Ideal Cities and Utopian Societies in 20th Century CITY INDUSTRIAL TONY GARNIER
ITALIAN FUTURISM
GARDEN CITY HOWARD
PLAN FOR THREE MILLION PEOPLE
geometry-oriented axial transportation hardcore commercial center for elite residential super blocks dormitory suburb for workers civic & culture center landscaped park wide green belt
BROADACRE CITY Diagram of rectilinear central city for Plan of Comtemporary City for Three Million People
PLAN VOISIN
RADIANT CITY
business district linear central spine for expansion transportation hub with rooftop airport civic center as intersection residential super block
parkland stripe industrial zone
Diagram of rectilinear central city for The Radiant City
LINEAR CITY
linear- industrial settlemetns
radio concentric cities
existing urban fabric interlocking tranfic system linear civic axial strong traffic axis plugged function
un-plugged function
2
MOMO essay topic 3 Choose examples of utopian architecture proposed by 3 different architects in the 20th century. Compare and contrast the ideas that are being proposed about urban life, the form and expression of the proposals and the context in which the proposals were made.
3
Perface To my last essay for bachelor’s degree in architectural study And Special thanks to my tutors and inspiring lecture series that make this thinking possible
Before the essay starts off, I feel obliged to state my initial ideas on expanding my chosen topic – compare and contrast utopian architecture ideas proposed by 3 different architects - to a deeper interest: not merely compare and contrast, but rather to leap beyond the concept of ‘looking back’ on past utopian architecture ideologies in the 20th century to a rethink on how these ideologies have had impacts on urban issues of contemporary society, especially developing countries. As stated by Julie in one of her lectures, the idea of MOMO, or all architectural history subjects, is to teach students the idea of taking courage to experiment and explore. Upon learning how past avant-gardes architects had questioned the existing social system and architectural principles, put forward new possibilities to improve the distained conditions, envisaged better social orders, urban patterns and architectural languages that correspond to the spirit of the age, I feel motivated by their responsibilities towards society. The idea of utopian architecture is to visualise an ideal society by changing the physical presence of a city. Architects either go back and forth with traditions, or show confirmed advocacy to an existing social/political power which they think the best for their age. We see Dutch expressionism looking back to its vernacular brick traditions, Italian futurism aggressively refusing the past, Albert Speer depicting national communists’ grand Utopia dream. It seems that the century’s utopian dream is profoundly involved with socialist and communism, and the aspiration of searching for utopian city vanishes gradually after the fail of communist party. But the ideas of utopian architecture in the early 20th century are stilling influencing today’s urban developments by presenting problems such as slums, city village, real estate bubbling and excessive new cities in some developing countries. This is why this topic excites me, especially when I found how profoundly impacts that utopian architecture visions in 20th century had had on my home country in 1960s and so on. The essay will start with an introduction of the concept of utopian architecture and its relationship to ideal social structure, which is followed by an overview of 20th century utopian architecture in its social context. Then these utopian architecture ideologies are divided into three parts chronologically: 1)urban utopian architecture in 1920s with a concentration on Le Corbusier’s and CIAM’s work, 2)anti-urban utopian architecture with a close study on Frank Lloyd Wright’s work, 3) Metabolism and Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Plan . These three ideas are to be closely compared and contrasted within the social context from which they raised. At last, the essay will exam how utopian architecture ideologies discussed above have had impact on Chinese urban planning. How these ideologies are reflecting on contemporary Chinese urban fabric, daily life, and what problems it brought about. I hope this essay will not stray off the topic talking too much about the influence of socialism and CIAM, but I hope studying history will arouse rethinking upon contemporary issues and encourage the next generations to explore experiment and encounter new challenges.
TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
4 Human civilizations had seen dramatic changes in urban life at the turn of 20th century: Urban populations grew in a breakneck speed, leading to a crowed and over-polluted physical environment. Machines, factories, technologies, human egos obsessed with ‘the worlds’ with ultimate ‘speed’ and ‘efficiency’. Intellectuals stood up and called for a change in traditions, hierarchies and social orders with radical yet offensive proposals. Architects, in believe ‘transformation of physical environment would give birth to a new civilisation’, envisaged various possibilities of ideal city for future by experimenting with time and space. We see Ebenezer Howard’s ‘Garden City’ at the beginning of the century, Corbusier’s ‘Plan Voison’ in 20-30s, Wright’s ‘Broadacre City’ in 40s, Archigram’s ‘Walking City’ in 60s and Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Plan in the 70s. Each of these visions had mapped out a dream for a better living society in its certain social context. This essay will closely look at the urban form, planning patterns of Frank Lloyd Wright,Le Corbusier in 1930s and compare Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Plan with Corbusier’s utopian architecture at the time. By analysising different social context and influences from which result the design philosophies, and by comparing and contrasting these utopian images in a larger historic time frame,the essay will propose an open question on where today’s utopia lies. UTOPIA AND TWO TRENDS IN IDEAL CITIES IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY It is widely regarded that the term utopia came into being since 1956 when Thomas More coined the word and devised the rhetorical conceit where an ideal city can be achieved solely by human means without the call for interventions of divine providence. But the idea of utopia had long had a tradition in human history from ancient Classical mythology to Plato’s ‘ideal city’ in ‘republic’ from which roots its humanism idea. Despite chronological and regional differences, the discourse of ‘utopian’ is generally a wish to pursue the prospect of recasting the political and social order, as an oppositional reflection upon frustrating realities. 1 At the turn of the 19th -20th century, architecture and urban planning became an important genre of experimenting utopian ideas, though plans for ideal cities have existed from the middle ages. 2Urban issues, such as pollution, overcrowding, disease, poverty, the miserable living and working conditions, as the sequences brought by industrialised world, has resonated social elites’ promise of liberty, fraternity, equality and humanism. These plights of urban conditions shaked the foundation of utopia humanism ideology and called for a rethinking on the vision of ideal cities and utopian societies. The early utopian visions have developed into two trends, namely, ‘reference back to tradition’ and ‘envisage a future’. The former passively step into the vision of fantasy by expressing their nostalgic memories of the past, of which picturesque vision is best exemplified by William Morris’ News from Nowhere. 3(Fig1) Ebenezer Howard, by envisaging the ‘Garden City plan’, laid out a foundation stone for anti- urban way of solving problems cased by industrialization. Another,
1. Roland Schaer, Utopia, 5 2. Lyman Tower Sarfent, Utopia, 8 3.Hammersmith: The Kelmscott,1892
5
Fig1, nostalgic reference to the past in oppose to industrialised Paris( source: Utopia)
TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
6 or the most predominant, form of Utopia in the early 20th century is a radical call for revolutions. These European Avant-Gardes refuse to look back to traditions that they think no long suit for current situations and they challenge the current state of affairs with usually offensive proposal. This line of Utopian is lucidly illustrated by Tony Garnier, and Le Corbusier’s work. Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright are the two influential figures in the early 20th century architecture and urban planning history. Despite their continuous experiments with form, orders, geometries and architectural language; their attitudes of always willing to embed new technologies and materials for more possibilities of architectural outcome; their flexible design strategies that correspond various social, cultural context that had had many imprints on later movements such as De Stjli, International Style of Adolf Loos and Richard Neutra, their vision of ideal city goes into opposite way. Howeverm both of the ideas expressed Utopia’s attempt to achieve maximum social happiness through effective social re-organization and technology advancement.4
