Town Planning & Urban Design History

Abhishek K. Venkitaraman Iyer

Assistant Professor

Faculty of Architecture, MIT

Principles of Urban DesignLECTURE 4

PL 511 | Urban & Regional Planning

Slideshow developed by: Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAPBohol Island State University | College of Architecture & Engineering

P l a n n i n g : H i s t o r i c a l O v e r v i e w a n d I n f l u e n c e sA history of urban and regional planning from its early development up to the present.

P r i m a r y R e f e r e n c e

THE BEGINNINGS

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SETTLEMENT DESIGN

Agricultural Societies

Rectilinear Plotting

LAYOUT

1. Grid (or Rectilinear) product of the farmer

2. Circular (Fencing) product of the herdsman

defensive role

3. Radiocentric when circular settlements enlarge

fortress cities (i.e. Paris)

And when we saw all those cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Tenochtitlan, we were amazedIndeed, some of our soldiers asked if it was not all a dream (Spanish chronicler, Bernal Diaz del Castillo) describing Aztec Chinampa agriculture

Circular Layout

Radio-centric Layout

ANCIENT GREECELANDSCAPE powerfully assertive

HIGH PLACES fortified hilltop

sacred precinct

TOWN DESIGN = SENSE OF THE FINITE

Aristotles ideal size of city = 10,000 20,000 people

Never attempted to overwhelm nature

Buildings give a sense of human measure to landscape

THE STREET not a principal element but as a leftover space for circulation

PLACE OF ASSEMBLY market (agora)

Acropolis

The agora was a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city.

Ancient Athens

ANCIENT ROME

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URBAN DESIGN

Greek : sense of the finite

Romans : political power and organization

USE OF SCALE

Greek use of scale is based on human measurements

Romans used proportions that would relate parts of building instead of human measure

ANCIENT ROME

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MODULE

Greek use of house as module for town planning

Roman use of street pattern as module

to achieve a sense of overpowering grandeur

made for military government

THE STREET

Greeks : as a leftover space for circulation

Romans: street are built first; buildings came later

PLACE OF ASSEMBLY

Greeks: market (agora)

Romans: market, theater, and arena

Roman Forum

Imperial fora overlapping other sites

Trajan Forum

MEDIEVAL ERA

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DECLINE OF ROME

Dark Ages, but not for urban design

URBAN SETTINGS

Military strongholds, castles, monasteries, towns

MILITARY STRONGHOLDS

Acropolis and Capitoline Hill

CASTLES

Built atop hills, enclosed by circular walls

Radiocentric growth

MEDIEVAL ERA

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MONASTERIES

Citadels of learning

Laid out in rectilinear pattern

MEDIEVAL TOWNS

Like Greek towns, small and finite in size

Lacks geometry

Became parts of larger territorial states

Growth and population created the need for marketplaces

MEDIEVAL ERA TOWN DESIGN

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VISIBLE EXTERIORS

Suit the viewing conditions of small spaces

VISTA considerations and HUMAN SCALE

Fine accents in landscape

STREET LAYOUT

Functional

But with no logical form


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MEDIEVAL ERA sets the stage for RENAISSANCE

Skill of builders

Wealth of bourgeoisie and nobility

Organization of the military and new force in gunpowder

Development of political powers and expertise

New organizations

Scholarly knowledge of the church


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3 MAJOR EVENTS MARKING TRANSITION FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES

Dawn of science

Fall of Constantinople

Discovery of the New World

Lucca, Tuscany

Carcassonne, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Medieval Design

Piazza Grande - Roman

Piazza del Campo,Siena, Italy

An urban square is an open public space commonly

found in the heart of a city used

for community gatherings.

a forum for exchange, both social and economic ideas

Their significance and intensity of meaning is expressed through

harder intensively used landscaping.

They tend to be formal and urban in nature in contrast to

parks and open space, which are

typically soft landscaped, larger

and less intensively used.

Structure of a Square

A p p r o a c h

A r r i v a l

1 2 3

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A p p r o a c h

A r r i v a l

Basic Design Structure

T o d i P e r u g i a

Basic Design Structure

F l o r e n c e V e n i c e

FROM MEDIEVAL ERA TO RENAISSANCE ERA

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MEDIEVAL URBAN DESIGN were to be discarded

Sense of scale

Intimate relation between house and street

MEDIEVAL SYSTEM OF TOWN DESIGN

Truly livable

Humanist basis

RENAISSANCE SYSTEM OF TOWN DESIGN

Role of the individual as builder of his town was lost

RENAISSANCE EARLY DEVELOPMENTS

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REBUILDING FERRARA

Palazzo DiamantiMost famous structure

Biaggio Rossetti Architect and town planner

Regarded as one of the worlds earliest modern urban designers

Rossettis plan

Street widening, new buildings, wall improvement

Enlarge the town

Carry on with the plan o build upon

RENAISSANCE EARLY DEVELOPMENTS

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LESSONS FROM ROSSETTIS EFFORT

Repair an existing city

Plan for enlargement

Decide which to concentrate effort

Lay down a plan that is logical and realizable

Provide framework for others to build upon

RENAISSANCE REBUILDING ROME

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PROBLEMS

Circulation

Defense

Water supply

Sanitation

SOLUTION

Popes have to undertake civic improvement projects

PILGRIMAGE

St. Peters Cathedral improved

Campidoglio (Romes city hall) improved

RENAISSANCE REBUILDING ROME

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DOMENICO FONTANA

Architect commissioned by Pope Sixtus V

FONTANAS PLAN

Streets were visually accented using OBELISKS

OBELISKS

As stakes, as GUIDEPOSTS for the whole city

as SCALE REFERENCE POINTS for successive designers

DESIGN PRINCIPLE

Architecture of ancient Rome

New design of early Renaissance

Renaissance Rome

In a classic example of Baroque planning, the encircling arms of the colonnade of Berninis St Peters basilica, crowned with sculptures by the same artist, reach out into the wider vista towards the Tiber river. (Thomas Mawson, Civic Art, 1911, p107)

