THE AMALIENBORG, COPENHAGEN
THE AMALIENBORG, COPENHAGEN
A similar relationship can be created in a formal planned layout, for example, the Amalienborg and Frederikskirke in Copenhagen (Figure 4.60). Amalienborg was designed by Nicolas Eigtved for King Frederik V of Denmark. It was first planned in 1749 and by 1754, when the architect died, the whole of the quarter was entirely laid out and many of its fine buildings completed. The reason for the project was to stimulate development on crown lands. Those willing to erect houses were given land as freehold provided they built within five years and adhered to the details of the plans approved by the King. The King reserved for himself the land on which the main square and the four palaces were to be buiIt. 89
The main square is an octagon enclosed by four palace buildings. Each palace consists of a large, dominant central block connected originally by single-storey wings to pavilions which punctuate the exits from the space. In the centre of the square is an equestrian statue of King Frederik V. The Classical, three-part design of the palaces, with main central block flanked by two pavilions, is mirrored in the two, fine corner houses which terminate Frederik’s Street as it connects with the church
square. The church, which Eigtved also designed, Figure 4.60 The was to repeat the triple compositional treatment
Amalienborg, Copenhagen
URBAN DESIGN: STREET AND SQUARE
having a colossal dome flanked by twin towers.
nuclear square and the amorphous square. 90 A
Unfortunately the dramatic crescendo through the
public square, plaza or piazza, the precise nomencla-
square along Frederik’s Street to the massive marble
ture is unimportant, for the purpose of this analysis
church was not completed quite as planned. The
presupposes a high degree of physical enclosure
scale of each main stage in Eigtved’s church eleva-
leading to a feeling of being enclosed. From the
tion was to be doubled from a 6 m (20 ft) ground
point of view of this text neither the nuclear nor
floor to 12 m (40 ft) second storey to 24 m (80 ft)
the amorphous square, using Zucker’s definitions,
cylinder for the dome rising finally a further 48 m
qualify for inclusion in the category public square.
(160 ft) to the cross. The church, completed late in
Such features of urban structure may indeed be
the nineteenth century, though not following the
important places in their own right but their design
same uncompromising and highly disciplined archi-
requires considerations of a different order.
tectural theme designed by Eigtved nevertheless by
Busy metropolitan traffic junctions such as New
its sheer bulk still dominates the composition.
York’s Times Square are squares in name only and
The tripartite subdivision of architectural masses
should be designed bearing in mind their primary
is repeated in the handling of space along the main
function, the efficient movement of city traffic. A
axis of Fredrik’s Street. The great open space of the
large square such as New York’s Washington Square
port, the main palace square and the space encirc-
is framed by buildings on all sides – yet being too
ling the church, are connected by smaller scale
large for the surrounding heterogeneous structures it
streets, narrow shafts of space which articulate the
lacks enclosure. Its enlarged proportions are such
major elements of the spatial composition.
that it has become something other than a city square. In Nottingham a brave attempt is being
made to ‘improve’ Maid Marian Way, itself a road
Figure 4.61 Junction, Maid
OTHER SPACES
improvement of the 1960s. In the north, Maid
Marian Way, Derby Road,
Marian Way terminates in a roundabout and
Toll House Hill and Upper
Zucker in his classification of squares lists two
connects with three other important roads, Derby
Parliament Street,
further types so far not discussed here; they are the
Road, Toll House Hill and Upper Parliament Street (Figure 4.61). The latest developments to the east of the roundabout, pleasant but uninspiring ‘modern traditional’ buildings have been designed to give a high degree of enclosure. However, while traffic remains at the ground level the enclosure of this particular space is only likely to increase traffic noise and pollution. For this space to fully justify the present form of city square, some thought has to be given to carrying the traffic below ground level, an expensive and complex prospect, or to the reduction in traffic volume through traffic management.