LE CORBUSIER AND FRANK LLOY WRIGHT ‘S UTOPIAN CITY Earlier work of Corbusier’s urban planning involves with efforts in revitalizing central city.5 His visions of an ideal city is characterised by geometric clarity, radical axial that gives emphasis to the city centre, functional zoning policy, a call for central administration, a reliance on new technologies and new materials and a focus on machines as metaphor of spirit of the age. Political and social issues had being an important design parameter for him as we see his design strategy changed from early plan of Contemporary City for Three Million in 1922 to 1935’s Radiant City. Strongly influenced by Tony Garnier’s utopian city plan, where simplified geometric clarity were embedded in functional zoning system in a humanism order, Corbusier started to visualise his ideal city as a highly hierarchical zoned society.6 ( fig2) In his plan of Contemporary City for Three Million People, the plan features three layers of circle, with twenty-four sixty- story office buildings located around the centre of the city, served as business areas, preparing for the wealthiest inhabitants in the middle; a further circle for the leading intellectuals; and garden apartments in the satellite towns around the city core for blue – collar workers. 7 ( fig3) The plan, in celebration humans’ achievements in speed and movements, also highlights the importance of transportation by allocating a grand transportation hub in the heart of the city. ( fig4) In a reference to the ancient city planning traditions, the plan schemed series of largescale diagonal grids for regional routes, small grids for residential sub-division and a grand intersection cross that give highlights to the focus of the city. 8
Fig2, anti-urban utopian by Tony Garnier, highly zoned system, unified industrial language, hygenie system( sourced from Francoise Choay, The modern city,p69)
Fig3, plan of contemporary city for three million people( sourced from Norma Evenson, Machine p35)
The classification of population in his Ville Contemporary brought him to critics on being lack of concerns for humanism9 and his failure to seek for backing finance had determined him to change his design strategies to appeal sup-
4. Ruth Eaton, Ideal City,15 5. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p23 6. Francoise Choay, modern city, p101 7.Norma Evenson, Machine ,p11 8. Herbert Wright, Instant citits, P63 9. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p29
Fig4, plan of contemporary city for three million people, transportaion center ( sourced from Norma Evenson, Machine p35)
7 ports from political parties. 10 In 1935, Corbusier’s Raidant City sees significant changes though it was announced as an elaboration version of City for Three Million. The rectilinear city was developed along a central spine instead of being enclosed by circles of residences and green belts, which allows the city to expand and growth on either side. Residential blocks are pushed away from centre of the city and social class distinctions are eliminated. 11 Instead, there is a focus on civic district, as the centre of the city, which firmly correspond to his belief that ‘a political leader who could affect the complete system, coherent, just and disputable’ is needed to ensure the practices of urban planning to the new standard of world. 12 Despite these changes, his general concept remains consistent with high consolidated concrete structures woven with highly developed transportation system and public open greenery. ( Dig 5)
business district linear central spine for expansion transportation hub with rooftop airport civic center as intersection
geometry-oriented axial transportation hardcore commercial center for elite residential super blocks dormitory suburb for workers
residential super block
civic & culture center landscaped park wide green belt
Diagram of rectilinear central city for Plan of Comtemporary City for Three Million People
parkland stripe industrial zone
Diagram of rectilinear central city for The Radiant City
Digram 5 – showing corbusier’s change in city plan , by 1 changing transportation center into a civic center, emphasizing the importance of administration 2 change the encircled plan into linear axial spine for further urban development 3 incorporate industrial zones into city and mix workers and social elites while providing various options of housing type 4 persistence concentration on providing inner green belts around and within city
Various types of housing are provided in his scheme as he argued that skyscrapers are ideally suited for commercial, not residential usage, given their high rents. Residential skyscrapers with setback from streets are designed for wealthy residence, while condensed communities are provided for workers in his plan for three million people. 13 However, based on his idea that city should have the preliminary elements of ‘ air, light, water and greeneries’, he kept the vertical garden and doubled living room ideas of single housing unit in Citrohan house in 1920 and Ozenfant house in 1922, and stacked the units into one integrated unity that shares program such as sports, culture, educational and social facilities.( fig6) In Plan Voisin, he further pushed this idea of community by arranging industrial complexes at the base of residential blocks- spaces enabled by pilotis- which does not segregate residence according to their work characters.14( fig7) 10. Ruth Eaton, Utopia, p304 11.Herbert Wright, Instant citits, P634. Ruth Eaton, Ideal City,15 12. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p9 13. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p15 14. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p22
Fig6, dwelling with 2 stories living room with vertical grennery ( sourced from Norma Evenson, Machine)
Fig 7- unified programs- roof gardens, sports at top, residential in the middle, commercial and industrial at the bottom ( sourced from Norma Evenson, Machine)
TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
