulted in a technical division of labor as well as a social division. The plan and further development upon the base made ZIRST become a garden suburb rather than a center of urban activity. This resulted in the upscale neighborhoods nearby for the technical elites to find other places of the urban culture that distinguishes the professional middle-class life, which was found in the historical center of Grenoble.3

The first businesses to be located at ZIRST during the 1970’s were oriented towards computing and electronics. These were spin-offs of a larger computing firm in Grenoble. This was the first wave of businesses to populate the area zoned for high-tech activities. Due to the early successes of these enterprises, ZIRST began to grow with incubator firms with help from technology transfer policies in universities, engineering schools, and research institutions. By 1985, 130 firms had populated the ZIRST site. This growth resulted in the expansion to 10 business parks by 2000 in the greater Grenoble area. Minatec and Crolles 2 make up the newest developments in the valley. Just at Crolles 2, a $1.7 billion investment by U.S. based Motorola, Dutch Philips and Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics was made in 2004, which will further expand the valley’s global image as a leader in innovation. The phenomenon of this expansion of the region is largely based through the multiplication of firms through spin-off technology-based enterprises from existing firms and an attraction of large corporations into the valley. Although Grenoble’s long tradition

Ross Ritchie

of industry favored their industry-university relationships, national regulations restricting the involvement of public servants in companies limited the amount of spin-off companies as a means to transfer technology over other forms of university-industry collaboration.1

The area has grown due to the successes of spin-off enterprises, but the valley’s natural beauty has also played a role in keeping them. The center is located along the Isère River between the Chartreuse and Belledonne mountain ranges of the French Alps. These mountains offer twenty ski resorts in the surrounding area. Also ZIRST’s location at Grenoble offers quick escapes to Paris and the Cote d’Azur in just three hours by train. Inovallée and its history as ZIRST have transformed the Isère valley as well as the international standing in science of France. After going through the main crises of the end of the century without any major incident, questions arose about the future ahead for the entire Isère valley, which

were answered be major expansions at the Crolles 2 site as well as Minatec. Inovallée has just recently reiterated its stance on environmental responsibilities by turning around its catch phrase by the founding fathers a “Green belt for grey matter” to “Grey matter for a green belt.” This is hoping to expand on its image as a sustainable development center. In 2008 Inovallée launched the Sustainable Development Charter to insure that the entire valley including the other research centers develop with a general eco-attitude for a continuous improvement approach. This manages the consumptions notably in terms of energy, optimization of resources, limitation of environmental impacts, decrease and recycling of their waste, but also compliance with the fundamental human rights, such are the main foundations of a corporate social responsibility that the Inovallée companies will be greatly encouraged to follow into the future.

Montbonnot Plan C

115

WORKS CITEDKeating, Sharon. “A History of the French Quarter in New Orleans.” 1 April 2010. <http://goneworleans.about.com/od/famouslandmarks/a/historyfq.htm>.Gilmore, H. W. “The Old New Orleans and the New: A Case for Ecology.” American Sociological Review: Volume 9, No. 4 (1944). pp. 385-394.Nelson, Lee W. “New Orleans French Quarter.” 1 April 2010. <http://www.inetours.com/New_Orleans/French_Quarter.html>.

Svacha, Rostislav. The Architecture of New Prague, 1895-1945. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995. Print.Cooper, Charlie & Nigel Morpeth. “The Impact of Tourism on Residential Experi-ence in Central-Eastern Europe: The Development of a New Legitimation Crisis in the Czech Republic.” Urban Studies, Vol 35, No. 12: 2253-2275. 1998

“Old City of Bern.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 9 April. 2010.Juker, Werner. Berne: The Portrait of a Town. Berne, Switzerland: Paul Haupt, 1953. Print.“History in Bern”. World 66. <http://www.world66.com/europe/switzerland/bern/his-tory>.Schmocker, Erdmann, and Weber, Berchtold. Altes Bern-Neues Bern. Bern, Swit-zerland: Benteli Verlag, 1979 (English Text 1982).

