Федеральное агентство по образованию
Сибирская государственная автомобильно-дорожная академия
(СибАДИ)
Л.Ф. ГЕРАСИМОВА
Н.В. МАТВЕЕВА
АРХИТЕКТУРА
СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО
Учебное пособие на английском языке
Омск
Издательство СибАДИ
2006
1
УДК
ББК
Рецензенты: Г.Г. Сёмкина к. ф. н., доцент каф. английской филологии ОмГУ
Т.Н. Шоколова доцент каф. ин. яз. СибАДИ
Герасимова Л.Ф., Матвеева Н.В.
Архитектура. Строительство. Учебное пособие на английском языке. Омск: Изд-во СибАДИ, 2006.
– 157с.
Учебное пособие разработано в соответствии с типовой программой курса «Иностранные языки в
вузе» для студентов неязыковых вузов с учетом современной методики преподавания.
Книга состоит из трех частей, краткого англо-русского словаря с терминологией по специальности.
Первая глава состоит из десяти текстов для чтения на английском языке по строительству. Вторая
глава содержит 17 дополнительных текстов для чтения по истории архитектуры и ее стилям.
Третья глава состоит из девяти текстов для чтения на английском языке, которые носят
информативно-познавательный характер. Они содержат информацию о памятниках архитектуры
мировых столиц.
Тексты и упражнения направлены на развитие у студентов навыков чтения и профессионального
говорения.
ISBN
2
© Герасимова Л.Ф., Матвеева Н.В.
PART I
UNIT 1
CIVIL ENGINEERING
I. Listen, read and remember.
Appliance
Приспособление, прибор
Apply
Обращаться за чем-л
Branch
Ветвь, филиал, отрасль
Concern
Касаться, относиться, интересовать
Conflict with nature
Противоречить природе, бороться с
природой
Deal (with)
Иметь дело с чем-л, кем-л
Divide (into)
Делить. разделять
Distinguish (from)
Отличать
Execute
Выполнять
Harbour
Гавань
Lead (to)
Вести (к)
Protect oneself against
Защищаться от чего-л
sustain
Поддерживать, выдерживать
II. Read and translate the text.
Civil Engineering
The term "engineering" is a modern one. The New Marriam-Webster
Dictionary gives the explanation of the word "engineering" as the practical
application of scientific and mathematical principles. Nowadays the term
"engineering" means, as a rule, the art of designing, constructing, or using engines.
But this word is now applied *in a more extended sense. It is applied also to the art
of executing such works as the objects of civil and military architecture, in which
engines or other mechanical appliances are used. Engineering is divided into many
branches. The most important of them are: civil, mechanical, electrical, nuclear,
mining, military, marine, and sanitary engineering.
While the definition "civil engineering "dates back only two centuries, the
profession of civil engineer is as old as civilized life. It started developing with the
rise of ancient Rome. In order to understand clearly what civil engineering
constitutes nowadays, let us consider briefly the development of different branches
of engineering. Some form of building and utilization of the materials and forces of
nature have always been necessary for the people from the prehistoric times. The
people had to protect themselves against the elements and sustain themselves in the
conflict with nature.
First the word "civil engineering" was used to distinguish the work of the
engineer with a non-military purpose from that of a military engineer. And up to
about the middle of the 18th century there were two main branches of engineering
— civil and military. The former included all those branches of the constructive art
not directly connected with military operations and the constructions of fortifications, while the latter, military engineering, concerned itself with the
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applications of science and the utilization of building materials in the art of war.
But as time went on, the art of civil engineering was enriched with new
achievements of science. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and later
there came a remarkable series of mechanical inventions, great discoveries in
electrical science and atomic energy. It led to differentiation of mechanical,
electrical, nuclear engineering, etc.
It is a well-known fact that with the invention of the steam engine and the
growth of factories a number of civil engineers became interested in the practical
application of the science of mechanics and thermodynamics to the design of
machines. They separated themselves from civil engineering, and were called
"mechanical engineers".