Corbusier strongly opposed the Garden city concept as well as the suburban movements of the dream for detached single family dwellings by pointing out several reasons. First it was a waste of road and utilities and encourages urban sprawl. Second, through its extensive coverage, it will ruin people’s vision of rural countryside. Third, there exist enormous economic and human waste in large scale commuting between vast distance between country and city. Fourth, he believes the city should be cleaned up their dream and thus to prevent the swelling of city population. 16 ( Fig 8) But as increasingly populations were lured into city for its resources and opportunities, the excessive urban population calls for ‘urban decentralization’ inevitably. To solve the imbalanced problem of tremendous mobility from countries to cites, Corbusier conclude the solution to the problem lies in a’ revitalization of countryside’ and improve modern living standard of rural areas. 17 His proposal of Radiant Village sees a redevelopment of a traditional village with better apartment houses, public clubs to improve communications, with the hope that a materially and spiritually revitalized countryside would calls back the superfluous population in the city. Corbusier’s idea of revitalise both city and village latterly evolved into an ideal that becomes similar to Wright’s Broadacre city. Broadacre City was first proposed in 1930 and concreted through various publications later from 1932’s ‘Disappearing City’ to 1958 ‘The Living City’. In stark contrast of Corbusiers’ consolidated high rise urban form, he envisioned a low density built environment that he declares will be failed to recognized as a city at all. It is a city that either built itself haphazard or with human’s conscious to establish a new system of dispersed land settlement.18 When Wright started to vision the idea of Broadacre city in America in 1920s, it was Chicago school, with its skyscrapers, that was the predominant trend. With a reorganization of the inevitability of skyscrapers, Wright disagree the extensive construction of multistorey buildings in cites. He argues skyscrapers are ‘merely exaggerates – for money- the worst elements of our economic, industrial and aesthetic situation…skyscrapers are simply space for rent, enriching landlord using construction methods and sacrifice citizens to the wealth and power’19 Broadacre city was an attack to the un-steady and inhumane aspect of the visions proposed by urban-camp utopias. His utopian city is more related to landscape, dedicated to individuality, democracy, decentralized that enables more open space, privacy and humanization. 20The city, with a pattern unlike neither the radiant pattern in Garden city nor the enclosed circles in Plan for Three Million and linear spine in Viosin City, is a city without a tangible centre. It is so decentralised that democracy, as an emphasis on individualist, underpins as the ideal of centralization.21
16.Herbert Wright, Instant citits, P63-4. 17 Norma Evenson, Machine ,p23 18. Kenneth Frampton, Collected Writings, p8 19.Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Collected Writings, Radio City, p60 20. Frank, Disappearing city, p70-108 21.Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Collected Writings, p86
Fig 8. Corbusier’s calculation and contrast the urban density with sattelite city, arguing furious circulation in sattelite citie,( sourced from The home of man, p62)
Embraced with the idea of individuality and humanism democracy, Wright envisaged a city that allocates 1 acre of land for every residence. Hierarchies and social orders are waived and the city is a closed system that a collection of individual’s work will achieve organic unity. 22 Based on the modular land, the inner city pattern is a gridded network enabled by Walter Davidson model farm unit which is designed to facilitate the economic management of both home and land. This agrarian economy and smallholders’ labour is an essential aspect of the broadacre ecomony.( fig9) Main arteries and secondary lanes are laid alternatively and bus stations are located at the intersections with rows of stores allocated along the streets. Small- scale decentralised schools, churches, non-pollution factories, hotels, markets, churches, and affordable housing provided for small communities are distributed within the city, with manufactured merchandise, farms, workers residence and industrial areas pushed away from inner grid system. (Dia10) Golf courses, racetrack, zoos are found where natural beauty lies.( fig11) The city lies heavily on an efficient transportation system that incorporates public transport with buses and highways that connect cities, but railways and flying machines such as helicopters.23 The concept of Broadacre city lies heavily on the development of machine-age technologies which had already brought efficiency and freedom to centralized utopian cities, there are five major elements that Wight declares as the major agencies that help to realise the decentralization and make the enormous mobility and communication possible within Broadacre City: 1 electrification, such as telegraph, enable the city to share information and communicate without geographical barriers, which scatters cities 2 the internal combustion engine, not dependent on any form of fixed track 3 mechanical system such as refrigerating ,heating that lighting could operate independently away from centralised system 4 the existence of the new materials that goes lighter, thinner, and stronger 5 mass production of machine, shop fabrications that enable cheap utilities and accommodations. 24
Fig 9 sketch of Broadacre City showing gridded inner cities based on model farm unit, and functional areas are allocated according to natural features, Sourced from Theories urbainesi, broadacre city
