Order 807955: The City As A Metaphor
tutorthammy
TheAncientCityOutline.pptxWitold Rybczynski
“The Measure of a Town”
The City as an Artifact
- City as object or tool
- An extension of human capabilities
- Layers
- Representation
- History
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The Measure of a Town: Language
Burg (mountain/hill)
Protected areas
Use geography as a means of defense, use the height to your advantage
Die- Berg
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Town (tun)- tence, enclosure
-Beginnings of a city
-Smaller version of a city, not as much influence
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City (Cite) – Bishop
Magnet- A city is a representation of the dead for the living
Bishops pull citizens together, causes a city to be more significant
Bishops symbolize more than just an individual person, its about the coming together of an organized form of a religion
Specialized roles Division of labour
Hierarchy
Laws becomes more developed and structed
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The Measure of a Town: Population - Doesn’t give you a correct representation of the individuals that are within the city A population is like a snap shot in time, it doesn’t give you a wider context, it doesn’t tell you if the city is on its way up or down - Doesnt tell us much about the importance of the city, how they contributed to arts, culture, the economy - Population is a crude measure of talking about a city
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The Measure of a Town: Culture and Character - John Cage 4’33 - City creates the possibility of specialized interests and preferences - Expand the idea of art and culture (john cage) Microcosm “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, as London has all that life can afford.” – Samuel Johnson
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Historical Definitions – City Size
Ancient Greece
Created democracy (direct)- Form of conversational democracy
Persuasion
Agora (market place)
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Medieval City (organic city)-natural occuring -
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Frontier City - Dodge city- contained roughly 1,000 people -city as a process, contained activities that you couldn’t find anywhere else -A place where you could go if you wanted a taste of controlled wildness - First taste of anonymity
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Kevin Lynch, 3 City Models
Cosmic City (Rome)
Type of city that believed in the power of the Gods affecting in everyday activity
When they looked to create a new city they looked up to the heavens instead of the ground
They noticed that the sky and the earth ran perpendicular to eachother
North/South line was called cardo maximus
East/west line called decumanus maximus
They believed if they mapped the stars it would show them how they should live on earth
They dug a hole at the center meeting point of the two perpendicular lines ( Umbilicus), and put food offerings in there hoping that the gods would keep them safe and not plague their city. (making and appease to the gods)
Umbilicus – umbilical cord connecting rome to their mother (the gods)
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Cosmic City, continued
The Roman City Boundary: Pomoerium
Janus: The God of Gates/God of transition (two faced god)
Attached an ox to a plow and had them make a circle in the dirt around the two perpendicular lines
Lifted up the plow from the dirt to create entrances or gates which were symbolic
Circle symbolized a sacred circle
Anything inside the circle was the city, anything outside was not apart of the circle
Ancient Rome:
The Roman Forum
Creating a symbolic center for the Roman Empire
“hub of Roman politics, religion, justice, trade and social life”
Florence Dupont,
Daily Life in Ancient Rome
The Roman Household
Upper class: Villa with Atrium
Atrium as focal point – reflecting pool – impluvium
‘Domus’ = household
The Presence of Household Gods
Larinium: Household Shrine
The Sacred Flame:
fire kept burning
a living being / gods, ancestors
fire = continuity
If the fire burnt out the gods may get angry and plague the city
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Lower class: Insulae (Multi-Storey Apartments)
living quarters over shops
Necessitated us of public fountains and latrines
poor construction / risk of fire
“The poet Martial lived on the third floor of an insula on the Quirinal hill, where he found sleep difficult because of the noise. He complains of noise from school teachers in the morning (schools were often nothing but a few chairs on the sidewalk in the open air), bakers all night, and coppersmiths (constant hammering), currency exchangers (jingle of coins on tables), worshipers involved in ecstatic rites (singing and dancing), bawling beggars, and shopkeepers (vocally advertising their wares) all day long”
Source: City University, New York
Used sunbaked mud as brick
5/6 stories high
It was considered temporary housing
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Public Baths / Latrines - they believed in living life out in public exposed to everything - being exposed in public meant you were proud and respected -
Roman Aquaducts
The Cosmic City Model:
Design Oriented to “Cosmos”
Natural Topography Respected
Representation of Past (Ancestors/Heroes)
Tie Between the City and its Citizens
Sacred / Symbolic Given Presence
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Practical City
Modern city
Planned and structured, by using a grid system
Allowed for a predictability for how the city was going to develop
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Organic City
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A 4th City Model? The Automobile City
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