With the development of the science of electricity, there appeared another
branch of the engineering — electrical engineering. It is divided now into two
main branches: communications engineering and power engineering.
In the middle of the 20th century there appeared some other new branches of
engineering—nuclear engineering and space engineering. The former is based on
atomic physics, the latter — on the achievements of modern science and
engineering.
At present there are hundreds of subdivisions of engineering, but they all, at
one time or another, branched off from civil engineering.
The term "civil engineering" has two distinct meanings. In the widest and oldest
sense it includes all non-military branches of engineering as it did two centuries
ago. But in its narrower, and at the present day more correct sense, civil
engineering includes mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, metallurgical,
and mining engineering.
Here are some fields of civil engineering:
1. Housing, industrial, and agricultural construction.
2. Structural engineering comprises the construction of all fixed structures with
their foundations.
3. The construction of highways and city streets and pavements.
4. The construction of railroads.
5. The construction of harbours and canals.
6. Hydraulic engineering which includes the construction of dams and power
plants.
The above enumeration will make clear the vast extent of the field of civil
engineering.
III. A few explanations to the text
1. ... in a more extended sense — в более широком смысле
2. The former..., while the latter... - первый (имеется в виду из двух
упомянутых)..., тогда как последний... (из двух упомянутых)
3. Here are some fields of civil engineering. — Вот некоторые области
строительства.
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IV. Answer the questions
1. What does the word "engineering" mean?
2. Is engineering a science?
3. Into what branches is Civil engineering divided?
4. How old is the profession of a civil engineer?
5. What distinct meanings has the term "civil engineering"?
6. What fields of Civil engineering do you know?
7. What are the most important branches of Civil engineering?
8. What invention laid the foundation for mechanical engineers?
9. When was electrical engineering developed?
10. What are the main subdivisions of the electrical engineering?
V. Read the text and tell the group what is a home for you?
What is home?
(after Ernestine Schumann-Heink)
A roof to keep out the rain? Four walls to keep out the wind? Floors to keep
out the cold?
Yes, but home is more than that. It's the laugh of a baby, the song of a
mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of living hearts, light from happy eyes,
kindness, loyalty, comradeship.
Home is first school and first church for young ones, where they learn what
is right, what is good and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are
hurt or sick.
Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are
respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good
enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving
kindness. Where even the tea - kettle sings from happiness.
That is home. Sweet home.
God bless it.
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UNIT 2
CONSTRUCTION WORKS
I. Read following words and word-combinations and find centences containing
them in the text.
Basement
фундамент, основание, подвал
beam
балка, балансир
cause
причина, сторона
coat
покрытие, -ing слой (краски)
commission
пускать в эксплуатацию
contractor
подрядчик
designed performance
проектная мощность
foundation
основание, фундамент
framework
конструкция. Структура
girder
поясная балка, прогон
precommissioning works
предпусковые работы
spare parts
запасные части
timber
лесоматериал, строевой лес, балка
followed its progress with interest
с интересом следил за его ростом
basic and detailed engineering
выполнение проектной документации
starting up and adjustment operation
пуско-наладочные работы
II. Without translating find information in the text to the following questions.
1. What purpose is the natural stone used for?
2. What are the buildings made of stone and brick?
3. Should the coverings tie the walls?
4. What must every building be?
5. What are the main parts of a building?
6. What are their functions?
7. What kind of facilities is constructed on a turnkey basis?
8. What are the responsibilities of the contractor?
9. Why is a turnkey contract a long-term undertaking?
10. How is a turnkey contract usually won?
11. What can the Completion Certificate tell us about?
12. What building professions have you come across in the text?
Construction Works
The first houses were built for the purpose of protecting their owners from
the weather and, therefore, were very simple—a roof to keep off the rain or snow,
and walls to keep out the wind.
The building erected now can be divided into two broad classifications: they
are either for housing or for industrial purpose.