Fig 11, Parks, Golf Courses zoos are pickes from where natural beauty lies, the outline follow the flow of rivers the footpritns of hills, Sourced from Theories urbainesi, broadacre city
rail way connect cities bus stations around intersections grid system formed with modular agrian plots and transportation network. living programs allocated along streets manufactured merchandise, farms, workers residence heavy industry airport highway rail way station pushed to the edge of the city
Dia10- urban fabric of Broadacre City
22. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Collected Writings, the idea of democracy p77 23. Alofsin Anthony, Broadacre City, p21-25 24. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Collected Writings, the disappearing city p84
10 Various housing types are provided in the Broadacre City: usonian homes, multistorey housing for migrants, bachelors, small scale factories and hotels. Though he strongly opposed the idea of skyscrapers, he agree the economic advantages skyscrapers have in saving lands, that he sporadically designed free standing towers as cities’ identity. 25 ( fig 12) Different from the setback strategy that Corbusier adopted for his plan,Wright staggers each levels to allow for sunlight to the street below. 26 Even though Broadacre City is an ideal model that never has come into being a real city, but many of the features he proposed in Broadacre City can be traced back to his architectural projects such as those massive usonian dwellings( housing that consist of three dimensional matrix made up of interlocking layers)27 1911 East Taliesin Building, 1938 Taliesin West, 1938 Florida Southern College, 1936 Johnson Wax building, throughout which period, where he was trying to emphasis the organic and humanism aspect of each project. In summary, Wright’s utopian city blurs the boundaries between city and country, through which expressed his hope for democracy, humanism, usonian and individuality. The vision meets people’s desire for ownership of lands and the concept of ‘self- sufficient’ liberates individuals from all forms of dependency that allows him to live in harmony with the landscape around him. But just as how Garden City has shaped English Suburbia, Broadacre city’s idea has led to substantial suburban sprawl in the US. 28
Figure 12, Arrangement of various housing type with usonian residential dwelling, multistories bachelor’s house, workers residence, warehouse, and skyscrapers as ornamentation of city scape, Sourced from Theories urbainesi, broadacre city
Fig 12 a, Wright’s horizontally expanded traffic system
Two architects share similar characters in: First, relying heavily on revolutions of technologies, especially transportation communications, such as highway, non-clog arteries, airports, to enable larger areas of human activities. They both pay highly attention on organising transportation routes within city. A comparison of sections of skyscrapers they designed shows how they consider to desperate pedestrian from automobile traffics- with pedestrians provided with mezzanine networks separated from the railways, buses routes below ro above, while the Fig 12 c, Corbusier’s section of skyscraper, avenues were to have plantings with trees and shrubs.( fig 12); Second both anti-capitalist by swiping out hierarchical orders while keep a highest administrator class; Third, mixturing various types of buildings for a rigorous daily programs; And finally, fully consideration of spatial anticipations. While Corbusier’s vision is expressed in a more orthogonal and consolidated, yet not congested, form, and Wright expressed his vision with an expansive picturesque organic way. Fig 12 c, Wright’s vertical traffic system depicting layers of traffic, sourced from skyscrapers regulation’ radio city 1932
25. Kenneth Frampton, Collected Writings, p9 26. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Collected Writings, Radio city 1932, p59 27. Kenneth Frampton, Origin and evolution,186 28. Herbert Wright, Instant citits, P63-4.
Fig 12 a,b,c, both Corbusier’s sections showing layers of highway, motor ways, pedestrians underground. The pilotis concept in his Radiant City influenced the later Plan of Tokyo that will be mentioned later in this essay. Frank ‘s vision gives an integrated consideration of traffic within city,both horizontally and vertically.
11 The two architects later merged their ideas when Corbusier was solving the problem of overwhelming urban populations. That he moved from a focus on ‘city centre revival to a larger map that consists three ‘human establishments’ : the agriculture units, the linear – industrial city and the radio- concentric city. 29 The idea is to have traditional centralised city function as a distribution, culture and administration centre. A linear industrial- residential complex is to be developed along the transportation lines that connect the cities. ( Fig 13) The linear city conception is a vision to free the central city from excessive pressure of growth but somehow corresponds to Soviet Union’s idea of minimize the differences between the urban and rural proletariat.19 By this time, mechanism and organic, as the two ways these architects went, fused in a similar way.
linear- industrial settlemetns
radio concentric cities
Fig 13, Linear city idea proposed by Le Corbusier in his later career, Corbusier’s linear city diagram, showing similarities with Wright’s networks of broadacre cities. While Corbusier still keeps the culture and civic importance of radio- cencentric cities.
