Historical periods and growth of human settlements

HISTORICAL PERIODS AND GROWTH
OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
EVOLUTION OF HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS
By
PROF. VIJESH KUMAR V
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SAN
ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE
architectvijeshkumarv@gmail.com,
+919487005023
PROF.VIJESH KUMAR V, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SAN ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE,+919487005023 1

HISTORICAL PERIODS AND GROWTH OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
1. Ancient
2. Medieval
3. Renaissance
4. Industrial
5. Post-industrial age

ANCIENT

MEDIEVAL

In all great periods of art a desire for symmetry and regularity is observable, at one time more pronounced than at
another. In the Middle Ages, plans of towns, when laid out de novo, were regular and symmetrical whenever the
nature of the site would permit. the majority of examples, however, have developed the irregular forms they take
owing to determining lines of fortifications and a gradual unregulated growth; under these conditions then they
cannot have the value for study for a modern city, which should not be laid out to afford material for the water-
colour artist! It is possible to admire and love the marvellous effects of these old towns without wishing to reproduce
them in the twentieth century. They are the products of a time when to do the right thing came naturally, and each
man, with a great tradition behind him, unconsciously built so that his work took its place beautifully as a unit in the
whole, and effects were obtained for which it would be absurd, under modern conditions, to strive.
Lessons, however, may be learned from mediaeval work. The walls of fortification enclosing the old towns, and
clearly defining them from the country around, show the value a definite boundary would be to our modern cities,
instead of the straggling outskirts so often a disfigurement. The clustering of the town around some great towering
church or cathedral, a dominating mass, like the Acropolis at Athens, gives a sense of unity to the whole; whilst
countless examples show that perfect geometrical regularity on paper is not always necessary, for little deviations
from the square are with difficulty measured by the eye. From the market place we can learn the value of the quiet,
restful effects obtained by a judicious arrangement of street entrances, giving an unbroken frame of buildings, and
with it that sense of seclusion so suitable for a square in a busy commercial centre (an effect which may be obtained
without meandering streets but in a rectilineal system with streets entering "en bras de turbine"). Such an arcaded
market place as that of Montpazier would make, in principle, an excellent model for our shopping centres; and we
can learn something too for our residential quarters, where, removed from the centre of the city, the need of
formality being less, a judicious variation in the building lines of the street gives a pleasing and welcome variety.

pedestrians set the scale of the town
towns confined within limitations of high and narrow walls
medieval citizens could easily identify with their cities/towns
urban society was held together by the guilds
was the work of society in general and many, mostly, anonymous artists in
particular

RENAISSANCE

With the revival of Classic architecture in the fifteenth century in Italy, and with it earnest study of the great buildings of the Romans, appeared the
revival of the "grand manner" in planning, and that fine sense of breadth and scale in architecture so closely associated with the name of ancient Rome.
The regularity and symmetry of the buildings soon spread to gardens, streets, and "places" which were laid out at that time and in conjunction with them.
The setting of buildings and arrangement of their sites and the practice of formal gardening developed a desire for larger fields to conquer, and plans
of cities and towns were schemed showing a desire to consider the problem in the light of a complete harmonious whole. A masterly grasp of the
possibilities, a largeness of conception, and a power and a courage to handle civic design on a scale such as never before had been attempted now
becomes apparent.
The desire to shed the glory of important buildings upon their surroundings by placing them on some prominent point to which many roads converge,
large open spaces or forecourts to buildings to enable their designs to be properly appreciated, magnificent vistas, a predominance of geometrical
forms, and a linking up of many features into one connected design are all characteristics to be seen in the plan of any Renaissance town.
The Italian villas of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (largely the works of men who were painters before architects!) are excellent examples of
the "grand manner" in architecture. A realisation of the possibilities of the site, of the value of dignified approaches, of noble terracing, of vistas, of
formally laid out gardens in excellent relation to the buildings, these and many other qualities which defy analysis are to be seen in such designs as the
Sacchetti, Madama, Aldobrandini, or the D'Este.
But in other countries besides Italy, countries to which the Renaissance spread, there also may be studied noble works. In France, perhaps more than
anywhere else, can be seen the finest examples of the harmonious design of buildings and sites--of grounds treated as an essential part of the
architecture. The sites usually flat, prolonged vistas large open spaces and beautiful broad effects of water, grass, and foliage, are points in which the
French excelled. No other people have shown such a magnificent sense of breadth and space as may be seen in such creations as the gardens of
Chantilly or Versailles. In the Renaissance, for the first time, we see the city planned as an artistic whole. A fine conception precedes its slower
realisation, and every detail is subordinated to the one central idea. Would that we again could pick up the threads of a lost tradition!