As far as the material is concerned, the building can be divided into stone (or
brick), wood and concrete types. The brick is an artif-ical material made of clay
then burnt to harden it. The natural stone (rubble masonry) is used for footing and
foundations for external walls carrying the load. The buildings made of stone or
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brick are durable, fire-proof and have poor heat conductivity.
The tiers or levels which divide a building into stages or stories are called
floors. These may be of timber but in stone buildings they are made of ferroconcrete details in great and small sizes.
The coverings or upper parts of buildings constructed over to keep 6ut rain
and wind and to preserve the interior from exposure to the weather, are called
roofs. These should tie the walls and give strength and firmness to the construction.
Every building must be beautiful in appearance and proportional in various
parts. The interior should be planned to suit the requirements of the occupants
while the exterior must be simple without any excesses.
Any building should be provided with water, electricity, ventilation and
heating system.
Getting water into the house is called plumbing. The plumbers have also to
get the water out after it has been used. The first part of this problem is called
water supply and the second one is called drainage or sewerage.
II
Almost everybody saw the construction of a building and *fol-lowed its
progress with interest1. First the excavation is dug for the basement, then the
foundation walls below ground level are constructed; after this the framework is
erected and clothed with various finishing materials and protected by several coats
of paint.
The part upon which the stability of the structure depends is the framework.
It is intended for safety carrying the loads imposed. The floors, walls, roofs and
other parts of the building must be carefully designed and proportioned.
The architect or designer must decide, what the size of the walls, the floors,
the beams, the girders and the parts, which make up the framework, will be and
how they will be placed and arranged.
Here are the main parts of a building and their functions.
Foundations serve to keep the walls and floors from contact with the soil, to
guard them against the action of frost, to prevent them from sinking and settling
which cause cracks in walls and uneven floors.
Floors divide the building into stories. They may be either of timber or may
be constructed of a fire-resisting material. Walls are built to enclose areas and
carry the weight of floors and roofs. The walls may be solid or hollow. The
materials used for the walls construction can be brick, stone, concrete and other
natural or artificial materials.
Roofs cover the building and protect it from exposure to the weather. They
tie the walls and give strength and firmness to the structure.
III
Turnkey construction is the type of assistance in building different facilities.
In this case the employer engages the contractor to design, manufacture, test,
deliver, install, complete and commission a certain project and the contractor
undertakes full responsibility for the project construction and commissioning.
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The contractor then undertakes endeavors to conduct a survey and design
work, as well as to work out *basic and detailed engi neering2 and supply
equipment. As a rule, the contractor's highly qualified specialists are made
responsible for doing part or full construction works, carrying out installation,
*start-up and adjustment operations3.
After the construction is completed the precommissioning starts, that is
testing, checking and meeting other requirements, which are specified in the
technical handbooks.
As soon as all works in respect of the precommissioning are completed and
the project is ready for the commissioning, the contractor notifies the engineer
(Project manager) with the message. The contractor begins the commissioning
immediately after the engineer does the issue of the Completion Certificate.
The contractor carries out the guarantee test during the commissioning to
make sure that the project will reach the designed perfor-mance.
Operational acceptance of the project takes place when the guarantee test has
been successfully completed and the guarantees met. As a rule the contractor
supplies spare parts so that the project could normally operate during the
maintenance guarantee period.
Turnkey contracts are always long-term undertakings involving several
parties, among them foreign and local subcontractors. They are usually won as a
result of tenders where the bidders compete for the contract on the terms most
favourable for the customer.
III. Find English equivalents in the text.
Огнеупорный материал, бутовая кладка, дополнительная нагрузка, различные
отделочные материалы, защитить несколькими слоями краски, нулевой цикл,
сертификат о завершении строительства, строительство «под ключ»,
проектно-изыскательные работы, местные и иностранные субподрядчики.