Rice, David Talbot and Swaan, Wim. Constantinople: From Byzantium to Istanbul. New York: Stein and Day, 1965. 11-140Bassett, Sarah. The Urban Image of Late Antique Constantinople. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 1-36Rogers, J.M. Sinan. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2006.Barillari, Diana and Godoli, Ezio. Istanbul 1900. Florence: Franco Cantini Editore, 1996. 9-22

Barr, Alistair. “SoHo, New York: Mixed Use, Density and the Power of Myth.” <www.barrgazetas.com/papers/SoHo.pdf.> Print.Gayle, Margot, and Robin Lynn. A Walking Tour of Cast-Iron Architecture in SoHo. NYC: Publishing Center for Cultural Resources, 1983.

1

2

3

1

2

1

2

3

4

1

2

34

1

2

French QuarterNew Orleans, Louisiana

Old Town Prague, Czech Republic

Old Town Bern Bern, Switzerland

Sultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey

SoHoNew York City, New York

117

Works Cited

118

Kostelanetz, Richard. SoHo: The Rise and Fall of an Artists’ Colony. New York: Routledge, 2003. PrintSoHo NYC. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.sohonyc.com/index.html>.

“Neighborhoods in Brief.” Frommer’s Rome. 2010. 11 February 2010 <http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/0064020048.html>.“Trastevere.” Live Rome like a Roman. 3 March 2010<http://www.liveromelikearoman.com/trastevere.htm>.“Trastevere.” Wikipedia. 13 January 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.“Trastevere.” Roma Online Guide. 3 March 2010 <http://web.tiscalinet.it/romaon-lineguide/Pages/eng/rcristiana/sCW3y3.htm>.Herzfeld, Michael. Evicted from Eternity: The Restructuring of Modern Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.Lanyado, Benji. “Now you see it, now you don’t: Trastevere can be as busy as the Trevi fountain, but cross the street and you suddenly find yourself steeped in old Rome.” The Guardian 8 September 2007. Factiva. 9 March 2010.Heuser, Stephen. “IT DID NOT MATTER THAT I HAD... SPENT AN ENTIRE WEEK IN THE ETERNAL CITY ; WITHOUT EVER LAYING EYES ON ST. PE-TER’S. TONIGHT, IT FELT AS IF WE WERE REALLY... LIVING IN ROME.” The Boston Globe 6 February 2005. Factiva. 9 March 2010.Miller, Martha. “Trastevere: The Heart of Rome.” Life in Italy. 11 February 2010 <http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/lazio/trastevere.asp>.Lang, Michael. Gentrification and Urban Decline. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1982.Trastevere. Dir. Daniella Nowitz. National Geographic Channel, 2003Hawley, Charles. “Rome Loses Some Traditional Flavor.” The Christian Science Monitor 11 August 2004. Factiva. 9 March 2010.

“Gentrification.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster On-line. 30 March 2010<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gentrification>Betancur, John J. “The Politics of Gentrification: The Case of West Town in Chi-cago.” Urban Affairs Review. July 2002; 37: 780-814.“History of Wicker Park.” Wicker Park Real Estate. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.condosinwickerpark.com/HistoryOfWickerPark.asp>Lloyd, Richard. “Neo-Bohemia: Art and Neighborhood Redevelopment in Chicago.” Journal of Urban Affairs. 24; 5: 517-532. 2002.Laffey, Mary Lu. “Wicker Park: Open all hours.” Chicago Tribune. 17 Oct. 2008. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/communities/chi-wicker-park-profile_chomes_1oct17,0,3470012.story>

3

4

1

2

34

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1

2

3

4

5

SoHoNew York City, New York

TrastevereRome, Italy

Wicker Park Chicago, Illinois

119

Works Cited

“Brick Lane.” Wikipedia. Web. Mar.0Apr. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane>Bieler, Elizabeth. “The ‘Embeddedness’ of Ethnic Minority Business.” Rising East 3.3:22-35. Web.Frost, Nicola. Exploring the Politics of ‘Neighbourhood’: Brick Lane Festival and the Global City. Diss. City University, 2007. Print.Leech, Kenneth. Interview by Rachel Lichtenstein. Print.Lewis, Paul. “’You sanctimonious philistine’ - Rushdie v Greer, the sequel”, The Guardian, July 29, 2006.