RENAISSANCE CIVILIZATION
(1500 AD)
Cosmic forces were displaced by scientific theories and
observations
urban design ceased to be a natural expression of community life
and became a much more conscious artistic self-expression
renaissance urban design was mainly on aesthetics as perceived
by the user of public places
Thus, it has been argued that mainstream urban design was born
in the renaissance age

DESIGN FEATURES OF THE RENAISSANCE
regular geometric spaces (entire
cities or parts of)
the primary streets
the public places / squares/piazzas
with sculptures and fountains
sequence and perspective.
Ideal cities of regular geometry

DESIGN FEATURES OF THE RENAISSANCE (CONT’D)
Public places and primary streets
showing sequence and perspective

The term Rinascimento, literally a 'reawakening' or re-birth, was introduced by Vasari in the 16th century and disseminated by Michelet
and Burchardt during the 19th century.
The Renaissance has been called:
"an intellectual movement born from behind monastery walls where scholasticism had flourished in almost unbroken sequence
since antique times."It grew out of 14th century Italy, where it flowered during the subsequent two centuries and from where it spread to
the rest of Europe.
Writers, painters, architects resuscitated classical culture in all fields, and while looking nostalgically back to a long past peak of
civilization, adapted old ideas with equal intellectual excitement to new and progressive purposes.
The 'Reawakening' or revival of interest in Classical Antiquity meant:
• intellectual limitation of medieval world were broken
• absolute and sacrosanct beliefs were now questioned
• rebirth of learning, of spirit of inquiry and individual creativity reminiscent of the Greece of Periclean Athens.
• a general search for truth in the classical and scientific fields.
Such names as Erasmus, Copernicus, Galileo, Giotto, Columbus, Cabot, Vasco da Gama symbolize the new spirit that was abroad. The
Artistotelian conception of the universe was swept away as the earth was removed from its centre.
It was, also, a revival of classical antiquity in the field of city planning and design.

WHY THE INTEREST IN CLASSICAL
ANTIQUITY?
a. Italy was spiritually and physically close to the classical past; its language was very similar to
Latin as was its literature; monasteries as caretakers, had preserved much of classical antiquity.
b. because of the impact of the great migration of Greek scholars from Constantinople to Italy
between 324 and the city's fall to the Turks in 1453.
Constantinople had for centuries maintained the language and tradition of Greece. It was a
haven of western culture, which when threatened by Islam, saw its scholars take refuge westward in Italy
leading to the foundation of great centres of learning in Florence, Venice, Mantua, and Milan.
c. discoveries of ancient murals, statues, such as the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoon,the Vatican
Venus, and other antique remains excited the Renaissance imagination, and gave new stimuli to creation as
well as to collection.
d. ancient books and papers were rediscovered and copied, and then read again with enthusiasm
and excitement; antiquity was seen as catalyst of discovering truth in nature.

