The “Classical” Period of Urbanization

Ancient Greece, and then the Roman

Empire, created a network of cities around the
Mediterranean in what came to be known as
the “Classical” period of urbanization.
URBAN DESIGN

THE BEGINNINGS

• SETTLEMENT DESIGN
Agricultural Societies
Rectilinear Plotting
• LAYOUT
Grid (or Rectilinear) – product of the farmer
Circular (Fencing) – product of the herdsman
-- defensive role
Radiocentric – when circular settlements enlarge
-- fortress cities (i.e. Paris)
ANCIENT GREECE
• LANDSCAPE – powerfully assertive
• HIGH PLACES – fortified hilltop
-- sacred precinct
• TOWN DESIGN = SENSE OF THE FINITE
-- Aristotle’s 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)

ANCIENT ROME
• 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
• 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
 Roman Cities
• The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire
had a rectangular plan
• The focal point of the city was its forum, usually
situated at the center of the city at the intersection of the
cardo and the decumanus (2 main streets).
• Cities streets were narrow
• Space was limited so houses were usually small.
• Roofs had to be flat and go between buildings to help
when fire fighting.
• Height regulations
Road Layout
 Grid Iron Planning features
• Easy to lay out
• Easy to administer
• Breezes could flow through for natural ventilation
• Easy to defend if walled
• Towns in Rome were made up of streets and blocks -
called insulae - which contained houses, shops,
workshops and bars.
 Roads
• When it came to roads, the Romans understood the
highway better than the city street (like us).
• Intersection node at the junction of Cardo and
Decumanus created traffic jam in the middle of the city.
• Sound pollution due to cart wheels on stone pavements.
The need to move legions and
trade goods in all weather led
to the development of the best
roads in the world ( till 19th
century)
 Types of Buildings
• Forums ( where people went to conduct business and
gossip)
• Bath houses
• Basilica (dedicated to the old Roman Gods)
• Insulaes (which contained houses, shops, workshops &
bars. )
 Forums
senate
public records
chambers

temples law courts

• An open area bordered by Colonnades with shops
• Functions as a Meeting place – civic building – primary
religious centre
• Contained senate houses, records office, Basilicas
• Public processions and ceremonies took place there.
• For mainly pedestrian population, Colonnades was a
very important urban design feature.
• Similar to Agora of Greeks
 Public Baths
• Romans took public bathing to an extreme: hot, cold,
and lukewarm pools, places to get a massage or work
out, even reading rooms.
Roman Town planning eg.
Pompeii
• Area around 66 hectares ( comparitively small)
• Designed in rectangular blocks (insulae)
• Insulaes seperated by narrow streets
• Main streets ran through the whole stretch of city.
• Public buildings : Amphitheatre – Theatres – Gymnasium
(palaestra) – Forum – Town Halls (basilica) – Temples –
Public baths – Water fountains
• Streets form grid on the basis of two main streets.
• Pop. – 20000
• Roads of width – 2.4, 3.6 or 4.5 metres.
• Enclosed with defensive walls
• City blocks, insulae , about 35m X 90m
• Footpaths along with the roads.
MEDIEVAL ERA
• 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
• 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
• VISIBLE EXTERIORS suit the viewing conditions of small spaces
• VISTA considerations and HUMAN SCALE – fine accents in landscape
• STREET LAYOUT is functional, although with no logical form
• 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
• 3 MAJOR EVENTS MARKING TRANSITION FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES
-- Dawn of science
-- Fall of Constantinople
-- Discovery of the New World
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
# CARCASSONNE
# NORDLINGEN
# MONTPAZIER
THE MEDIEVAL CITY - CARCASSONNE
THE MEDIEVAL CITY - CARCASSONNE
THE MEDIEVAL CITY - CARCASSONNE

