The Identity of a City

The Identity of a City Shannon Standish

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A city is a landscape of facades held together by human pathways. But more than a mere collection of parts, a city is a collage of its history. Each layer builds up over time, inherently obscuring or revealing the layers that came before. The new elements intertwine with the old making them inseparable from the layers that have come before. Symbioses such as these take centuries to develop, a timescale and relationship that the young cities of America cannot yet have achieved, while some Western European cities reveal the conglomeration of millennias of inhabitants who continually build and mold the city to their needs. The sum of these layers of time, determined by a mix of location and ideas and people, results in the identity of a city.

Paris, France (scale 1 : 31000)

Barcelona, Spain (scale 1 : 14000)

Verona, Italy (scale 1 : 11000)

Paris Paris is a proud city. Beginning as an easily defendable island that was claimed by the Romans as a military garrison, it has continued its march towards monumentality, towards public greatness. The Parisians are not fearful of the past, on the contrary they dominate it.

Each new layer of the city consumes any piece of the past that might betray weakness. New exists next to the old, on top of the old. Grand avenues radiate from points of architectural and cultural pride, creating urban centers that focus attention on the celebrity of Paris.

In contrast, menial buildings are confined by height, a general aesthetic, and similar cornice line- all to increase the dramatic effect of key monuments to Paris. The result of all this campaigning by urban planners is a city where straight streets stretch for miles and great buildings exist as central anchored nodes to be seen and celebrated.

view of radiating streets from the Arc de Triumph

Folly establishes place along canal

Expression of a Folly and their grid over park landscape

Parc de la Villette Parc de la Villette endeavors to control its vast landscape through a grid of systematic red, cubic follies. Each construct defines its surroundings, never allowing the individual to lose a sense of the city of Paris despite being immersed in the vast context of the park. The

park reflects the ideology of Paris’s layout. A visitor is free to wander and discover on their own in the vast landscape, but the follies- or monuments at the city scale- exist as points of reference.

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Verona Verona is the antithesis of Paris. The city hides itself behind winding streets and undulating facades of the middle ages. Its history is full of conquests and power plays, where any point of arrogant architecture by previous rulers is adapted or replaced by the new owner of the city. The layers of history are in a play of transparencies. New buildings hide between old buildings, on top of old buildings, inside of old buildings. Verona speaks to an idea of locale, its history and architectural styles held together by a tight urban geography within old city walls. The result is a city of discoveries and chance encounters, where understanding comes to those patient enough to look again.

layers of time built upon each other

collection of building genres bound by winding streets

Castellvecchio intervention studies

Castelvecchio In Scarpa’s renovation of the Castelvecchio each stroke of design is a deliberate move carefully placed in the context of the old.

Scarpa allows his aggregated additions to highlight and expand upon the essence of the original castle elements. Modern elements

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exist to juxtapose original structure and a joint is a chance to reveal the nature of an object. In this way, the castle creates a virtual microcosm of composition of Verona.

Barcelona Comparatively young, Barcelona has undergone vast growth and development in the last two hundred years. In 1859, when Barcelona decided to expand beyond its old city walls, engineer Ildefons Cerda created a new urban plan. This plan considered sunlight, ventilation and circulation, in the creation of a grid which refuses hierarchies. Cerda attempted an idea of social equality by giving every citizen equal access to light and fresh air.

These ideas manifested in a grid comprised of long streets, wide avenues, and garden spaces on every block. The combination of this plan and the old Gothic quarter is a city for the pedestrian. Massive tree-lined sidewalks take up as much room as the streets.

City blocks are easily traversable and no tall buildings exist to obscure the sky. The strict generic nature of each city block inspires architectural freedom. While a building is scripted by a confined volume, they are free to expression in plan, section, and elevation.

This creates a unique city of equality and individuality both architecturally and socially.

Barcelona grid viewed from the Sagrada Familia

Casa Mila biomorphic facade

Undulation within confines of city block

Antonio Gaudi’s works are exemplary of the type of expression that can result from an urban climate where freedom is encouraged.

In his Casa Mila, he was inspired by natural and organic forms to create a building of sculptural quality. Skylights, chimneys, balconies, and

windows become elements within a dynamic continuously curved façade. Two interior courtyards and a rooftop sculpture garden allow light and fresh air to every resident. On every level, the Casa Mila works to express itself within the confines of the grid.

Casa Mila

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