Lin, Jan. Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.Hunter, Albert, and Suzanne Staggenborg. “Communities do act: Neighborhood characteristics, resource mobilization, and political action by local community orga-nizations.” The Social Science Journal: Volume 23, Issue 2 (1986). pp. 169-180.Hsiao, Andrew. “Chinatown Take Out.” The Village Voice, 23 February 1999. Google Scholar Search. 30 March 2010.

Casellas, Antonia; Pallares-Barbera, Montserrat. “Public-sectorIntervention in Embodying the New Economy in Inner Urban Areas: The Barcelona Experience” Urban Studies 46.5-6 (2009): 1137-1155. Web. 25 Feb. 2010“Urban Planning Excellence or Disaster?” Barcelona Field Studies Centre (2009): 305-317. Informaworld. Web. 26 Feb. 2010“City Commentary: Barcelona, Why It Doesn’t Work” Project for Public Spaces, The Hall of Shame (2004): Web. 25 Feb. 2010

Elissa Silverman. “Crystal City Attempts to Change for The Better; Developer Tries to Give Neighborhood More Urban Feeling.” The Washington Post. Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. 2005. HighBeam Research. 23 Mar. 2010 <http://www.highbeam.com>.Matthew Barakat. “Unearthing Crystal City’s Charms; Symbol of the ‘60s Getting a Facelift.” The Washington Post. Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. 2007. HighBeam Research. 23 Mar. 2010 <http://www.highbeam.com>.Le, Corbusier. The Radiant City. New York: Orion, 1967.Charles W. Hall. “Officials Develop Battle Strategy To Keep Navy at Crystal City; Local Leaders Say Key to Victory Is Proving Move Won’t Save Money.” The Washington Post. Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. 1993. HighBeam Research. 23 Mar. 2010 <http://www.highbeam.com>.Working Draft 2008 NOV 21 CC Policy Framework and Concept PlanAnnie Gowen - Washington Post Staff Writer. “Arlington Envisions Crystal City After BRAC.” The Washington Post. Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co. 2006.HighBeam Research. 23 Mar. 2010

1

2

3

45

1

2

3

1

2

3

1

2

34

56

Brick LaneLondon, England

ChinatownManhattan, New York

Diagonal Mar Barcelona, Spain

Crystal City Arlington, Virginia

Works Cited

120

Jolles, Allard. “Tail Winds.” Eastern Harbour District Amsterdam: Urbanism and Architecture. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2006. Print.Buurman, Marlies. “Abbatoir and Veemarkt sites and Entrepot-West.” Eastern Harbour District Amsterdam: Urbanism and Architecture. Rotterdam: NAi Publish-ers, 2006. Printde Waal, Jan. “Living in the Eastern Harbour Dirstrict.” Eastern Harbour District Amsterdam: Urbanism and Architecture. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2006. Print.Schaap, Ton. “Found Object: The urban planning of the Eastern Harbour District.” Eastern Harbour District Amsterdam: Urbanism and Architecture. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2006. Print.

Kupka, Karl. “Redevelopment by Tradition.” 26 Mar. 2009. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://universidadypatrimonio.net/doc/N2841_karl2.pdf>“Incubator for Innovative Enterprise on the island of Giudecca in Venice.” Citta di Venezia. 7 Dec. 2007. Powerpoint Presentation. < http://www.med-pact.com/Download/Archimedes/09-Study-Visit-Incubators-Giudecca.pdf>Watkins, Thayer. “The Economic History of Venice.” San Jose State University Economics Department. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/venice.htm>Dal Bon, Giovanna. “Giudecca, The Island That was not There.” 28 Mar. 2010. <http://www.myvenice.org/Giudecca-the-island-that-was-not.html>“The ATER for Venice and its history.” ATER Venezia. 28 Mar. 2010. <www.atervenezia.it/ist/ist_storia.php>“Special Projects.” Citta’ Di Venezia. <http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/1>

Wikipedia contributors. “New Center, Detroit.” Wikipedia, The FreeEncyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 8 April 2010.Fogelman, Randall. Detroit’s New Center. Great Britain: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.Garreau, Joel. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Doubleday, 1991.Lang, Robert. Edgeless Cities: Exploring the Elusive Metropolis. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2003.New Center Neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan (MI), 48202 Subdivision Profile - Real Estate, Apartments, Condos, Homes, Community, Population, Jobs, Income, Streets.” Www.city-data.com. Urban Mapping, Inc., 2008. Web. 02 May 2010. <http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/New-Center-Detroit-MI.html>.