11th century- MARKED REVIVAL OF TRADE

CREATED A MERCANTILE CLASS TO
CHALLENGE THE FEUDAL LORDS

DOMINATED BY CHURCH & CASTLE OF

THE LORD
TOWN HALLS AND GUILD HALLS WERE
BUILT AROUND THE MARKET

TOWN HAS ENCIRCLING WALLS, CASTLE

HAS ITS OWN WALLS

DISTINCTION BETWEEN TOWN & COUNTRY

SHARP
SMALL-SIZE TOWNS –ACCESS TO
COUNTRY SIDE
TOWNS WERE BUILT ON IRREGULAR
TERRAIN, CIRCULATION & BUILDING
SPACES WERE IRREGULAR TO AID
PROTECTION
When number of residents increased, the
buildings were packed together and open
spaces filled. Sanitation & Water Supply
didn’t change leading to intolerable
congestion & lack of hygiene.
THE MEDIEVAL CITY - NORDLINGEN

ROADS RADIATED FROM

THE CHURCH TO THE GATES
WITH SECONDARY LATERAL
ROADWAYS CONNECTING
THEM
STREETS FOR PEDESTRIAN
CIRCULATION

HOUSES WERE BUILT IN

CONNECTED ROWS ALONG
NARROW STREETS. OPEN
SPACE PROVIDED IN THE
REAR FOR ANIMALS &
GARDENS
GF- workshop & kitchen
FF- Living & Sleeping
LITTLE DISTINCTION
BETWEEN CLASSES

STREETS WERE PAVED &

MAINTAINED BY OWNERS
OF THE PROPERTY FACING
THEM
 THE MEDIEVAL CITY –
MONTPAZIER
(13TH & 14TH CENTURY)
A

Founded BY YOUNG
B EMPIRES
ALLOCATION OF SITE WAS
PLANNED & PLOTTED IN
ADVANCE

REGULAR PATTERN –
DISTINCT CONTRAST

A- CATHEDRAL SQUARE
B – MARKET SQUARE
RENAISSANCE – EARLY DEVELOPMENTS

• IDEAL CITIES
-- 1440 (beginning of Renaissance)
-- Leon Battista Alberti – foremost theoretician
-- Alberti’s De Architectura – treats architecture and town design
as single theme (just like Vitruvius)
• ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF EARLY RENAISSANCE
-- Public Works
-- Civic improvement projects
• REBUILDING FERRARA
-- Palazzo Diamenti – most famous structure
-- Biaggio Rossetti – architect and town planner regarded as
one of the world’s earliest modern urban designers
-- Rossetti’s plan:
1. Street widening, new buildings, wall improvement
2. Enlarge the town
3. Carry on with the plan
• LESSONS FROM ROSSETTI’S 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

• PROBLEMS: Circulation, defense, water supply, sanitation

• SOLUTION: Popes have to undertake civic improvement projects

RENAISSANCE – BUILDING GROUPS

• ST. PETER’S CATHEDRAL – Bramante (italian architect)

• TEMPIETTO – miniature version of St. Peter’s Cathedral
• CARLO FONTANA – basilica inside the Colosseum
• BORROWED DESIGN – Renaissance from Medieval, Romans from Greeks
• ANDREA PALLADIO – developed precise theories of proportion and module
• PALLADIO’S PROTOTYPES - Roman country villa (rural)
- Roman Forum (urban)
• PALLADIAN INFLUENCES – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
• “FOUR BOOKS OF ARCHITECTURE”
– examples of plazas (the modern forum)
• “COLOSSAL” or “GIGANTIC” ORDER – Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore
 RENAISSANCE – LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

• PARKS and GARDENS – tie the city together

-- connecting the palace and the town
• VILLA & GARDEN
– rural counterpart of PALACE & PLAZA
• ITALY – gardens are never too large
-- built as TERRACES because of hilly land
• FRANCE – elaborate system of landscape design
-- roots from large HUNTING FORESTS
-- ROND POINTS – high ground intersections

RENAISSANCE – FRENCH, ENGLISH & ITALIAN LANDSCAPE

• FRENCH – Regarded natural landscape as barbaric

-- Man-made, preferably geometric creations
-- PHILOSOPHY – absolute command of nature
• ENGLISH -- Characterized by an attitude of sympathy with nature
-- PHILOSOPHY – practice of taming nature
• ITALIAN – Terraced garden is best model of gardening in limited space