Modern Cities Built For Politics

(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 City Athens 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 Complex 2. Supreme Court 3. Planalto Palace 4. Plaza of Three Powers 5. Ministry of Foreign Relations 6. Ministry buildings 7. Cathedral 8. Theatre 9. Main Traffic Interchange (bus station)

Four Scales of Brasilia