Garreau, Joel. Edge City. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print.Paul Ceruzzi, Tysons Corner Virginia. Knowledge, Technology & Policy. Summer 2000. Volume 13. No. 2“Tysons Corner.” Wikipedia. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tysons_Corner_Center>.

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

234

5

12

3

Eastern Harbor DistrictAmsterdam, Netherlands

Giudecca Venice, Italy

New Center Detroit, Michigan

Tysons Corner McLean, Virginia

Works Cited

121

Alpert, David. “Tysons Planners: Making a City Is Hard, so Never Mind.” Greater Greater Washington. 15 Sept. 2009. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010.Lang, Robert and LeFurgy, Jennifer (2003). “Edgeless Cities: Examining the Non-centered Metropolis.” Housing Policy Debate 14:3, pp 427-460.

“Vauban, Freiburg.” Wikipedia. 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauban,_Freiburg>.Vauban.de: Vauban District, Freiburg, Germany. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.vauban.de/info/abstract.html>Forum Vauban. Forum Vauban E.v. 25 Nov. 2004. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.forum-vauban.de/tasks.shtml>.Rosenthal, Elizabeth. “In German Suburb, Life Goes On Without Cars.” The New York Times. 11 May 2009. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html>.

Innes, Christopher. Designing Modern America: Broadway to Main Street. New Haven: Yale University, 2005. 38-81Hoogstraten, Nicholas van. Lost Broadway Theatres. New York: Princeton Archi-tectural Press, 1991.Henderson, Mary C. The City and the Theatre: The History of New York Play-houses A 250 Year Journey From Bowling Green to Times Square. New York: Back Stage Books, 2004.

Debord, Guy, and Ken Knabb. Society of the spectacle. London, England: Rebel Pr, 1983. Print.Koch, Ed, and Mary Manning. “Mob Ties.” Las Vegas Sun. 15/05/2008. Web. <http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/>Merkhofer, Rachel. “Hyperreality: The Authentic Fake.” Media Crit (2007): n. pag. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://mediacrit.wetpaint.com/page/Hyperreality:+The+Authentic+Fake>.Rattenbury, Kester, and Samantha Hardingham. Supercrit #2: Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. 2007, 2007. Print.Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Ve-gas. MIT Press (MA), 1977. Print.Wikipedia contributors. “Las Vegas, Nevada.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 May. 2010.

Alphand, Adolphe. Les Promenades de Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architec-tural Press, 1984.“Avenue des Champs-Élysées: Paris’ Main Street.” WhyGo: Paris. 27 November 2008. 25 February 2010 < http://www.parislogue.com/travel-tips/avenue-des-champs-elysees-paris-main-street.html>.Jordan, David P. Transforming Paris. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

4

5

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

Tysons CornerMcLean, Virginia

Vauban Freiburg, Germany

Broadway New York City, New York

Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas, Nevada

Les Champs-ÉlyséesParis, France

Works Cited

122

Poisson, Michel. Paris: Buildings and Monuments. New York: H. Abrams, 1999.Antoniou, Jim. Cities Then & Now. New York: Macmillan, 1994.“Champs-Élysées.” Wikipedia. 18 March 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.Lichfield, John. “Champs-Elysees going down hill?” The Hamilton Spectator 27 January 2007. Factiva. 3 March 2010.MagicParis. Champs Élysées Official Website. 2010. 25 February 2010 <http://www.champselysees.org/champselysees/>.Cofrase. “L’histoire.” Triangle D’Or. 2010. 25 February <http://www.cofrase.com/triangledor/index.htm>.Tempest, Rone. “Even Le Yuppie Avoids Les Champs-Elysees.” Sydney Morning Herald 14 Jabnuary 1989. Factiva. 3 March 2010.

