SUBMITTED BY-

SHREYA AGRAWAL
SHALINI SWARNKAR
SHREYA SHRIVASTAVA
CASE STUDIES OF WELL
KNOWN URBAN SPACES
Introduction

The development of urban place which began with
Greek marketplace called agora, grew out of a
pedestrian-oriented culture long before invention of
automobile.
Early spaces had facilities related to commerce,
government and places of assembly.
These spaces create an image of the city in which
they are located.
They become a meeting place and a center for various
activites that improve the physical and social
environment
THE AGORA
AS GREEK COMMERCE AND GOVERNMENT EXPANDED, THE
AGORA BECAME THE FOCUS OF BUSINESS, THE
MARKETPLACE, AS WELL AS THE PLACE OF ASSEMBLY. THIS
WAS THE GENESIS OF MODERN URBAN SPACE.
THE AGORA WAS USUALLY CENTRALLY LOCATED WITH
PRINCIPAL STREETS LEADING TO IT.
IT HAD SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR URBAN SPACES FORMED
BY STOAS OR COLONNADED PORTICOS WITH A FACADE ON
ONE SIDE WHICH PROVIDED SHELTER AROUND THE
SQUARE.
SMALLER SPACES BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS LED TO
STREETS THAT TERMINATED AT THE AGORA.
THE OPEN SPACE OF THE AGORA WAS WIDELY USED. IT WAS
A BUSY PLACE WITH A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES AND
FUNCTIONS WHERE PEOPLE MET, TALKED, AND CONDUCTED
BUSINESS AND CIVIC ACTIVITIES.
STATUES AND OTHER SCULPTURE WERE OFTEN
PLACED IN THE MAJOR OPEN SPACE AS A FOCAL
ELEMENT.
LINKED TO THE AGORA SQUARE, BUT NOT FACING IT,
WERE THE ASSEMBLY HALL (ECTLESIASTRON),
COUNCIL HALL (BOULEUTERION), AND COUNCIL
CHAMBER (PRYTANEUM).
THE ATHENIAN AGORA, WHICH ORIGINATED ABOUT 420
B.C., WAS LOCATED TO THE NORTHWEST AT THE FOOT
OF THE ACROPOLIS, ALONG THE ROUTE LEADING TO
ATHENS PORT, PIRAEUS. FROM THE ACROPOLIS THERE
WAS A PANORAMIC VIEW LOOKING DOWN TO THE
AGORA.
The agora, the central market place of Ancient Greece, was 30 acres in size and contained
several markets, three stoa, or teaching porches, two theaters, a gymnasium, courthouse and
prison, five temples and many sculptures of gods and goddesses. The agora (and its
counterpart in Rome, the forum) was also a single place where education, politics, religion,
oratory, philosophy, art and athletics flourished. As such it functioned as an integrative center
for those activities that were crucial to the Greek way of life and its democracy. In physical
terms it was the core of Greek society, and was a place where the sacred and the profane
met on a daily basis.

1.Peristyle Court
2.Mint
3.Enneakrounos
4.South Stoa I and South Stoa II
5.Aiakeion
6.Strategeion
7.Colonos Agoraios
8.Tholos
9.Agora stone
10.Monument of the Eponymous Heroes
11.Metroon (Old Bouleuterion)
12.New Bouleuterion
13.Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaestion)
14.Temple of Apollo Patroos
15.Stoa of Zeus
16.Altar of the Twelve Gods
17.Stoa Basileios (Royal stoa)
18.Temple of Aphrodite Urania
19.Stoa of Hermes
20.Stoa Poikile

Plan showing major buildings and structures of the agora of Athens as it was in
the 5th century BC

The republican forum
The buildings of the Republican Forum (509-27 B.C.)
in Rome represented increasing political power. The
Republican Forum, the commercial and governmental
center of Rome, began as a marketplace at the base
of the hill known as the Capitoline.
The buildable area was five or six acres and, at first,
buildings were grouped with no apparent relationship
to each other except for a narrow axis.
As larger buildings were added over a long period of
time, the architects began to group the buildings
around squares

