ß | eSZettberlin: marzo 2012

giovedì 29 marzo 2012

hidden stars /// star-shaped cities

Goryogaku Park. Hakodate, Japan

Steenbergen, The Netherlands

Plan of Bourtange, The Netherlands, 1742

Bourtange today.

Clockwise: Palmanova, Italy | Coevoerden, The Netherlands | Nicosia, Cipro | Neuf Brisach, France

Palmanova, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
Other important examples in Italy are Sabbioneta and Guastalla.

Coevorden, 1951. Please note the difference between Palmanova that is still the same from XV century and how, instead, the city of Coevroden has been modified by the urban planning and the civilization. The rail (on the left) cuts completely the shape of the old city.

Naarden, The Netherlands. Still the same.

Arad, Romania

Plans for ideal fortified cities from the Renaissance. via Archimaps

What it's very interesting in this post is to note that the born of cannons and the age of gunpowder changed completely the shape of european cities.
Since the XV century almost all the cities were designed to defende themselves and also to be ready to face the enemies from all the sides and this is why the star shape was the best to respond to this problem.

martedì 27 marzo 2012

Two amazing walled cities

Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Shibam, Yemen

Kowloon Walled City was a densely populated, largely ungoverned settlement in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Originally a Chinese Military Fort, after the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during the WWII its population increased amazingly and the Triads (chinese mafia) made it one of the darkest place of their businesses, such as prostitution, gambling and drugs, as well as the production of a lots of goods.
To understand better what was Kowloon Walled City I advice you to watch this documentary that a german Tv shooted before its distruction.
Today the " Triads walled city" has been destroyed and in the same place has been realized a park to commemorate this amazing entity where the sun did not pass through.

The wonderfull and magic city of Shibam (Yemen) with its mudbrick-made tower houses, probably the first "skyscraper city" of the history. The city has around 1700 years but the famous buildings were built around the XVI century and are still today untouched.
Shibam is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. The city has some of the tallest mud buildings in the world, with some of them over 30 meters.
The amazing fact, especially if you compare with the ancient italian cities, is that nobody built other buildings in the first sourroundings.
To understand what i mean check this video below out.
Its about the old city of Orte (VT) analyzed by the great film director, poet and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini.

This is just a small part of the documentary who Pasolini directed in 1973 about three cities: Sana'à in Yemen, Orte and Sabaudia in Italy.
Beginning from the urban analysis Pasolini concludes analyzing the situation of the modern man condition, and in a very clear way explains how the consumer society is erasing all the local identities homogenizing everything.