Jeon, You-chang; Kim, Do-sik; Kim, Sung-wook. A Study on the Expressional Char-acteristics of a Spectacle on a Contemporary Architectural Surface. Ajou University, 2008.Long , Kieran. “Omotesando-Dori.” iconeye January 2005: n. pag. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=327&id=2659>.Minami, Kazunobu. Regeneration of City Space Based on the Continuity of Orders. The Shibaura Institute of Technology, 2005.Nagase, Setsuji. A Study on the Formation Context of Meiji Shrine’s Omotesando Avenue, as a Modern Boulevard.Wikipedia contributors. “Omotesandō, Tokyo.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 May. 2010.

Davis, Donald F. Conspicuous Production: Automobiles and Elites in Detroit, 1899-1933, 1988, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Klepper, Steven. Disagreements, Spinoffs, and the Evolution of Detroit as the Capital of the U.S. Automobile Industry. Management Science 53(4), pp. 616-631, 2007 INFORMS.Sugrue, Thomas J. From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: How the Automobile Industry Reshaped Urban America. 2004 Automobile in American Life and Society.

Hall, Peter, and Ann Markusen, eds. Silicon Landscapes. Winchester, Massachu-setts: Allen & Unwin, 1985. Print.Kenney, Martin. Understanding Silicon Valley: The Anatomy of an Entrepreneurial Region. Stanford, California: Stanford Press, 2000. Joncas, Richard, Neumann, David, and Turner, Paul. The Campus Guide: Stanford University. New York, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. Print.

“Silicon Valley.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 3 May. 2010.Steinberg, Goodwin, and Wolfe, Susan. From the Ground Up: Building Silicon Val-ley. Stanford, California: Stanford Press, 2002. Print.

456

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5

Omotesando AvenueTokyo, Japan

Detroit Automobile Sector Detroit, Michigan

Silicon Valley Stanford, California

Les Champs-ÉlyséesParis, France

Works Cited

123

Druilhe, Celine; Garnsey, Elizabeth. “Emergence and growth of high-tech activity in Cambridge and Grenoble” Entrepreneurship & Regional Development: An Interna-tional Journal 12.2 (2000): 163-177. Informaworld. Web. 25 Feb. 2010Lawson, Clive; Lorenz, Edward. “Collective Learning, Tacit Knowledge and Re-gional Innovative Capacity” Regional Studies 33.4 (1999): 305-317. Informaworld. Web. 23 Feb. 2010Wakeman, Rosemary. “ Dreaming the New Atlantis: Science and the Planning of Technopolis, 1955-1985” Osiris, 2.18 (2003): 255-270. JSTOR. Web. 25 Feb. 2010

1

2

3

InovalleeGernoble, France

IMAGE CREDITSSergeev, Alexey. “Bourbon Street near Conti Street at Evening.” 25 April 2005. <http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/archives/2005/445/jpeg/08.jpg>Thompson, Tim. “Intersection of Royal & Dumaine in the French Quarter.” 23 July 2005. <http://www.tim-thompson.com/French_Quarter_1.jpg>Infrogmation. “New Orleans fire of 1788 map.” Wikipedia. 6 May 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_Orleans_fire_of_1788_map.jpg>

szeke. “Old Town Square, Prague.” Photo. Flickr.com. 8 September 2009. 3 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosz/3901501639/>Dr. Jaus. “Old Town City Hall, Prague. Colorfull.” Photo. Flickr.com. 28 March 2008. 3 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/smorchon/2367013146/Prague, Czech Repuplic. Maps.Google.com. 3 May 2010. <http://maps.google.com/>

Old Town Bern. Bern, Switzerland. Bern. <http://www.pictures-switzerland.com/bern/index.htm>. Web.Schmocker, Erdmann, and Weber, Berchtold. Altes Bern-Neues Bern. Bern, Swit-zerland: Benteli Verlag, 1979 (English Text 1982).Bellwald, Ulrich. East/West cutaway drawings of the Zytglogge tower in Berne. 1979. Bern, Switzerland. Wikipedia. Web.

