(modern)CITIES built for POLITICS

DIAGRAM CITIES (SPIRO KOSTOF)- Cities that were planned at one time as a precise diagram of some presumed or promulgated order

- Inflexible Cities

-UTOPIAN: Single single-minded visions of some determined individual or institution about how the world should function ideally

- a STRICT geometric layout: orthogonal or nonorthogonal in plan

CANBERRA-Selected in 1908 Commonwealth in 1901

-Rivalry between 2 cities: Sydney & Melbourne

-Competition: The Ideal City: 1912 Competition for Canberra

-Garden City/City Beautiful

-Axis

-Crystal Geomancy

-Designer: Walter Burley Griffin & Marion Griffin.

SACRED FIGURE OF VESICA

• The Nucleus of Canberra Design• The sphere of the spiritual realm• The other, symbolic of the world of material

phenomena

Vesica of Canberra• the radii are determined by the distance between

City Hill and the Municipal centre on Mount Pleasant

• Geometry of Capitol Hill (now new Parliament Building)

• Double Vesica for Governor General’s Residence and PM’s Residence

• Vesica as the fundamental plan geometry emanates from the Vesica (the land, water

• and municipal axes)

LAND AXIS-Connecting 4 local mountains: It went from Mount Ainslie to Mount Bimberi in the Brindabellas, passing through Camp Hill and Kurrajong

-A ceremonial building, the Capitol would commemorate the achievements of the Australian people. Instead of the ‘inevitable dome’, the building would be capped by a stepped pinnacle

-the last word of all the longest lived civilisations

WATER AXIS-Ornamental Basin

-Waterways: seperating from Recreational and Administrative Zone

-The water axis ran from Black Mountain through a lake (which would be created by damming the Molonglo River)

MUNICIPAL AXIS:-Ran parallel to the water axis from the city to Russell Hill.

-Constitutional Avenue

-Connecting between: Municipal Center and Market Center

-Secondary Axis

Parliamentary Triangle: Commonwealth Avenue, Kings Avenue, Constitution Avenue

ATHENS CHARTER 1933: The Functional City-The Functional City

-Idealistic Utopian

-Investigation of 33 cities

-Social problems faced by cities could be resolved by strict functional segregation, and the distribution of the population into tall apartment blocks at widely spaced intervals

-Strict Zoning

-Separate residential zoning from transportation arteries

-Four zoning: LIVING, WORKING, RECREATION, CIRCULATION

-unplanned development leads to a chaos, whereas totally centralized city planning could build an ideal city which in turn could create an ideal society

BRASILIA

-Fulfilling National Constitution: the capital should be moved from Rio de Janeiro to a place close to the center of the country.

-Based on the vision of Italian Priest: Don Bosco (1833)

-International Competition : 1953

-Designer: Lucio Costa (urban planner) & Oscar Niemeyer (architect), Roberto Burle Marx (Lanscape architect).

-Origin shape : Cross

-Interpretation: Wings, Airplane, etc.

-Crossing 2 highway axis-Superimposed an equilateral triangle-Define the area of the city

Four Principles of The Ideal CityAthens Charter 1933

• Well ventilated residences near green spaces• The separation of residences from

workplaces, with industries excluded from the city proper

• Exclusive space for cultural activities, near residencies

• The separation of the circulation of vehicles and pedestrians

BASIC AXIS

• Monumental Axis (Start with National Congress of Brasil)

• Residential Axis (Adopt Local Topography)

1. Congress Complex2. Supreme Court3. Planalto Palace4. Plaza of Three Powers5. Ministry of Foreign Relations6. Ministry buildings7. Cathedral8. Theatre9. Main Traffic Interchange (bus station)

Four Scales of Brasilia

• Monumental Scale• Residential Scale• Social Scale• Bucolic Scale

MONUMENTAL SCALE-Dignity of Capital City

-Located on Monumental Axis

-6 lanes wide avenue in each direction

-Esplanade: Ministries and Public Buildings-Cathedral-Plaza of Three Powers

RESIDENTIAL SCALE-No High Rise

-Orderly uniformed six stories residential buildings

-Low Density

-Green Area

SOCIAL SCALE-Bus Station

-Entertainment

-Commerce

-Retails