Ancient Medieval Renaissance Industrial

Trade and Agriculture Religious Power

Trade Industrial
Monarchy Trade
Politics Innovations
Constant Search For Political Power
Land Cultural

Public Space Dominance of Dominance of High Density

Ceremonial Religious Symbols Cultural Symbols Decay
Function of Roads Roads- Accesses Roads- Ceremonial
Markets Fortification Fortification
 Urban Form in History
• The first cities ( “ a community of substantial size
and population density that shelters a variety of
non agricultural specialists”) were to be found in
3000 BC.
• Two conditions: Production of surplus food and
the invention of form of writing to keep records,
were instrumental in the establishment of cities.
• Parallel to city growth are the invention of;
plough, potter’s wheel, sail boat, loom,
metallurgy, abstract mathematics and writing.
• All early cities were located in the river basins to
aid surplus food.
 Urban Form in History
• Ur (2100 BC)
– Located on the river
Euphrates it was the
first settlement with a
harbor and street.
– Ur had three major
segments; the walled
city, housing and
religious part
– Wall was constructed
with baked brick.
 Urban Form in History
• Ur (1900 BC)
– Organic grouping of
houses with shared walls
and narrow street front.
– Clear indication of
commercial activity of trade
and services ( cook shop)
are seen.
– The street pattern, shared
walls, small openings to
street, inner court, shops,
service booths, dead end
cul-de-sacs which created
the early urban forms were
adopted in Arab
settlements across the
peninsula.
 Urban Form in History
• Mohenjo-daro (2154-
1864 BC)
– Indus basin city which is an
earliest example of a
planned settlement.
– Typical form; citadel to the
west sited on a mud
platform, the main city is
located on the lower plains,
east west larger streets
orienting to citadel and
north south cross roads.
 Urban Form in History
• Mohenjo-daro
– Unlike the citadels of other
contemporary settlements,
this contained civic
buildings and large granary
storages.
– Street patterns, dwelling
orientation, distribution of
various sizes of houses,
elaborate sewerage
system, water supply using
the river water, all point to
a very high level pre
planned construction.
 Urban Form in History
• Miletus- (500 BC)
– An integrated plan with all
the components of a city;
housing, port, market,
agora, theater, and leisure
facilities.
– Agora was central to the
town with harbor inlet.
– Three distinct residential
districts
– Leisure and theater
districts adjoining the
agora.
 Urban Form in History
• A-Agora
• B-Temple
• C-Gymnasium
• D-Theater
• E-Temple
• F- Stadium

A typical Greek City- Reconstruction of Priene

 Urban Form in History
• Greek Urban Form
– The first city states; with a
primate city and hinterland.
– Buildings designed three
dimensional sculptural
object d’art
– Houses were rudimentary
structures organized along
grid iron pattern of roads.
– Agora or the public square
containing the most
important public buildings
at the highest point in the
city.
 Urban Form in History
– Agoras were the nerve
center of the city, used on
an everyday basis for
communal gathering for
public interaction.
– Distinctly different districts
for culture and leisure.
– Acropolis, an earlier
version of fortification by
locating at the hill top.
– Greek urban form has been
the model for model urban
form.
 Urban Form in History
• Roman Urban Form
– Basic grid iron module with
two main cross roads in the
center of the city
– Forum; which is similar to
Agora is located in the center.
– Bath, temple and theater were
located as an extension of the
forum
– Amphitheater located outside
the city limits to use the
slopes.
– Two types of Housing; one
single dwelling & multi storied
blocks were arranged with the
grid iron street pattern.
Timgad- North Africa
 Urban Form in History
• Roman Urban Form
– Covered sewer drains and
Aqueducts to bring water
were hall marks of roman
cites.
– Hierarchy of streets : tracks
for foot traffic, minor roads
for pedestrian and cart and
major roads for two carts.
– City center was the Forum
( similar to Agora) with
civic, religious and
commercial buildings.
 Urban Form in History

