K1B HA2 19th & 20th Century Architectural Design Sophie Rose 4103788
Sophie Rose
2. Conduct a critical analysis of Haussmann’s city improvement plan for Paris. What were its intentions and results, and what influence did it have on subsequent urban design.
The size of the overall project envisaged by Haussmann could never have been approved by a democratic government whose politicians would never authorise this level of financial risk. The projects could only have been initiated in a totalitarian government and by such a domineering personality like Napoleon III who is said to have stated ‚I want to be a second Augustus, because Augusts made Rome a city of marble‛ (Cinar. Bender 2007. pp. 69). Fig: 1
Map of Medieval Paris 1843 Source: http://0.tqn.com/d/goparis/1/0/b/9/-/-/800px-Map_of_Paris_1843_pari000126.jpg
Paris was the capital of one of the wealthiest nations in Europe (Pounds, 2005). Although the image of the of Paris (fig 1) in the early 19th century was an area of squalor, disease and crime which existed in the narrow, claustrophobic streets of its centre which was inconsistent with the fact that and this squalor was only 30km away from the luxury of Versailles. Before the Haussmanns urban reformation plan, Paris had remained unchanged since the middle ages. The city had been allowed to develop organically which resulted in no intended system of travel. The dense city forced people to live within very close quarters which was not only a strain psychologically but also had severe consequences on the health of its inhabitants (Gandy, 1990). Disease was widespread due to the poor sewage system which had not been fully updated since the 1200s causing raging epidemics; for example the Cholera outbreak (1832-1849) which eradicated over 30% of the Parisian population (Jeulin, n.d.).
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The initial project comprised of the redevelopment of a relatively small part of the centre of Paris with the destruction of houses and the construction of new infrastructure projects with the objective of improvement of sanitation, transportation, quality of life, reduction in crime and demographic change, which was intended to create a better balance of rich, middle class and poor in the inner city; thereby creating more social stability.
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Napoleon was anxious to rectify this state of affairs and engaged Haussmann in 1853, the second year of his reign, to embark on this project of the modernization of Paris. Napoleons interest mainly being in using the new materials and building techniques whilst Haussmann’s speciality was aesthetic architectural design and town planning.
Sophie Rose
This redevelopment of central Paris continued to physically and financially expand out of control over a period of 20 years even however the majority of the objectives of the project were achieved. Haussmann built Paris from the ground up, starting with redeveloping the sewage system in order to sanitize the city (Cinar. Bender, 2007). The sanitation was improved by the reduced density of the population and by the sewage and water infrastructure projects which involved separating the waste water from the contaminated water, directing the waste water downstream from the city and the contaminated water was used as agricultural fertilizer. This reduced the unpleasant smells in the city central project area. The transportation across the city and inside the centre was vastly improved by the new grid road layout (fig 2), allowing for easier transport for people and goods through the centre and to the suburbs in contrast to the restrictions and complexities of the previous chaotic system of narrow, nonlinear streets. All the dead ends were removed which unified the city and more bridges were created (Cinar. Bender, 2007). In addition to this the rail system was integrated with the main road systems, allowing the rail system to be more effective system of transport throughout the city, accessing the redeveloped centre to the ‘arrondisement’s’. The quality of life was improved by creating larger living spaces for the individual and allocating space for cultural and social activities which created a more cohesive community environment for the population (Cinar. Bender, 2007). The creation of the impressive monuments and public buildings also tended to instil a sense of pride in a population which was otherwise oppressed and disconnected. Pierre Patte, a theoretician who had also studied as an architect during the 18th century, believe that the wide streets not only helped circulation but also ‘better show off ‚buildings, temples, and palaces which are the cities ornaments‛ (Papayanis, 2004. Pp 26). Crime was reduced with the eradication of the narrow dark streets and the newly introduced wide avenues with the gas lighting (fig 3). The new geometric arrangement of the wider streets allowed for much more effective policing of the central area and the possible control of the civil population in the centre of the city by the army if required; this was a stipulation by Napoleon III’s autocratic government (Cinar. Bender, 2007). The demographics were improved by the new introduced style of apartment blocks of five levels where the bottom levels were inhabited by upper and middleclass occupiers and the upper floors with the lower classes; giving a more balanced demographic mix in the centre with the more responsible social influence of the middle and upper class in the area.
Impressionist painting of Boulevard Montmartre lit up at night by
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paris-haussmann-centre.png Camille Pissarro (1897) Source:http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/camille-pissarro-the-boulevard-montmartre-at-night
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Map of the grid-plan created by Haussmann
Fig: 3
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Fig: 2
Sophie Rose
Although the basic objectives of the redevelopment of the centre of Paris by Haussmann were realised, this involved a period of 20 years of serious inconvenience for the population in the immediate area (Papayanis. 2004). Another less successful aspect of his design approach was the monotonous uniformity that he insisted on in the design of the apartment blocks, where the regulations with regards to the facades of the buildings were meticulous. An example of this is the lines to indicate the levels had to be the same and neighbouring apartment blocks had to be of the equal height (fig 4). This was discontinued in the later stages of the overall central redevelopment of Paris. The redevelopment project was also a cause of inconvenience for people attempting to cross the city centre which time and again resulted in the city being brought to a halt. In addition the financial consequences of the enormity of the project and lack of financial planning had a devastating effect on the city and central government finances (Pickney, 1957). Fig: 4
Before and after photographs of the Quai des Orfèvres and pont Saint-Michel. Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kWC-Iar-CeI/SdFMARJeD2I/AAAAAAAABYY/3g-V9cDbPMc/s1600-h/palaisjustice.jpg
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This was the first large-scale city redevelopment of its kind in Europe and the concept itself was totally innovative and consequently with the possibility of failure. The relative success of this challenging project is a tribute to Haussmann ability in design and project management and this was not fully appreciated at the time. Even today such a project would be difficult to envisage in any inner city in Europe. This has only occurred in recent times in the aftermath of the Second World War in Coventry in the United Kingdom and in addition in Barcelona. These two cities underwent substantial central redevelopment along the lines of the Haussmann design strategies in that infrastructure, housing and road systems were altered and improved. The diagonal road system in the Barcelona Plan 1859 (fig 5) shows comparable approach and to a certain extent the central road redevelopment in Coventry; both systems producing a similar transport and logistical improvement to the Haussmann central Paris redevelopment. On the other hand, a particular contrast between the approaches of Ildefons Cerda and Haussman towards their projects is on a more sociological level where Cerda wanted to make the Eixample specifically for the wealthier sector of the population, unlike Haussmans affordable housing scheme in order to merge the different social classes (Baird, G. Kavanaugh, L. Graafland, A. Graafland, A. 2006).