Both the two architects proposed their vision of future ideal city in the context when industrialization had brought innovations of technologies. Machines, such as automobiles, telegraph, airplanes and elevators, make it possible for architecture go outwards and upwards. New materials enable architectures to experiment with new possibilities of forms. It was the first start that human deal with issues brought about by rapid industrialization and urbanization. Though some people go by ‘the spirit of the age’ and pick up the idea of ‘mechanism, machine, speed, movement, efficiency’, as exemplified by Le Corbusier, and some put emphasis on ‘democracy, organic, humanism, vernacular, interact with natural’, as presented by Frank Lloyd Wright, they were both dealing with the same issues of urbanization at the time. Either the approach of condensing centralization or decentralization realised that they cannot deal with urban issues by merely looking at city itself, but instead, urban issues can only be solved with a holistic balance between city and country, human and nature. AFTER WARS UTOPIAN - PLAN FOR TOKYO & LINKS TO CORBUSIER Different from architects, from1910s onwards till World War II, who were obsessed with speed, movement, factory-productions, machines and efficiency, architects during post war period faced with totally different circumstances: not only wars had called for many reconstructions of the destroyed structures,
29. Norma Evenson, Machine ,p30 TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
12 but also the new technologies and materials that war had brought about had changed the entire society. The proliferation of vehicles after world war II has pushed pressures on existing traffic system, which is not a problem in the past when Corbusier and Wright was envisaging their utopian cities. Lightweight materials such as plastic are used domestically. Prefabrication and modulization are developed for efficient assemblies and mass production. These developments in materials and technologies gave rise to a demand of magastructure in the late 1960s for its monumentality, efficiency in construction, functionality and affordability.30 Architects see this as an opportunity for the solution of subsequent urban development. That the congested, capsulized structures evoke a sense of consolidated urban patterns Corbusier’s Radiant City. The third utopian city discussed in this essay will be the Tokyo Plan proposed by Kenzo Tange, who is renowned as the ‘Japanese Le Corbusier’ and believed to format the Modern Japanese architecture history during post war period. The design context of this architect separates himself from others: He is a person infused with Western and Eastern culture; He was dealing was a war- ravaged city that was undergoing rapid urbanization and economic boom. He was strongly influenced by Le Corbusier and admired his approach of break the traditions, empowering his projects with the spirit of the age, while still referencing the classical orders and principles. Thus Tange does not choose to oppose traditions and decide to incorporate his own tradition- Japanese culture- in his design. This theme of synthesizing modern architecture with traditional symbolism characterized the first phase of Tange’s career. Kenzo Tange’s Plan for Tokyo in 1960 was claimed by him as a shift from functionality from which he was strongly influenced to structural methodology. 32 The scheme was ambitious in projecting Tokyo across the bay, using man – made islands connected by series of linear interlocking looped bridges in order to redistribute the continued population expansion and internal regeneration. He envisaged vast overlays of buildings and roadways above the traditional. Influences of Corbusier are evidences for buildings are characterised in tremendous scale with concrete megastructres. ( Fig 14) The most important change Tange made to Tokyo plan was to change the traditionally closed radial centripetal system to a linear axial, where this ‘spine axial’ approach was previously used by Corbusier for his elaboration for Plan for Three Million People. 33 This civic axial will allow the city to grow and decentralised the pressure of city. Same as Corbusier, Tange refused to adopt the satellite city approach for dispersing urban population since imbalanced development of city and country will calls for more mobility between city and suburbs.34 Tange, same as Corbusier and Wright, admitted that the significant of speed and scale of automobiles in a modern city, and goes further to bring infrastructures, transportation system and architecture into on unity. ( Dia 15) In order to dealt with traffic conflictions between pedestrians and released the overburdened traffic on civic axis, Tange created two systems of interactions by first introducing Corbusier’s pilotis system into Tokyo plan and second plugging the elevated buildings into the core civic traffic system, where he argues that the pilotis links the private and public spaces while core system link urban arteries to the buildings.35 Tange’s scheme was based on an analogy of nature, which architecture programs will form the leaves and transportation and communications form the trunks of a tree. This is achieved by allocating administrations, civic, economic functions along transportation axis, and connecting each function with the main transportation spine using interlocking transportation networks. The feature of the building, as of in Tokyo plan, is an idea of metabolism fundamental structural systems are able to be added to the main structure without changing the original structure, which idea is latterly developed into Metabolism 30, Hal Hellman, city in the world of the future 31.Kawazoe N, et al. Metabolism 1960 32.Tange K design concept 1976 33.Tange K, et al. plan for Tokyo 1961,p10 34.Tange K, et al. plan for Tokyo 1961,p11 35. Smithson, Reflections on Kenzo Tange
13 As an elaborated version of Le Corbusier’s Linear City idea, I propose the Plan of Tokyo in 1960 is a combination of Corbusier’s centralisation and Frank Lloyd Wright’s decentralization. The city has to expand to release its burden of increasing urban population while the expand is not as wander and aimlessly as in Wright’s vision. A strong civic axial is needed to guide the development of the city and control the density of each sub-city-centre it develops. Tange’s ideas of megastructures being plugged and connected to the main civic axial can effectively control the development tendency of city as well as solve the traffic problem in post war age.