MEDIEVAL URBAN SPACES
A PIAZZA (ITALIAN PRONUNCIATION: [PJATTSA]) IS
A CITY SQUARE IN ITALY, MALTA, ALONG
THE DALMATIAN COAST AND IN SURROUNDING
REGIONS. THE TERM IS ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO
THE SPANISH PLAZA.
IN ETHIOPIA, IT IS USED TO REFER TO A PART OF A CITY.
A PIAZZA IS COMMONLY FOUND AT THE MEETING OF
TWO OR MORE STREETS. MOST ITALIAN CITIES HAVE
SEVERAL PIAZZAS WITH STREETS RADIATING FROM
THE CENTER. SHOPS AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES
ARE FOUND ON PIAZZAS AS IT IS AN IDEAL PLACE TO
SET UP A BUSINESS. MANY METRO STATIONS AND BUS
STOPS ARE FOUND ON PIAZZAS AS THEY ARE KEY
POINT IN A CITY.
PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic
center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of
Europe's greatest medieval squares.
It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural
integrity.
The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as
various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At
the northwest edge is the Fonte Gaia.
The twice-a-year horse-race, Palio di Siena, is held around
the edges of the piazza.
PALAZZO PUBBLICO
PIAZZA DEL CAMPO
The open site was a marketplace established before
the thirteenth century on a sloping site near the
meeting point of the three hillside communities that
coalesced to form Siena: the Castellare, the San
Martino and the Camollia.
It was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick
with ten lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into
nine sections, radiating from the mouth of
the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of
the Palazzo Pubblico.


The number of divisions is held to be
symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi)
who laid out the campo and governed Siena
at the height of its mediaeval splendour
between 1292-1355.
The Campo was and remains the focal point
of public life in the City. From the piazza,
eleven narrow shaded streets radiate into the
city.
PIAZZA SAN MARCO
Piazza San Marco, often known in English as
the St Mark's Square is the principal public
square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known
just as "the Piazza" (la Piazza).
The Piazzetta (the 'little Piazza') is an extension of
the Piazza towards the lagoon in its south east
corner. The two spaces together form the social,
religious and political centre of Venice and are
commonly considered together.
The Piazza is dominated at its eastern end by the
great church of St Mark.It is described here by a
perambulation starting from the west front of the
church and proceeding to the right.
The church including the whole of the west facade
with its great arches and marble decoration, the
Romanesque carvings round the central doorway and,
above all, the four horses which preside over the whole
piazza and are potent symbols of the pride and power
of Venice , four hundred years later, Napoleon, after he
had conquered Venice, had them taken down and
shipped to Paris.
]

The Piazzetta dei Leoncini is an open space on the
north side of the church named after the two marble
but now officially called the Piazzetta Giovanni XXIII.
The neo-classic building on the east side adjoining the
Basilica is the Palazzo Patriarcale, the seat of the
Patriarch of Venice
Beyond that is the Clock Tower completed in 1499,
To the right of the clock-tower is the closed church of
San Basso, designed by Baldassare Longhena (1675),
sometimes open for exhibitions.
[5]

renaissance period
carved out of
medieval towns and
a given monumental
scale and form.
sight lines are
carefully planned.
began in italy about
1430 and continued
until about 1550.
the campidoglio, rome, italy
the campidoglio is capitoline hill,
which had religious and political
importance in ancient rome.
the campidoglio was
reconstructed by michelangelo in
1538.
link between the early
renaissance is florence and the
baroque in rome.
urban space is defined by three
buildings that form an enclosed
space.
two buildings at the sides of the
space are two stories, while the
palazzo del senatore terminating
the space is three stories.


michelangelo saw a need
for third building to enclose
the space.
a statue of marcus aurelius
had been placed in the
space by pope paul iii.
he modulated the uneven
top of the hill where he
located the capitoline
museum.
steps surround the plaza
and subtly link it to the
surrounding space.

the main part of the plaza is oval
shaped, sunken slightly, and has
star shaped paving pattern.
the paved area is an important
design feature, creating an oval
volume of space which
strengthens the larger
trapezoidal space formed by
three buildings
the square represents a
synthesis of nature and culture,
providing unity and coherence of
design.
the major use of the buildings
today is for museums.


