During the last century Copenhagen has seen major changes in the physical construct of the city but who was involved and what changes have occurred? When did these changes occur? Where were the main areas of development? Why was this change needed? And also, was it a successful development? Main case studies for this discussion include Copenhagen’s post-war master plan for it’s city looking at how it seamless integrated its transport systems, pedestrian walkways and businesses along with housing and zooming in further to the Ørestad district and its development which includes various architecture projects by practices such as BIG. By beginning to find answers to these questions through different sources and analysing them not only through words but also by illustrations and diagrams, an understanding of Copenhagen’s development can be begun to be made. Before these questions can be answered a step back should be made reflecting Copenhagen’s history.
Copenhagen’s history, along with Denmark’s, leading up to the early 1900’s was in some ways similar to other european countries in terms of being conquered “1807 Bombing of Copenhagen by the English navy” (Denmark.dk, 2014) and conquering “1666-1917 Danish colonies in Caribbean” (Denmark.dk, 2014). Up until the 1800’s the layout and land use of Copenhagen wasn’t really as vast as other european cities of the time.
As we can see in Fig.1 (sa.dk, 2014) & Fig.2 (Oldmapsofparis.com, 2014), compared to the development which occurred over in Paris, Copenhagen’s expansion and growth was at a slower pace. This could be due to specific events which happened during this era in history. At the end of the 1700s and leading up to the 1800s Copenhagen experienced devastating fires caused a lot ...
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called the New Paris, or the modern capital of Europe. The streets , buildings and the services
“Most railroad tracks were not damaged. This allowed shipments of aid to come in from across the country and around the world.” (10) This would be a critical factor in accelerating efforts to rebuild the city. New construction of neighborhoods and businesses created thousands of jobs for unemployed workers. By October 1872, new buildings worth nearly $50 million had been erected. Between 1872 and 1879 more than ten thousand construction permits were issued. Between 1871 and 1891 amount $316,220,000 was poured into the construction of new buildings. (9) Architects began designing the world’s first skyscrapers. Construction codes and fire codes were no longer ignored. The destruction from the fire opened up a broad expanse of land to build on. “To a huge degree, the design and layout of the city of Chicago and the character of the buildings are a result of the Chicago Fire,” he says. “If the fire hadn’t happened, it would look a lot different.”(6) In less than 20 years after the fire, Chicago became a major economic and transportation hub. All of these factors attracted more and more people to the city of Chicago. Before the fire, approximately 324,000 people lived there. During the next ten years after the fire, 500,000 people lived there. By 1890, 19 years later, more than one million people lived in
“Wright and Le Corbusier seem predestined for comparison. Their ideal cities confront each other as two opposing variations on the same utopian theme” (Fishman, 163). Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, more commonly known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, and writer. Throughout his life, he was a pioneer of modern architecture and city planning (Frampton, 12). One of Le Corbusier’s contemporaries was also hugely influential but with a competing plan Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959), an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator. Wright is known as one of the most important individuals in American Architecture of all time (Riley, 2). Both Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright were reacting to the density and overcrowding of cities in their urban plans and philosophies. Le Corbusier’s urbanism was consistent throughout many of his plans including La Ville Contemporaine (the Contemporary City), Plan Voisin and La Ville Radieuse (the Radiant City). Wright’s organic architectural style was apparent in his Broadacre City plan, which he consistently proposed throughout most of his life. Both of these influential men were raised outside of big cities and neither had formal training in the fields that the forever altered (Fishman 164). This essay aims to analyze the spatial, social and economic factors of these two influential contemporaries by laying out both plans and then laying out the comparison.
The lure of the city had one drawback, it attracted so many people that soon the cities became vastly overcrow...
“Thus today we have four sections, NW, NE, SW & SE, as well as the rectangular plan combined with radiating plan, giving the city conditions of stability as well as outwards growth ”.
Who hasn’t seen the critical examples of overpopulation that are always depicted with large cities, tall buildings and many people? It is a common thought that cities are the cause of air pollution and are in no way thought of to be sustainable or as having a smaller footprint than those residing in rural zones. Yet, this chapter shows that the criticisms have no bearing when it comes to cities and rather, cities are better in terms of stronger economies, those who live in cities have smaller families, and the more the city is developed the lower the level of poverty (unlike rural areas which shows to have a higher level of poverty). The misconception that cities are actually overusing resources and contributing to environmental degradation is not the case. The chapter cites that this is not so, it is rather “industries and commercial and industrial enterprises (or corporations) and middle and upper income groups with high consumption lifestyles.” (56) These wealthier people who want to live more luxuriously, often live on acres of land with multiple cars, thus do not often reside in the city. The chapter continues to list the positive roles of cities, for example, “lower costs per household and per enterprise for the provision of piped, treated water supplies…collection and disposal of human wastes.” (56) Another positive is the efficient use from recycled waste, also a smaller demand for land relative to the population in cities. The fourth advantage is listed as more efficient heating techniques, and fifthly, a greater use of public transportation. The rich culture found in cities is also cited in the chapter. It concludes with the need for “good governance,” whereby the goals are met and cost is not past onto others, without it the cities are left to be sources of pollution, sickness, and waste
Early in the quarter we read definitions offered by Mumford, Wirth, and others discussing city development as a political, social and economic force, not simply a construction of buildings and environments, but one that encompasses all the activities that bring life to these structures. I discuss some of the forces that dramatically transformed London into the city it is today. During the Industrial revolution, London’s development was increasingly shaped by social and political forces that evolved into policies that changed the physical characteristics of the city. Without this critical development it is unlikely that London would have survived the rapid economic growth it experienced during this period of intense technological
The largest cities in 1860 were mostly populated by farmers and their families. Why were these cities so densely populated? One reason these cities contained such a populous is that these cities served as commercial
17th century Cardiff was an economically stable township during a time of instability around the world, and this led to it's further settlement and financial growth. This sustainability is what led Cardiff to become largely populated and eventually surpass all other Welsh towns through industrial revolutions and civilian booms, and become the capital of Whales. This type of economic and populous growth is a staple of the last 500 years, with civilization furthering itself all over the world, and those that prove most successful at it becoming more prominent than others in their regions.
However, the success of the building schemes relied on the construction methods and innovations that are now attributed as bei...
Dense living situations in the 19th century, caused by people having to live closer to their jobs was one of the biggest issues in large city-centers. It was fairly expensive to live further away from the factories they worked at so people tended to live closer to the manufacturing jobs. Living conditions of the average American during the 19th century based on the standards today were atrocious. The population growth during the time increased from just under 100,000 in the 1800s to well over 3 million according to the book just in New York City alone. The books main reason for the urban concentration and density was lack of transportation that didn’t allow workers to live to far from where they worked. The forces aiding in that
1992, an unbuilt architecture for the city of Berlin that can be formally read in two different
Roland Ruppenthal, “Denmark and the Continental System,” The Journal of Modern History15, no. 1 (1943): 8.
Meijenfeldt, E. V., and Geluk, M. 2003. Below ground level: creating new spaces for contemporary architecture. Birkhauser
Solar Flare Studios. "Modern Architecture : International Style." Solar Flare Studios. Accessed April 22, 2014. http://www.solarflarestudios.com/demosites/architecture/international.htm.