ACCELERATED TEMPO OF RENAISSANCE'S
FLOWERING WAS MADE POSSIBLE AND
ENCOURAGED BY:
1) Weakening of the Feudal system and the consequent growth of a
less dependent middle class
- the nation state
- emergence of early capitalism
- the era of commercial acquisiton
- banking and trade companies developed
- social changes

2) Development of Centralized Nation State
3) Decline of ecclesiastical domination
4) Growth of international trade
5) Introduction of printing ca. 1450 (J. Gutenberg)
6) Technological destruction of time

THE RENAISSANCE CITY
a) was conceived as a centralized unit (as opposed to medieval urban
development which gradually added subsidiary parts, the 'faubourgs')
b) urban society is divided by class conflicts; identification with the city
became more difficult as it became the symbol of the invisible state and its
obedient subjects. New bonds were forged by the now fully-developed
money economy, the increasing specialization of work, and by the princes,
who held the power of the state.
c) horizons widened, as towns lost their narrow limitations and their
urban areas expanded. The upper classes exerted decisive influence upon
the life of cities, towns and architecture, while their 'carriages' set a new
scale of development.
d) was dominated by formal planning and design principles

SPACE: 3 DOMINANT CHARACTERISTICS OF
RENAISSANCE SPACE:
1. Spatial unity
 -rational design and design order.
2. Limitation of space
 - the finite nature of space: volumes designed by 15th century architects
were precisely calculated and visually apparent, giving the observer a
clear idea of structure and an awareness of the spatial rhythm around it.
 -space is static, not yet in motion (dynamic).
3. Measured order
 -space is geometric, measured and proportioned.

PIAZZA PIO II, PIENZA
- mid 15th century, by
Bernardo Rosselino
- form already
determined by the acute angle of
the flanking structures.
- successfully achieved sense
of exaggerated perspective by
opposing colonnades and paving
pattern.

ABSOLUTE STANDARDS
Symmetry and Harmony
Scale
Balance
Rhythm and
Proportion

ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE BUILT MAINLY IN 1696-
99 AS GREENWICH HOSPITAL, GREENWICH
BY SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN

FORTIFICATIONS
Engineering difficulties and financial
burden
Severe limitation on expansion;
higher densities and congestion
Wasteful use of urban space
Preoccupation with fortification
rather than the city itself
Plan of Turin showing extensions to
fortifications (ca. 1670) (from Rasmussen)

ANTONIO DI PIETRO AVERLINO CALLED
FILARETTE 1400-1469

GRAPHIC INTERPRETATION OF VITRUVIUS'
DESCRIPTION OF HIS IDEAL CITY

FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO MARTINI 1439 -
1502

in Italy - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael
Germany- Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
England - Sir Thomas More (Utopia) (1478-1535)

LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452 - 1519
A proposal for 10 New Towns for Milan
A partly underground city (form follows function)

PIETRO CATANEO - 1569

BUONAIUTO LORINI

FRANCESCO DE MARCHI 1504 - 1577

VINCENZO SCAMOZZI 1552 - 1616
"City should be not result of nature but product of planning"
An Ideal City, Scamozzi

PALMA NOVA 1593
Fortified garrison town built as defence for the
city of Venice against the threat of Turkish
invasion.

GRAMMICHELE (NEAR CATANIA, SICILY) 1693
It was built by architect
Michele La Ferla for
Count Carlo Caraffa to
replace the town of
OCCHIOLA, in Sicily,
destroyed by an
earthquake in that
year.

THE RENAISSANCE VIEW OF THE IDEAL CITY AND
THEIR GEOMETRIC PLANS IS A COMPLETE BREAK
WITH THE PAST AND REPRESENTS AN
INNOVATION IN THE FOLLOWING RESPECTS:
(a) while medieval cities often outgrew their original plan and acquired
large areas of unplanned new suburbs the Ideal City of the Renaissance was
characterized by strict, formal, geometric completeness and finality in all its
elements. It was considered as a total, perfect form which was not to be
interfered with subsequently.
(b) Where, previously, geometric concepts were applied for practical
military considerations, for ease of setting up of new colonies, and for the
equitable distribution of land plots, the Renaissance adopted geometric
plans first and foremost for their perfection and beauty.
(c) the Ideal City was considered quite independently of any physical
or spiritual relationship with its environment i.e. nature.

INDUSTRIAL

POST-INDUSTRIAL AGE

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