Baroque period
During the baroque
period, plazas were
created for the display
of religious and civic
structures.
Examples
The piazza di san
pietro, rome
the piazza navona,
rome
Piazza di san pietro, rome
Construction began by pope julius ii in
1506, until 1606 during the baroque
period.
The overall space by bemini consisted of
three areas, each of which has specific
name.
The piazza obliqua, oval place of st.
peters, completed about 1660.
The piazza slopes slightly toward the
obelisk located in its centre.
The egyptian obelisk resting on four
bronze lions, brought from heliopolis on
the nile delta.
The piazza has a small terracing effect
as it rise to the monumental portico.
The huge elliptical colonnade at st.
peters was enclosed on two sides by
bemini to make a covered approach to
the vatican.
The colonnade has 284 columns, 88
pilasters, and 140 statues.
It provides a grand approach to an
important monument, and also
provides a huge outdoor space for
assembly when crowds gather to hear
the pope speak from the papal loggia.
The square easily holds 3,00,000
people.

Piazza navona, rome, italy
Built during the baroque
period.
Piazza Navona is a city
square in Rome, Italy.
It is built on the site of the
Stadium of Domitian, built
in 1st century AD, and
follows the form of the
open space of the stadium.
The shape of the piazza is
curved at one end.
It features important sculptural
and architectural creations:
in the center stands the famous
Fountain of the Four Rivers
(1651) by Gian Lorenzo
Bernini, topped by the Obelisk
of Domitian, brought here in
pieces from the Circus of
Maxentius.
the church of
Sant'Agnese in Agone
by and the
aforementioned
Pamphili palace, that
accommodates the long
gallery designed by
Borromini and frescoed
by Pietro da Cortona.
Versailles, france
In versailles, construction started in
1661 and completed in 1665.
Lenotre, landscape architect
relocated the town, palace,
gardens, and park by a system of
axes.
It has major east-west axis or sight
line that links the centerline of the
park from the center of the palace
to the horizon or infinity.
The other important axis is
perpendicular to the above axis
that it crosses at the first terrace
west of the palace and continues
north and south to the face of the
building.
Major axis begins at the
palace by the systems of
terraces with fountains.
The overall design links the
landscape elements together
making the concept
understandable to the viewer.
On the townside of the palace
three roads radiate toward the
palace providing a
convergence of vistas at its
entrance.
In 17
th
century plazas were
enclosed isolated spaces, but
in 18
th
century the spaces
were more open. Example- de
la concorde in paris
Nineteen century urban spaces
Regent street, London,
England
Designed by john nash in
1811 to solve functional
requirement of the street.
He developed plans for
regent street, regent parks
and park crescent.
Construction period was of
25 years.


Design concept
Most important concept was creating mixed uses of
the street. Later on the concept was used by united
states.
Street had well designed treatment of spaces.

Normal sized building
parcels along the street.
He created fine buildings
around regent park and
connected it to the city with
regent avenue.
Regent street was a mixture
of public buildings and
commercial offices along
with residences, hotels and a
church.


Todays Regent street, London, England

Paris boulevards
In 1853, napoleon iii put baron Georges Haussmann,
in charge of re-building Paris.

Design concept
Haussmann concentrated on
creating new boulevards,
improved the road system and
also provided new sites for real
estate development.
Existing slums were demolished
to make room for new design that
created a street-scape with street
trees planted along broad
boulevards and provided an
urban design scheme that gain
world renown.

The entire boulevard system was planned and
constructed within 17years.
Galleria vittorio Emmanuelle ii,
Milan, Italy
it was the centre of Milan's
public society, this galleria was
opened in 1867.
It was the connection of two
major generators of pedestrian
traffic, the duomo or cathedral
and lascala, the opera house.


Design concept
The vertical proportion of the galleria space appears to
intensify activity while providing a sense of place.
Its not only a place for people to walk but also a place
for shopping and relaxing.
The arcade also evolved in some urban areas
because streets were unpleasant places with narrow
or nonexistent sidewalks.
The concept of shopping street with separation of
pedestrian and vehicular traffic made it comfortable
and safe.
It is now owned by Milan's municipal government.
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