existing urban fabric interlocking tranfic system linear civic axial strong traffic axis plugged function
un-plugged function
Fig 14. Tange’s Tokyo Plan, traditional linear span across the bay with aditional interlocking loops to release the traffice burdens, surced from Furture city,p126
Fig 15, similar approach to Corbusier and Wight that brings traffic, functions and architecture into one unity and strong consideration is given to communication and traffic
In summary, the three utopian ideals and vision for better cities all constructed on the trust of new technologies and the speed of communications. The role of automobile is significant either it be an important tool to stimulate de-urbanization that allows people to move freely, individually in Wright’s vision, or it helped the city to be more efficient and help to decentralise the urban pressure in Corbusier’s linear city and Tange’s Tokyo Plan. All of the visions for ideal cities are aiming to emphasis humanism conceived by architect himself. The plans, by changing the presence of circulations, spatial arrangements, the relationship between human and nature, not only solve the urban but social problems in its most concern. ( Dia16)
TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
14
Comparison of urban fabric,major programs
* *urban density=urban area/urban population while the definition of urban area in these plannings are not same: Garden city counts RESIDENTIAL , INDUSTRIAL AREAS AND CITY CENTER into urban area Contemporary City just counts city center and surrounding residential area as urban areas, which excludes industrial area and surrounding green belts Large roportionof gardens, agricultural land are not counted as urban areas in Broadacre City
urban fabric/street patterns
dwellers/acre
urban density
functional zone of cities: building type and feature detached house 240 people /acre
industrial area,
transportation
Radiant City
Enclosed circle
Linear Spine
1300/acre
1000/acre
7.7m2/person
10m2/person
1/3 of city, 1/4 of city commer 60stories skyscrap- cial and admin offi pers for elites and pushed to top commercial purpose
importance of city center
residential area,
Plan of Comtemporary City for Three Million People
distance from residential to industrial area
railway station
public grennery( parks, green blets)
condensed residential with setback from main street + community 3000people/ acre two options based on affordability
condensed community 1000people /acre
relativly far certain commutes
rail way pass through the center of the city, rail way station and airport located at the center
rail way and station located at the center of the city
Abundant c
n
15
garden city
Linear city concept
Radiant
Grid
urban density 80/acre
6/acre
125m2/person
1700m2/person
public architecture and admin buildings rbuilt around garden ffices which is 5.5% of city+bouleward+school+ church
e
n
Broadacre City
mixture of detached+ midrise+skyscrapers as city identity
near cut down traffic
rail way passed the boundary of city rail way station located at the edge of city
Linear
Tokyo Plan 1960
Linear Spine with interlocking traffic system
spread over weak connections in between
detached house 240 people /acre
light industry decentralised heavy industry near main arteries
megastructures overlayed onto exsiting urban fabric
megastructures overlayed onto exsiting urban fabric
railway pass through the boundary of the city with rail way station located at the edge of the city
consideration
TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
16 URBAN ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD AND WHERE UTOPIAN CITY LIES? As a conclusion of the three types of utopian discussed above, the essay will put forward an open question on ‘how the previous solutions of urban issues does informed us to solve problems of today’s urban issues’? From previous studies of three utopian vision proposed by three architects who came from different backgrounds and hold sometimes opposite opinions, I learnt that architects should regard not only social issues as their design parameters but sometimes also political, economic factors can force design into a different way. As I stated in the preface that I was very excited to do research on this essay as I see not only vast lands in Western world is influenced by these architect, China as a quasi-opulence developing country nowadays was severely influenced, especially the idea proposed by Corbusier and CIAM group. Community dwelling is a common residential type in China in the 60s when the nation just recovered from its Cultural Renovation proposed by Chair man Mao. Many of the concrete brutalism buildings are built in manners of Corbusier’s Narkomfin’s collective dwelling in 1928. That all social classes are collected and lived together, for example, my grandparents who were intellectual professors would live with workers and sometimes workers can have better housing due to society’s extra respect to worker’s class at the moment. Better housing has unit with detached utilities such as kitchen and restroom while others will have to share utilities, which nowadays many people just cannot image how tough their life were. Dwelling , work , transportation and recreation are functionally zoned aiming to improve living conditions and cultureal opportunities for every one by increasing more interactions. The housing were aiming to bring in the idea of quality and humanism while I personally hardly find this helpful.