Nottingham
Zucker defines a nuclear space in the following manner: ‘The spatial shape of the nuclear square is of definite order, although not so tightly knit . . . an entity, even without the frame of a continuous row of buildings or without the domination of a frontal
THE SQUARE OR PLAZA
structure. As long as there is a nucleus, a strong vertical accent – a monument, a fountain, an obelisk – powerful enough to charge the space around with
a tension that keeps the whole together, the impres- sion of a square will be evoked.’ He quotes the example of the pyramid as creating ‘an aesthetically impervious space around it’. Within this definition, Zucker cites as an example, the Piazza di Ss Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, In this case it is Verrochio’s Colleoni sculpture which acts as a strong focus holding together an otherwise amorphous shape as a recognisable spatial unit 91 (Figure 4.62). The design procedures necessary to form such a space seem unclear, that is, apart from the centralizing feature being big or bold enough to dominate its surroundings. Predicting an observer’s perception of the spatial envelope from a given design appears hazardous. Clearly the positive element being designed is the centralizing element
Figure 4.62 be it sculpture, column or building and not the Piazza di Ss NOTES space. The idea of the size, shape and location of Giovanni e Paolo, Venice
such a space as formed in the mind of the observer, if indeed it is so formed, is the result of designing a
1 Hegemann, Werner and Peets, Elbert. The American
three-dimensional object around which the observer
Vitruvius, An Architect’s Handbook of Civic Art , Benjamin
can move and not the design of an enclosed space
Blom, New York, 1922, p.29
through which the observer moves.
2 Vitruvius. The Ten Books of Architecture (trns by Morris
Hicky Morgan), Dover Publications, New York, 1960, Book
CONCLUSION
V, Chapter 1, p.132 3 Alberti, Leon Battista. The Ten Books of Architecture (The
1755 Leoni edn), Dover Publications, New York, 1986, Book
The public square is probably still the most impor-
IV, Chapter VIII, p.81
tant element in city design; it is the chief method by which a town or city is both decorated and
4 Ibid, Book VIII, Chapter VI, p.l73
given distinction. It is the natural setting for the
5 Collins, G.R. and Collins C.C. Camillo Sitte: The Birth of
most important civic and religious buildings, a place
Modern City Planning , Rizzoli, New York, 1986, p.154
for fine sculpture, fountains and lighting and, above
6 Scruton, Roger. The Aesthetics of Architecture, Methuen,
all else, a place where people meet and socialize.
London, 1979, p.44
When such public places are designed according to some fairly basic principles and are imbued with a 7 Ibid, p.144
sense of place, they take on an added symbolic
8 Le Corbusier. The Radiant City, Faber & Faber, London,
meaning. The most important physical quality of
1967, p.141
such spaces is enclosure. The methods of enclosure
9 Yeats, W.B. The Second Coming. In Yeats Selected Poetry,
are many though the principles are few.
Pan Books, London, 1974, p.99
URBAN DESIGN: STREET AND SQUARE
10 Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Existence, Space and
32 Giedion, Sigfried. Space, Time and Architecture, Harvard
Architecture , Studio Vista, London, 1971, p.19
University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 3rd edn, enlarged, 1956,
11 Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City, MIT Press, Cambridge,
p.152
Mass., 1960
33 Bacon, E.N. Design of Cities, Thames and Hudson, London,
12 Ibid, p.47
revised edn, 1975, p.155
13 Ibid, p.102
34 Giedion, Sigfried. Op cit, p.152
14 Alexander Christopher. A New Theory of Urban Design,
35 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.8
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987, p.92
36 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.177
15 Ibid, p.93
37 Ibid, p.171
16 Unwin, Raymond. Town Planning in Practice, T. Fisher
38 Palladio, Andrea. The Four Books of Architecture, Dover
Unwin. London, 1909, p.176
Publications, New York, 1965, p.72
17 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.181
39 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.7