Fields, Kristin. Modern Hagia Sophia. Photograph. Blacksburg, VA.Rice, David Talbot and Swaan, Wim. Constantinople: From Byzantium to Istanbul. New York: Stein and Day, 1965. 162, 81

NYClovesNYC. Mercer Street, SOHO, New York City. 2009. Photograph. New York City.McDarrah, Fred W. Looking North on Greene Street. 1974. Photograph. New York City. SoHo the Rise and Fall of an Artists’ Colony. New York: Routledge, 2003. 27. Print.SoHo. Photograph. New York City. What Goes Around Comes Around. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.whatgoesaroundnyc.com/locations/>.

A

B

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

AB

A

B

C

French QuarterNew Orleans, Louisiana

Old Town Prague, Czech Republic

Old Town Bern Bern, Switzerland

Sultanahmet Istanbul, Turkey

125

SoHoNew York City, New York

Image Citations

126

“Discover the heart of Rome: Trastevere.” Travel News. October 28 2009. 11 February 2010 <http://travellerplanet.wordpress.com/2009/10/>.“Santa Maria in Trastevere.” Wikipedia. 13 January 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.“Trastevere.” Hotels & City Guide. 3 March 2010 <http://www.romaclick.it/english/hotel/tutti/110939.php>.

Time Out Chicago. “The Flat Iron Arts Building.” Photo. Medill Reports. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=133737>serlingrod. “These books were made for waitin’.” Photo. Flickr.com. 31 Mar. 2008. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/24403675@N05/2378319115/>Wicker Park. Maps.Google.com. 20 Apr. 2010. <http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=wicker%20park&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl>

Brick Lane Curry Festival 2006. 2006. Photograph. Panoramio. 11 May 2007. Web. Apr. 2010. <http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/2174784.jpg>.View Down Brick Lane Towards Truman. Photograph. Curiously Incongruous. 24 Sept. 2007. Web. May 2010. <http://sqs.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/23/view_down_brick_lane_to-wards_truman.jpg>.Old Truman Brewery. Photograph. Flickr. 15 May 2005. Web. May 2010. <http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/27416820_16fb4be907.jpg>.

Chensiyuan. “Chinatown Manhattan 2009.” Wikipedia. 13 August 2009. <http://up-load.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Chinatown_manhattan_2009.JPG>Momos. “Chinatown 02-New York City.” Wikipedia. 9 May 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_02_-_New_York_City.jpg>Byrom-Daufel Family. The Oregonian. 7 February 2009. <http://blog.oregonlive.com/o_impact/2009/02/chinese.jpg>

Ritchie, Ross. Parc Diagonal Mar. 2009. Photograph.Ritchie, Ross. Avinguda Diagonal. 2009. Photograph.Parc Diagonal Mar. Map. Barcelona: Web. 1 April 2010

Photograph. Http://blog.livecrystalsquare.com. The Bainbridge Companies LLC. Web. 10 Apr. 2010.<http://blog.livecrystalsquare.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/283/files/gallery/under-ground_000.jpg>.Working Draft 2008 NOV 21 CC Policy Framework and Concept PlanPhotograph. www.gettyimages.com. Getty Images, Inc. Web. 1 May 2010.<http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/med500012/Photodisc>.

A

B

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

ABC

A

BC

TrastevereRome, Italy

Wicker Park Chicago, Illinois

Brick Lane London, England

ChinatownManhattan, New York

Diagonal Mar Barcelona, Spain

Crystal City Arlington, Virginia

127

Image Citations

Nelson, Jay. Borneo & Sporenburg. February 2010. Photograph.GUBZ2K9. “Pythonbrug.” Photo. Flickr.com. 21 September 2009. 3 May 3, 2010. < http://www.flickr.com/photos/gubz2k9/3942021904/in/pool-1093639@N23/>Map. Eastern Harbour District Amsterdam: Urbanism and Architecture. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2006. Print.

j~Steve. “Giudecca.” Photo. Flickr.com. 8 Oct. 2006. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/41395892@N00/264407479/>seier+seier+seier. “cino zucchi, social housing, venice, 1997-2002.” Photo. Flickr.com. 24 Oct. 2008. 18 Mar. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/94852245@N00/2970326811/>Giudecca. Maps.Google.com. 20 Apr. 2010. <http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&q=venice%20building%20map&ndsp=20&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il>

