THE FLAT AND THE KNURLED SPACE IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF CITIES

Maria BOSTENARU DAN

Overview

Introduction The philosophical base The settlement The reconstruction of towns for reason of

different concepts The reconstruction after an earthquake Reconstruction after the old model Conclusions

Introduction

Philosopher Deleuze Opposed concepts

Flat Knurled

Different models: technological, maritime, musical, physical, aesthetical, ludical, noological Ex. maritime (nomad – sedentary)

Relationship settlement – urban planing – politics – the knurling

The philosophical base

Work from 1980 Maritime model The town is the knurled place by

excellence Agriculture: invention of the town Grafitti – escapes control

The settlement

Three Little Pigs – story The straw house is that of the nomad,

the timber one of the semi-nomad and the stone one of the sedentary

Sustainability becomes a value

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Alexandru Sandu Urban organism – urban force – the

knurling forces to act Urban activity – human mobile Every activity has a parcours until it

finds its own place Knurling supposes a flat place to knurl

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Functionalism Another order of the town as the

traditional Le Corbusier Plan Voisin – Paris Criticism by French politicians

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Socialist architecture ? Postmodern Bucharest Ceauşescu – Victoria Socialismului

Boulevard Great scale demolitions after the 1977

Vrancea earthquake

Victoria Socialismului boulevardBucharest, Romania

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Ceauşescu demolitions The remaining places are still flat, no

knurling has succeeded (see Izvor Park – vegetation did not grow)

Bucharest 2000 competition tried to produce a knurling – different one of the Bucharest garden city type

Izvor ParkBucharest, Romania

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Landscape proposal for Izvor Park, Bucharest

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Landscape proposal for Izvor Park, Bucharest

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

Knurling in Bucharest in the interwar time

North-South boulevard Due to gardens, minimal interventions

were necessary Athens Charter but not functionalism The block of flats was introduced Fight for space Vulnerability to earthquakes

North-South boulevard in Bucharest

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

North-South boulevard in Bucharest

The reconstruction of towns for reason of different concepts

The reconstruction after an earthquake

The earthquake is a force flattening a knurled town

It is a force of nature escaping control Numerous towns flattened by earthquakes

and reconstructed Deliberate urban plans for reconstruction

known in more recent history Earthquakes destroy the sedentary space,

but, although it proves that it was constructed in a dangerous zone, it is built again in that zone or close to it

Local seismic culture

The reconstruction after an earthquake

Baixa in Lisbon 1755 earthquake Baroque The earthquake destroyed the medieval

tissue (Alfama) Marques de Pombal

Aerial view of the Baixa district in Lisbon

The reconstruction after an earthquake

View from Alfama district, Lisbon

The reconstruction after an earthquake

The reconstruction after an earthquake

Ljubljana, Slovenia 1895 earthquake Afterwards spread of the Art Nouveau Style Slovenia belonged to the Austro-Hungarian

Empire Viennaise urban planers invited (Camillo

Sitte, Max Fabiani), but the choice felt for Slovene, for political reasons

Jože Plečnik, the national Slovene architect, elaborated a plan of Ljubljana in 1929

Triple Bridge in Ljubljana with emblematic Art Nouveau building

The reconstruction after an earthquake

Building by Joze Plecnik with Art Nouveau features

The reconstruction after an earthquake

The reconstruction after an earthquake

Bucharest 1977 The earthquake used as a pretext Link: today people are suspicious to

move in frame of retrofit measures as they fear loosing property

Reconstruction after the old model

London 1666 Unclarities in the property regime If the designed plan would have been

applied, London would have rivaled with Paris as Baroque city

After WWII – centres reconstructed on the old model and to respond to housing needs satellite towns were created

Conclusions

Occidental society – sedentary society since hundreds of years

Flattening tendencies appear in the town Preoccupation of Gilles Deleuze, French

philosopher Bottom-up (ex. graffiti) and top-down

flattening (political) Political forces influenced also the

reconstruction after catastrophes

Conclusions

The new knurling imposed by political power makes cities differ of those organically grown (fractals, Cosmin Chirvasie http://myriammahiques.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-arch-cosmins-work-on-urban.html ) namely through geometric rules

At the end of the 20th century it is put into discussion to reconstruct functionalist cities in traditional way

Acknowledgements

The support of the Marie Curie Reintegration Grant, contract number MERG-CT-2007-200636, run time 2007-2010, from the European Commission for performing this research is gratefully acknowledged.

The support of the COST action TU0801 “Semantic enrichment of 3D city models for sustainable urban development” for attending the conference and presenting this work in Faro, Portugal, is gratefully acknowledged as well.

Questions?

Thank you!