17 People from 20th century had gone through industrialization, community party’s national pride, world wars, reconstruction of economic and motherland, urban population boosts, consumerism, materialism, globalization and these events are still effecting today’s city.As for contemporary cities in the 21st century, urban issues such as excessive urban populations, slums, polarization within city still exist. Taking China for example, after seeing its economic boost for nearly 2 decades, many of cities has seen unprecedented urban expansion, construction of new real estates, but the urban developing in China is very unbalance that still, the city is full of unregistered rural labour that could not afford the housing in city, that new slums and urban villages appears in the centre of the metropolitans 36, that sometimes dwelling rate of certain communities are reported astonishing low while the government is still is too busy to cool down to rethink, are we really, building too much, wasting too much of materials and resources just for urban spectacles to show power and status. And see there is still large proportion of our population not be able to afford a house to dwell. It is obvious that ‘concentrated poverty and polarization of wealth and poor’ becomes an important social issue.
fig 17 migrated workers, orginally from rural areas, temporarily moved to cities, are waiting for buying railway tickets for going home for New Year, they often live in urban villages with bad facilities, Helen Castle, p30
Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision of Broadacre city is based on the assumption of having vast land, small populations, with a proliferation of cars ownership. This vision is not be able to realise in contemporary China as the problem of ‘concentrated poverty’ and ‘large proportion of homeless migrated workers’ are not solved beforehand. Corbusier’s view on building better village communities is seen an ideal solution for contemporary Chinese government to appeal populations from rural areas back to where they were. 37 Japanese proposed metabolism with a combination of western urban planning culture and vernacular construction ideology. Since there is many governmental controls and huge amount of profits are involved in the urban renovation in Chinese society, can Chinese depict a new utopian under their own social and cultural context, I doubt.
fig 18augmenting contrsts in downtown Shanghai, Helen Castle, p43
36. Helen Castle, Architectural Design, New Urban China, p10 37. Helen Castle, Architectural Design, New Urban China, p29 TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403
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reference Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings, vol.3, 1931-1939,( New York, Rizzoli, 1993) Deharne Michiel, Broadacre City: the city in the eye of the beholder, Journal fo architectural an planning research : sum, 2002,p91-109 Francoise Choay, The modern city: Planning in the 19th century, ( New York: George Braziller, 1969) Hal Hellman, The city in the world of the future,( New York: M. Evans and Co. , 1970) Herbert Wright, The instant citits( London: Blackdog Publishing, 2008) Helen Castle, Architectural Design, New Urban Chain, vol 78No5 ISBN 978-0470751220,2008 Jane Alisonet al. , Future city experiment and utopian in architecture(London, Thames & Hudson, 2007) Kawazoe N, et al. Metabolism 1960: The proposal for new urbanism.(Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppansha). Kenneth Frampton, The text-tile tectonic,The Origin and evolution of Wright’s Woven Architecture, edited by Robert Mccarter, On and by Frank Lloyd Wright a primer of architectural principles,(New York, Phaidon, 2005) Kenneth Frampton, introduction, edited by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings, vol.3, 1931-1939,( New York, Rizzoli, 1993) Kurokawa, Kisho. Metabolism in Architecture , Kisho Kurokawa. (London : Studio Vista), 1977. Le Corbusier, The home of man, ( London: the architectural press,1948) Norman Evenson, Le Corbusier: the machine and the grand design(London: Studio Vista, 1970) Roland Schaer, ” Utopia: Space, Time, History”,In Utopia, the search for the ideal society in the western world, edited by Roland Schaer et al., The New York Public Library,(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) Ruth Eaton, “ Architecutre and Urbanism: the faces of utopia” In Utopia, the search for the ideal society in the western world, edited by Roland Schaer et al., The New York Public Library,(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) Smithson Reflections on Kenzo Tange’s Tokyo Bay plan. Architectural Design 34:479-480, (1964). Tange Kenzo, et al. A plan for Tokyo, 1960: Toward a structural reorganization. (Tokyo: Shikenchikusha, 1961) Tange Kenzo,Development of design concept and methodology. (Japan Architect Aug./Sepr.: 1114.1976) Zhongjie Lin, urban structure for the expanding metropolis: Kenzo Tange’s 1960 plan for Tokyo, journal of Architectural and Planning Research,2007.
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TUTOR: George’s FRIDAY TUTE STUDENT: DI CARINA SONG 383403