Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Zhi-qiu Zhang
MAAD
NO. 120185218
16/04/2013
Context:
4. Reference:12
Abstract:
Development of the human history of architecture, which is obvious,
influenced by establishment of power and changes of regime. As a producer of space,
the planner's work will never be a neutral one, even under the shell of neutral
technology. Since the influence created by power, urban planning sometimes becomes
a sort of filter behavior with a clear stamp of authority and class-consciousness.
Lefebvre analysis, the ideology of architecture and plan is dressed in pure, neutral and
charming cloth, with the banner named scientific, meanwhile it cannot get rid of the
control of power.
This essay is aimed to discuss the power and beauty of urban plan, and how
they interact in the field of urban planning and architecture. By anglicizing five urban
elements of Kevin Lynchs theory, I will try to reveal the relationship between power
and aesthetic, and the way of performance.
1. Background
Since the very beginning of the birth of power, authorities keep trying to insert
power into every field of the society. We cannot separate human development from
regime change, and we cannot talk about urban without power.
Paris is one of the most famous capital cities in the world, and this great city
we see today is based on Haussmanns plan of City of Light during the reign of
Napoleon III (1852-1870). Before the new plan drawing out, Paris was an unsanitary,
dangerous and congested city, which was suffering from foul smelling, darkness and
population boom. Napoleon I had tried to change this situation, however he didnt
accomplish it. Until his nephew Napoleon III, who took power in 1848, inherit his
ambitions for the city and invited Haussmann to draw the blueprint for the City of
Light.
The politics influences urban planning by its disposal right of land and space,
which is the key point of the political mechanism on urban planning. Except the
creation of large avenues, grandiose monuments and the development of magnificent
parks, Haussmann also organized and considerably simplified the lives of Parisians.
New administrative division was planned in 1857, dividing the city into
arrondissements. As the urban expanding, original plan of twelve arrondissements
were added to twenty by annexing surrounding areas. In this process, power holder
used central authority solved the shortage of housing and unbalanced development in
different districts. However, the plan implied the destruction of the old,
heterogeneous quarters in the city center and the creation of large new quarters
implicitly dividing the population by economic status.
Haussmann also focused on the detail in this city. Number system of both the
districts and the streets of Paris were set up. It started with the Imperial Palace in the
Tuileries as the 1st arrondissement, in honor of the Emperor, and then, the other19
arrondissements stretched in a snail-shaped clockwise spiral. He regulated traffic so
that Parisians would have to drive on the right side of the road. He also established an
inexpensive public transportation system that would cover the entire city.
Simultaneously,
modernizing
the
Seine
downstream.
facility
was
set
to the entire city. In order to keep visual unity to the entire city, a unifying
architectural faade was designed by Haussmann and his team of architects. During
the 18th century and the time of the Enlightenment, architects were no longer
content to see their buildings glorify the state, the monarchy, or one specific stratum
of society: they aspired to create monuments that would celebrate human greatness,
inculcate worthy remembrance, teach moral values.
Figure 4. Street-Wall
third and fourth floors in the same style but with less elaborate stonework around the
windows, sometimes lacking balconies; Fifth floor with a single, continuous, undecorated
balcony;
garret rooms and dormer windows were designed with mansard roof at 45angle.
New demands for hotels or living spaces for the rich and powerful stratum
rose up because of nouveaux social wealth and redistribution of power. Different from
the simple, austere apartments, hotels designed in a mixture of early Renaissance and
the ornate baroque style rose up in the most fashionable district in Paris presenting as
symbols of wealth and status and the rising modernity.
One of the most notable symbols is the rising of train stations, which shows
power both in terms of architecture and geography. With the speed of expanding,
these stations linked Paris to the rest of France, importing labors into this city while
exporting its pride and honor. Most of the stations were designed, with a high central
vault, adorned with glass and iron tracery, similar to that of the wheel that propels the
train along. The train stations were tall and classical in style, decorated with arcades
and balustrades, all while emphasizing the speed and power of the steam engine. To
many, the trains represented the new modern time, recognized around the world as
one of the greatest products of Industrialization.
In classical power aesthetics, authority builds up the city in order to show off
the honor and power. One embodiment is seeking for vast and wide space to quench
the desire of conquering lands. The first time in Pariss history for large avenue is
Rambuteau built the way into a 13 meters-roads, which gave Parisians a surprise.
But what happened next really brought a big shock to the world- a moderatesize avenue of 13 meters stretched in the centre. Widening of streets is the greatest
work in Haussmanns plan, the even till today, this network is the backbone of the
city of Paris. With north-south axis cross through the city and the arterial street in
east- west direction, this structure separates Paris into twenty districts around Seine. It
is the first time that concept of geometric asymmetry was embedded into the field of
urban plan.
Is widening of streets a tool for an authoritarian regime? It seems that expect
show the honor of authority, need of transportation, aesthetic, the avenue and
boulevard hold a negligible role in controlling violence. And this could be dated back
to his experience as police commissioner during 1850s to 1860s. So there is no doubt
that there were amount of criticize from Napoleon III's contemporaries about this plan,
which hiding under the cover of propelling the social and transportation conditions
with the real purpose of reinforcing military policing.
By this opinion, the wide thoroughfares provide a facilitating way to troop
movement and set barricades to block intersections and as occasion requires, the
straight avenue allowed artillery to fire on rioting crowds. Thanks to this construction,
there is no need to employ tremendous firepower, but a small force to control open
intersections. Whats more, buildings in this area were set back from the street, which
means it is not easy to take the construction as fortification.[7] This interpretation has
been widely repeated and accepted, notably in Lewis Mumford's writings. [citation
needed]
Another opinion that widely accepted is from Australian military historian Dr
Peter Stanley. He noticed some details after visiting Paris. Acute angles at
intersections were much better than right-angles when have aimed conflict, because a
right-angled grid plan will probably cause accidentally injure on friendly forces by
cross-fire from the side-streets.
2.6 Process of
Generally speaking, urban issues fall into two categories: tame problems and
wicked problems. Most of these issues however are wicked problems, rather than
tame problems, which always have clear ends in sight, and can be solved by
economists. On the contrary, wicked problems disobey the regulation of price
mechanism. When facing those wicked problems, economical methods play limited
role, in addition, once disguised its shortcoming, those thorny problems will possible
lead to social instabilities.
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References
1. We Built This City: Paris. Documentary. (2003)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902351/
2. David H. Pinkney, "Money and Politics in the Rebuilding of Paris, 1860
1870", Journal of Economic History (1957) 17#1 pp 4561.
3. Carmona, Michel, and Patrick Camiller. Haussmann: His Life and Times and
the Making of Modern Paris (2002) 505pp
4. Pinkney, David H. "Napoleon III's Transformation of Paris: The Origins and
Development of the Idea", Journal of Modern History (1955) 27#2 pp 125
134 in JSTOR
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10. Jordan, David P. "Haussmann and Haussmanisation: The Legacy for Paris."
French Historical Studies 27 , no. 1 (Winter 2004): 87-113.
11. Pickney, David H. Money and Politics in the Rebuilding of Paris, 18601870, The Journal of Economic History 17, no. 1 (March 1957): 45-61.
12. Sutcliffe, Anthony. Paris: An Architectural History. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1993.
13. Van Zanten, David. Building Paris. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1994.
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