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There were many who criticised Haussmann’s frenzied approach to redesigning Paris and there was concern amongst critics that the redevelopment had destroyed the connection between the people of Paris and its rivers which was once a major attraction. The Poet, Du Camp stated the Parisians attitude towards the river by saying ‚we hardly notice it‛ (Cinar. Bender. 2007 pp:70). With time, the consequent lack of familiarity and nostalgia of the central population for the old central area was far outweighed by the benefits of the various improvements mentioned.
Sophie Rose
Fig: 5
The Project for the Reform and Extension of Barcelona 1859 Source: http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/04/02/a-lesson-from-barcelona-from-1859/
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Haussmanns approach to the macro redevelopment in large cities appears not to have been adopted to a great extent, possibly because of the financial and physical disruption involved. Although a current example of drastic redevelopment is the Clyde Gateway Project in Glasgow (2007) which is a massive project encompassing 840 hectares of the East End of Glasgow. The Clyde Gateway was once rich in industry which has depleted over the last 50 years, leaving the area run down and contaminated (Local Scottish Council. N.D.). In contrast with Haussmanns city improvement plan which succeeded in relieving the centre of Paris of its dense population; The driving force behind the Gateway project is to stimulate the area and to revive the population, creating new job opportunities and new housing. The project begins with total reconstruction of the infrastructure including the road system, sewage system and other utilities. In addition to these improvements a far-sighted development is the proposed ‘suds’ system which is a project to deal with future anticipated flash-flooding in the south east Glasgow area involving a large bore-draining system leading to large capacity ponds neighbouring the river Clyde. When these various items of infrastructure are completed, areas of land will be allocated to the various new envisaged construction developments to provide residential, light industrial, commercial and leisure; this is comparable to Haussmann’s approach with the centre of Paris. The Clyde Gateway project is an example of the developers considering the future of the area in which predicted changes of the weather system of the area has had a great affect on its design. This attitude has spread within urban planning particularly in the recent years as global warming has become a hot topic amongst architects. The function and the impact that a structure will have on its environment overrules its form and aesthetic quality. In the 18th century the idea of ‘global warming’ had not yet been planted in the minds of the public; the increase in average air and oceanic temperature had not been noted until the mid 20th century. On an environmental level, it is important to note the difference in attitudes of urban designers today to that of Haussmann as the severe problem of global warming has inspired architects to move in a very different direction to that of Haussmann. This issue has even sparked a new debate on the importance of function over form for the future of urban planning.
Sophie Rose
Fig 6
1807 William Bridges Map of New York City Source: http://www.geographicus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD2&Store_Code=AntiqueMaps&Product_Code=NewYork-bridges-1871
It is clear that the main physical element of improving transport through the use of a grid system is something that has been a logical development in town planning. It is safe to assume that the grid layout system of roads originated from the Commissioners Plan of New York City in 1811 (fig 6) and presumably Haussmann was influenced by this approach to road planning which he adopted an adapted to Paris and proved successful in his layout. Even though during the redevelopment of Paris the public did not realise the benefits, it is clear that
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Haussmann became a fundamental influence of present urban design strategies; ‚a well-ordered modern city, was born, in almost all its manifestations during the first half of the nineteenth century‛ (Papayanis. 2004. Pp:248) but unfortunately due to financial constraints local authorities in the United Kingdom were unable to th fully adopt the Haussmann system in the middle of the 20 century during large urban population relocation and redevelopment projects. The transformation that Paris underwent under the Haussmann project changed a city with a disorderly medieval centre into the most fashionable, cultural capital city in Western Europe and this image still prevails today.
Sophie Rose
Book References: Cinar, A. And Bender,T (2007) Urban Imaginaries: Locating the Modern City, Minneapolis; University of Minnesota Press. Pounds, N. (2005) The Medieval City, United States of America; Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Gandy, M. (1999) The Paris Sewers and the Rationalization of Urban Space, London; The Institute of British Geographers. Papayanis, N. (2004) Planning Paris Before Haussmann. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pickney, D,H. (1957) The Journal of Economic History: Money and Politics in the Rebuilding of Paris, 1860-1870. Pennsylvania; Economic History Association at the University of Pennsylvania. Baird, G. Kavanaugh, L. Graafland, A. Graafland, A (2006) Crossover: Architecture, Urbanism, Technology. 010 Publishers. Jordan, D,P. (2004) Haussmann and the Haussmanisation: The Legacy for Paris. French Historical Studies 27. No.1
Online References: Jeulin, P (n.d.) Little Genealogical Gazette: Cholera [online] available at: http://www.amicalegenealogie.org/Histoires_temps-passe/Epidemies/chol01.htm
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Local Scottish Council (n.d) Clyde Gateway: What is Clyde Gateway [online] available at: http://www.clydegateway.com/pages/about_clyde_gateway.php