• Commercial portion of the public activities were moved out of the forum and
it eventually evolved into a civic domain ( similar to Acropolis).
• Basilicas dominated and were the pivot built element of forum. Porticos
which ringed the public buildings served as the semi private interface to the
streets.
 Urban Form in History
• Medieval Urban Forms
– Towns of Roman Origin
– Fortified Military Towns
– Organic development from
village to town
– Bastide Towns
– Planned towns
• Church which was the
pivot of hope during the
dark ages became an
important pivotal element
in medieval towns.
 Urban Form in History

• Striking fact of medieval towns were the similarities across countries; location of
church and its immediate square, all road leading to the church square, vernacular
details of housing both in organic street patterns as well as grid iron, near absence of
multiple nuclei .
• Trade and commerce was not restricted to one location but generally spread all over
the town, thus leading to a mixed use character of urban form.
• The sense of enclosure of traditional towns was more of an accident than planned,
encroachment of streets both vertically and horizontally, paved streets, provided the
necessary informal nature of urban form which survive till date.
Urban Form in History
A hypothetical drawing of a town in 1180 AD- Medieval
Town in 1350
Town in 1580- addition to city wall
Town in 1650- Changes in Architecture and creation of Urban Spaces.
 Urban Form in History
• Renaissance – (1500-
1700)
– Rebirth of City Planning (
probably Urban Design)
– Alberti’s idea of an ideal
city; creation of a square
with exact proportion of
edge condition, radiating
streets, and a domed
structure as a central pivot
of the city.
– There were many attempts
at interpreting Alberti’s
ideas into utopian
geometry; circular,
hexagonal, pentagonal.
 Urban Form in History
• Fortification System
• Regeneration of parts of
cities by creation of new
public spaces.
• Construction of new main
streets which were linked
to regional routes.
• Addition of new districts
for residential purpose.
• Limiting the number of
new towns; as a measure
to encourage the growth
of large cities
 Urban Form in History
• Three main design
components; primary
straight streets, enclosed
spaces like plazas, and
grid iron based new
districts.
• These design elements
were selectively
implemented within
existing medieval built
fabric, hence producing
contrastingly different
urban forms within the
same city.
 Urban Form in History
• Preoccupation with symmetry,
closing of vista, individual
buildings integrated into single
architectural ensemble, and
perspective theories. These
aesthetic principles guided city
design.
• Concept of a main street, as a
back bone of city, connector to
regional routes, and an assembly
of similar architectural phenomena
are distinctly renaissance
contribution.
• Grid iron, which was abandoned in
the medieval times, found place in
renaissance renewal attempts of
cities.
 Urban Form in History
• Three kinds of enclosed
spaces were used: Traffic
Space, Residential space and
Pedestrian space.
• Traffic space was found at the
intersections of main streets
and in perimeters of cities. The
space generally had a
monumental anchor.
• Residential space was planned
without the monumental
anchor and were generally
landscaped gardens.
• Pedestrian spaces were fronts
of important public buildings.
 Urban Form in History
• Islamic Cities
– Existing cities which had an
organic
– Existing cities which were
planned- Greek and
Roman origin
– New Islamic cities
• Types of Islamic
Settlements
– Amsar- Metropolis
– Qasbat- Provincial capitals
– Mudun- Provincial Towns
– Qura- Villages
• Urban Status
requirements
– Mesjid al-jami: Friday
mosque to serve the
city and its immediate
surroundings
– A Governor
– Suq: market to serve
the city and its
immediate surrounding
Urban Form in History
 Urban Form in History
• Islamic Cities
– Densely packed layouts with
cul-de-sac streets and
courtyard houses.
– Main public thoroughfare with
shops on either side.
– Public Square with the central
Mosque as the pivot
– Public thoroughfare
connecting the mosque
– Fortification is found in
countries other than the ones
found in Arabian peninsula
• Major Components of a City
– Medina is the older nucleus of
the city
– Rabad is the adjoining districts
of the medina
– Mohall which are contiguous
residential districts with
common ethnic groups.
– Kasbah is the citadel detached
from the main city.
– Musalla open space which
used for prayers on special
days. Normally used to be
very large to accommodate all
the male members of the
town.
 Urban Form in History

