EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Designing Cities
Gary Hack, University of Pennsylvania
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E 19th Century Park and Boulevard Plans: From Paris to Kansas City Notes taken on December 7, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
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1950 was a long time ago
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but cities of around 1950 where people went to a single urban center to work, shop, and entertainment are still what many people think cities are or should be
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evolution of cities were frozen by
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1929 worldwide depression
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1939-1945 WWII
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after destruction in WWII, building began again with established systems and more modern buildings
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the central business district
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central railway station
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government
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most office buildings
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the best retail
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leading hotels
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theaters and restaurants
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expensive residential districts fronting on landscaped park lands
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surrounded by industry except for the most fashionable streets leading to the best suburbs
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working class people lived near factories
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middle class were connected to central district via street car lines
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this format corrected large mistakes that were made with cities when they were first industrialized
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how cities adapted to industrialization
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1850 Paris
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in 1850, Paris was the most progressive city in the entire world
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new, wide, straight streets were cut through the city
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to manage the traffic in the rapidly growing city
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to connect from the north train station to the south train station
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new streets were accompanied by new sewer and water supply systems
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large parks created
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Baron Haussmann, main designer
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Parisian Boulevard became the model for many other European cities
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wide enough for traffic
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space for trees
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light fixtures
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public places that enticed people to come out in their spare time both day and night
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people could now sit in tables on sidewalk under awnings
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this could never happen in pre-industrial cities where streets were chaotic places jumbled and full of traffic
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at this time, Paris was the world capital for architectural education
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tree-lined boulevards
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civic places
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lined with elegant buildings
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1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago
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planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first voyage
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opened a year late
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large exhibit "White City" produced by Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris
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became a model for other cities
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thereafter every city seemed to want a park and boulevard plan for itself
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1909 Park and Boulevard plan for Chicago
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Chicago was never able to realize the plan since it didn't have laws limiting the height of building as Paris did
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Civic Center was never built
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buildings along the waterfront was carried out thanks in part to Montgomery Ward
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Michigan Avenue is also a legacy of the 1909 Chicago plan
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1919 Kansas City
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car ownership was beginning to have an effect on cities as people began to live further way from the city center
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George Kessler
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landscape architect for Kansas City's Park and Boulevard Plan 1892-1915
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became a prototype for park and boulevard plan adopted by so many cities in the 1920s
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Country Club District
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a corrective to the industrial city
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trolley connected it to downtown
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development began before automobiles were in widespread use
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but car ownership made it successful
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in 1929 alone, 5.3 million cars were manufactured in the United States
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by 1930, there were 30 million cars on the road in the United States
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one for 3 households out of 4
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Country Club Plaza
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one of the first suburban shopping centers
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apartments across the creek overlooking the shopping district
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this area was improved in the 1980s
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1935 Downtown Kansas City
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much more utilitarian place than the plaza
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business-like places that were dominated by business
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North America adopted to automobiles much more quickly than the rest of the world
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since 1950
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cities are no longer the way their were in 1950
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in most cases, we wouldn't want to go back to the way they were
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the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City was built on a foundation of discrimination and deed restrictions
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many cities were in the grip of organized crime
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many people lived in cramped apartments or very small houses
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there was much more industrial pollution and more slum conditions