Photograph. Http://www.newcenter.com/. New Center Council, Inc. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.newcenter.com/index.htm>.Photograph. www.flickr.com. Arace, 14 Jan. 2008. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/thereason/2194054024/in/photostream/>.Photograph. http://newcenter.com/. New Center Council, Inc. Web. 2 May 2010.<http://newcenter.com/images/location/NewCenter_map2006.gif>.Cnes/Spot Image, GeoEye, U.S. Geological Survey. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://maps.google.com. 2010 DigitalGlobe, Sanborn, USDA Farm Service Agency,>

Photograph. Washington Post. 7 Sept. 2008. Web. Apr. 2010. <http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/photo/2008/09/05/PH2008090503140.jpg>.Tysons Corner, VA : Towers Crescent. Photograph. City Data. 18 May 2008. Web. Mar. 2010. <http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv29860.php>.First Apple Store. Photograph. Flickr. 20 Mar. 2007. Web. Apr. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/epytwen/427868699/>.

Specht, Martin. 2009. Photograph. Vauban, Freiburg. New York Times. 11 May 2009. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?_r=1>.Ely, Alex. Residents Have Personalised Their Balconies. Photograph. Vauban, Freiburg. CABE. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/vauban?photos=true&viewing=2715>.Ely, Alex. Private Patios Open on to Shared Garden Spaces. Photograph. Vauban, Freiburg. CABE. Web. 2 May 2010. <http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/vauban?photos=true&viewing=2719>.

AB

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

A

B

C

Eastern Harbor DistrictAmsterdam, Netherlands

Giudecca Venice, Italy

New Center Detroit, Michigan

Tysons Corner McLean, Virginia

Vauban Freiburg, Germany

Image Citations

128

AMase, Randolph, “New York – The Most Entertaining City in the US!” [Weblog en-try] Randolph Mase’s Weblog. 18 Sept. 2009. 30 April 2010. <http://randolphmase.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/new-york-%E2%80%93-the-most-entertaining-city-in-the-us/> Hoogstraten, Nicholas van. Lost Broadway Theatres. New York: Princeton Archi-tectural Press, 1991. 214

Las Vegas Postcard. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/us_army_rolling_along/>.Wynn. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074617@N00/2337302634/>.Viva Las Vegas. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/66727626@N00/401079037//>.

“Champs-Élysées.” Wikipedia. 18 March 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.“Champs-Élysées.” Wikipedia. 18 March 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.Jordan, David P. Transforming Paris. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Dior Omotesdano. Web. 3 May 2010.<http://www.flickr.com/photos/92822489@N00/4115137276/>.Harajuku girl. Web. 3 May 2010.<http://www.flickr.com/photos/marxpix/>.

Mustafa, Shakil. “Detroit (Michigan, USA) skyline from Windsor (Ontario, Canada) from across the Detroit River.” Jan. 29th 2006. Wikipedia. May 1, 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Detroit_Night_Skyline.JPG>“Highland Park Ford Model T Plant Postcard.” 1917. Flickr. May 1, 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_frenkel/3367948166/>“Detroit Autoshow.” Jan. 2003. Flickr. May 1, 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeross/2194122300/>

Center of Silicon Valley. Santa Clara Valley, California. Flickr. Web.A World Dressed in Technology. Palo Alto, California. <http://www.christopherautry.com/blog/?paged=2>. Web.Benbennick, David. Map of California Highlighting Santa Clara County. Wikipedia. Web.

Azana, Pilar. La robe et l’échelle. 2010. Photograph. Flickr.Kossa, Marc. Aerial Photos. 2005. Photograph. vBulletin.Montbonnot. Map. Grenoble: Blanc-Lapierre. Web.

A

B

A

B

C

ABC

A

B

A

B

C

AB

C

ABC

Broadway New York City, New York

Las Vegas Strip Las Vegas, Nevada

Les Champs-ÉlyséesParis, France

Omotesando AvenueTokyo, Japan

Detroit Automobile Sector Detroit, Michigan

Silicon Valley Stanford, California

InovalleeGernoble, France

129

DISTRICTS

DISTRICTS