Renaissance Rome

RENAISSANCE THE CAMPIDOGLIO Piazza del Campidoglio

One of MICHELANGELOs finest works

Seen at a distance as a whole composition

EQUESTRIAN STATUE of Marcus Aurelius Serves as Centerpiece or Guidepost

ENTRANCE RAMPS widen toward the top

perspective effect and stairs appear shorter

similarly, SIDE BUILDINGS are not parallel

Significance of a REMODELLING JOB

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il Campidoglio or Monte Capitolino

Campidoglio

il Campidoglio or Monte Capitolino

RENAISSANCE URBAN PLAZAS: FRANCE & ENGLAND

JACQUES ANDROUET DU CERCEAU (520 -1586)

French architect who visited Rome

Brought plaza idea to Paris, France

INIGO JONES

First significant English architect, brought the Renaissance plaza to London

Bedford Square started in 1631

Covent Garden modeled after Livorno

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RENAISSANCE URBAN PLAZAS: FRANCE & ENGLAND

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OTHER PLAZAS IN LONDON

Leicester Square started in 1635

Bloomsbury Square 1665

Six more plazas were built before 1700

RENAISSANCE PLAZA

one of the elements of urban design par excellence

but did not tie whole city together

Rossettis Ferrara (street system); Fontanas Rome (guidepost system)

Louis XIVs Palace of Versailles (built 166874), with its famous gardens by Andr le Notre, had bisecting land and water axes that created impressive vistas. It inspired Pierre LEnfant when he designed Washington DC as the new capital of the United States of America in 1791.

Versailles, France

RENAISSANCE REBUILDING LONDON

The GREAT PLAGUE (16641666) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in the Kingdom of England (modern day United Kingdom). It happened within the centuries-long time period of the Second Pandemic, an extended period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics which began in Europe in 1347, the first year of the "Black Death" and lasted until 1750.

** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plague_of_London

Th Great Plague of London 1664-1666

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums.[2] It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants.

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London

Th Great Plague of London 1966

Th Great Fire of London 1666


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SEVERAL DESIGNERS PROPOSED PLANS Christopher Wren > Robert Hooke > John Evelyn > Valentine Knight

1707-1709 laws banning use of combustible materials, led to extensive use of bricks

JOHN GWYNN produced plan for London 1766 London & Westminster Improved

heralded the Golden Age of building

key figure in the introduction of the Building Act 1774 which improved standards of materials and workmanship

John Gwynn believed that the Great Fire of the previous century had created a great opportunity to plan and improve London. This volume includes four engraved and hand-colored maps showing the proposed improvements to Westminster and London.

Gwynn wanted a scenic London, with boulevards pointing to noble buildings. Looking at congested bottlenecks like Charing Cross and Temple Bar, the refuse piling up at street corners, and open sewers like the Fleet, Gwynn asked: 'Where is the taste and elegance?'

One of his achievements came in with the Building Act of 1774, which graded houses both in measurements and materials. The first triumph was Bedford Square, with 'first-rate' materials being used. It thus became desirable quarters for lawyers and other professionals.

Bedford Square is a square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, including Lord Eldon, one of Britain's longest serving and most celebrated Lord Chancellors, who lived in the largest house in the square for many years. The square takes its name from the main title of the Russell family, the Dukes of Bedford, who were the main landlords in Bloomsbury.


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GOLDEN AGE : encompassed a 30-year period ADELPHI TERRACE

work of the Adam brothers; built along the River Thames

BATH created by architects John Wood, Sr. and Jr.

1702, discovered by the aristocrats

1727, rectangular plaza (Queens Square)

1754, great circle (Kings Circus)

1767, Royal Crescent

EDINBURGH 1767, Scottish architect James Craig

END OF LONDON PLAZA ERA : coming of industrial era

Adelphi is a district of London, England in the City of Westminster. The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street. Picture shows the main terrace of AldelphiTerrace raised high above the noise and smell of the river on an arcade of warehouses.


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GOLDEN AGE : encompassed a 30-year period ADELPHI TERRACE

work of the Adam brothers; built along the River Thames

BATH created by architects John Wood, Sr. and Jr.

1702, discovered by the aristocrats

1727, rectangular plaza (Queens Square)

1754, great circle (Kings Circus)

1767, Royal Crescent

EDINBURGH 1767, Scottish architect James Craig

END OF LONDON PLAZA ERA : coming of industrial era

Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in the south west of England.The City of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans sometime in the AD 60s about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain (AD43), although verbal tradition suggests that Bath was known before then.

Much later, it became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone. The Circus is a perfect circle of Georgian houses constructed out of the startlingly white Somerset stone that cloaks the entire city.

The Royal Crescent is a residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom.

The Royal Crescent, Bath, Somerset, England.

The Circus and the Royal Crescent, Bath, Somerset, England.

Design over Time Piazza Del PopoloBAROQUE

Plaza del Popolo

References

LeGates, Richard and Stout, Frederic. Modernism and Early Urban Planning, 1870-1940.

Knox, Paul. Urbanization.

Cullingworth, Barry. Planning in the USA .

Various online sources.

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Documents

Town Planning & Urban Design History