18 Murray, Peter. The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance,
40 County Council of Essex, A Design Guide for Residential
Thames and Hudson. London, (revised 3rd edn), 1986, p.124
Areas , County Council of Essex, The Anchor Press, Essex,
19 Ibid, p.140
1973, p.65
20 Summerson, Sir John. The Classical Language of
41 Alberti. Op cit, p.173
Architecture , Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p.69
42 Hegemann, Werner and Peets, Elbert. Op cit, p.40
21 Ibid, p.68
43 Ibid, pp.42–44 and Spreiregen, P.D. Urban Design: The 22 Zucker, Paul. Town and Square, Columbia University Press, Architecture of Towns and Cities , McGraw-Hill, New York,
New York, 1959, p.151
1965, p.75
23 Alberti, Leon Battista. Op cit, Book IV, Chapter VIII, p.80
44 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.182
24 Rasmussen, S.E. Experiencing Architecture, MIT Press,
45 Ibid, p.183
Cambridge, Mass., 1959, p.38
46 County Council of Essex. Op cit
25 Unwin, Raymond. Op cit, p.171
47 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.181
26 Alexander, Christopher, et al. A Pattern Language, Oxford
48 Krier, Rob. Urban Space, Academy Editions, London, 1979,
University Press, Oxford, 1977, p.28
p.9
27 Alberti, Leon Battista. Op cit, Book VIII, Chapter VI, p.172
49 Vitruvius. Op cit, p.131
28 Quoted from Ashby, Thomas and Pierce, S.R. The Piazza del
50 Alberti. Op cit, p.173
Popolo: Rome, Its History and Dcvelopment. In Town Planning Review , Vol XI, No 2, December 1924, pp.74–99
51 Palladio, Andrea. Op cit, p.72
29 Ibid
52 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.182
30 Morris, A.E.J. History of Urban Form, George Godwin,
53 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.9
54 Chambers, Isobel M. ‘Piazzas of Italy.’ In Town Planning 31 Rasmussen, S.E. Towns and Buildings, The University Press Review , Vol XI, No 4, February 1926, p.225, also the
London, 1972, p.130
of Liverpool, Liverpool, 1951, p.50
drawings of Lim Y. Ng, An Historical Analysis of Urban Space , unpublished dissertation, School of Architecture, University of Nottingham, 1979
THE SQUARE OR PLAZA
55 Bacon, Edmund N. Op cit, p.107
73 Dougill, W. The Present Day Capitol. In Town Planning
56 Baroero, Claudio, et al (eds). Florence Guide to the City, Review , June 1927, Vol XII, No 3, pp.174–183 Univis Guide Series: Italy, Mario Gros, Tomasone & Co,
74 Bacon. Edmund, N. Op cit, p.118
Torino, 1979, p.8.1
75 Norberg-Schulz, Christian, Op cit, p.48
57 Gibberd, Frederick. Town Design, Architectural Press, London, 2nd edn, 1955, pp.133–135
76 Cullen. Gordon. The Concise Townscape, Architectural
Press, London, 1971, p.9
58 Bacon, Edmund N. Op cit, pp.108–109
77 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.197
59 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.11
78 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.15
60 Collins, G.R. and Collins, C.C. Op cit, p.177
79 Gibberd, Frederick. Op cit, p.130–132
61 Ibid, p.178
80 Baroero, Claudio. Op cit, p.16.2
62 Ibid, p.182
81 Bacon, Edmund, N. Op cit, p.112
63 Spreiregen, P.D. Op cit, p.19
82 MowI, T. and Earnshaw, B. John Wood Architect of
64 Alberti. Op cit, p.173
Obsession , Millstream Books, Bath, 1988, p.10
65 Vitruvius, Op cit, p.132
83 Summerson, John. Architecture in Britain: 1530–1830,
66 Alberti. Op cit, p.172
Penguin, Harmondsworth, 3rd edn, 1958, pp.222–225
67 Ibid, p.81
84 Pevsner, Nikolaus. The Buildings of England, North
Somerset and Bristol , Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1958,
68 Ashby, Thomas. The Capitol, Rome, Its History and
p.121
Development. In Town Planning Review, June, 1927, Vol XII, No 3, pp.159–173
85 Gibberd, Frederick. Op cit, p.274
69 Morris, A.E.J. Op cit, p.129
86 Summerson, John. Op cit, p.224
70 Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Artists. A selection trans-
87 Bacon, Edmund, N. Op cit, p.177
lated by George Bull, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1965,
88 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, pp.187–189
pp.388–389
89 Rasmussen, S.E. Towns and Buildings, op cit, pp.126–132
71 Bacon, Edmund, N. Op cit, p.115
90 Zucker, Paul. Op cit, p.8
72 Ashby, Thomas. Op cit. p.167
91 Ibid, p.14
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