• Residential Quarters
– Houses gained access from the commonly owned cul-de-sac roads.
– The road system in an Islamic City is a result of a pattern of dwelling
development and not a determinant.
• Suq
– Market on both sides of the street with roof over head.
– There can be more than one Suq.
– Hierarchy of shops ranged from the nearness to the mosque, with the most
important shops near the mosque to the most used shops towards the end.
 Urban Form in History
• Kasbah
– Citadel ( Fort) is positioned on the highest point in the city.
• Defensive Wall
– The wall was a notional element rather than the elaborate
system of fortification of western towns. Gates were figurative
elements served as thresholds.
Shahjanabad
How are Cities Built
 Urban Process- Disasters
• Rapid redevelopment of certain cities was a
direct result of disasters ( man made/ intended/
natural.
– Natural- Fire, Diseases, Floods and Earth Quake
– Man Made- War
– Intended- Renewal and Clearance.
• Redevelopment due to natural disasters often
were better than the original with all the safety
features incorporated. In addition, the city
benefited by a new set of road network which
were designed to take the future needs.
Map of London in 1666 showing areas which were destroyed by Fire
 Strategies Adopted in Rebuilding
• The original foot print of street pattern was to be retained with the
main roads widened. Proportionate compensation were paid for the
property owners who gave a portion to road widening. Since there
were no private developers, the development was limited to the
amount of money which the city could spend.
• House types were standardized and linked to road widths. Four
different types with increasing floor areas were implemented.
• Building ordinance were (one of the first) enforced which regulated;
paving, gutters, heights, number of stories, thickness of walls and
depth of cellars.
• Result of such a reconstruction: original owners fled to suburbs,
streets became better, houses were uniform and were of better
materials, public spaces including St Paul’s Cathedral came into
existence.
• Private enterprise and money ( which are the prime movers today)
became one of the important engines of urban development.
 Urban Process- War
• Destruction of Memory is a
common strategy adopted
during war from the earliest
invasion.
• Reconstruction of such
destruction has taken three
routes: rebuilding on the same
site with a new building which
is a symbol of new power, and
reuse the same building for
another use. Materials from the
destructed building is used
rebuild.

London During World War Bombing

 Urban Process- War

• Destruction of large scale areas of the cities is the contemporary

outcome of war.
• Reconstruction took many routes
– Collection of rubble to rebuild- which took place parallel to the
destruction.
 Urban Process- War
• Conversion of existing
(destroyed) traditional housing
into modern vertical
neighborhoods. Thereby
triggering a new urbanism.
• Partly retaining the traditional
urban fabric in the urban cores
and adopting modernist charter
in the periphery.
• Historic preservation
movement took roots and
efforts were made to charter
such preservation techniques
and policies.

Hamburg
 Urban Process- Haussmanization
• Haussmanization is a process
in which planned demolition of
large tracts of existing urban
fabric to reconstruct the city,
without regard to people,
history and heritage. A process
which is synonymous with
Baron Haussmann in the case
of Paris.
• Haussmanization is
synonymous with social
engineering, the act of
suppressing prevalent populist
movement.
• The process is often hidden
under the garb of “Public
Good”
 Urban Process- Renewal
• Strategies
– Large tracts of urban fabric is
marked for renewal and public
good legislation is introduced.
– Parts of the city is marked with
a new geometry of roads
which connect the important
land marks of the city in the
least possible distance.
– Existing fabric is demolished
– Architectural control is
exercised on the street
facades of new streets.
– Urban infrastructure is
improved.
– The entire exercise is marked
with building of monumental
structures.