IV. Read the text once again and make words from the letters.
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UNIT 3
SOME BUILDING PROFESSIONS
I. Listen, read and remember.
apprntice
bid
carpenter
chimney
cornice
drain
expose
granolithic
joiner
lathing
mould
plumber
render
request
sheet
ученик, подмастерье
предложение цены, претензия
плотник
труба, дымоход
карниз
дренажная
труба,
канава;
дренировать, осушать
выставлять (напоказ, на продажу);
подвергать (опасности)
сделанный из искусственного гранита
столяр
сетка (под штукатурку)
форма, лекало, шаблон; формовать,
делать по шаблону
водопроводчик; паяльщик
воздавать;
представлять;
делать,
превращать
просьба, требование; спрос
лист (бумаги); ~ iron листовое железо
II. Scan the texst for about 10 minutes and find the sentences with words from I
Some Building Professions
A man, who has been an apprentice for some years in a building trade and
has therefore enough skill *to be considered a skilled worker at his trade, is called
tradesman or craftsman.
He may be a carpenter-and-joiner, bricklayer, mason, slater-and-tiler,
plumber, electrician, house painter, glazier, floor-and-wall tiler, plasterer, paperhanger, steeplejack, hot water fitter and so on.
Bricklayer is a tradesman who builds and repairs brickwork, lays and joints
salt glazed stoneware drains, sets, chimney pots, manhole frames and fireplaces.
He renders brickwork, including the insides of manholes. A sewer and tunnel
bricklayer is a specialized bricklayer. In some districts of Greart Britain,
bricklayers also fix wall and flooring tiles and slating and lay plaster and
granolithic floors. But elsewhere these are plasterer's specialities.
Carpenter is a man who erects wood frames, fits joints, fixes wood floors,
stairs and window frames, asbestos sheeting and other wall-board. He builds or
dismantles Wood or metal formwork. The two trades of carpenter and joiner were
originally the same, and most men can do both, but specialize in one or the other.
In the USA the term "carpenter" includes a joiner. The word is derived from the
French word charpente, which means a wood or metal framework.
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Joiner is a man who makes joinery and works mainly at the bench on wood,
which has been cut and shaped by the machinists. His work is finer than the
carpenter's, much of it being highly finished and done in a joinery shop *which is
not exposed to weather.
In Scotland a joiner is a carpenter-and-joiner.
Mason is a stone worker or stone setter. In Scotland and the USA a
bricklayer is usually also a mason. A fixer or a fixer mason or a builder mason is a
mason who sets prepared stones in walls, whether the stone be only facing or to the
full wall thickness.
Plasterer is a tradesman who may be a fibrous plasterer or a plasterer in solid
work. The latter lays successive coats of plaster or rendering and fixes fibrous
plaster such as mould cornices and wall pattern. *He can use a horsed mould, erect
lathing for plaster, and apply stucco.
A construction manager, or CM, provides services similar to those of
general constractor, but represents client's interest during all phases of the building
process — design as well as construction. They are usually paid a negotiated fee
for the scope of services rendered.
For example, working with the architect during design, the CM provides
updated cost projections so that a client will know probable costs, which the
project evolves. A general constractor, however, doesn't usually enter the scene
until after the design is complete.
The CM decides who bids the job, picks up the request for invitation to bid,
evaluates the bids, and awards work to the most reasonable bidder. The CM also
prepares contracts and sends them out to the subcontractors. The owner signs the
contracts with each subcontractor, unlike a general constractor who signs these
contracts. As a result, the subcontractors are under the CM's direction.
The CM may also be responsible for the safety of workers on the
construction site.
III. A few explanations to the text.
1.
...to be considered a skilled worker at his trade — может
считаться искусным в своем ремесле
2.
...slater-and-tiler — кровельщик (мастер по укладке
черепицы)
3.
hot water fitter—теплотехник
4.
which is not exposed to weather—который не подвержен
погоде
5.
Не can use horsed mould, erect lathing for plaster, and apply
stucco — Он может использовать опалубку для бетона, крепить сетку
под штукатурку и применять отделочный гипс.
IV. read and translate the text « Some Building Professions». Give equivalent
English phrases to the following Russian ones.
Мастер по укладке черепицы, считаться искусным в своем ремесле, быть
подверженным влиянию погоды, многослойная штукатурка, столярная
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мастерская, верхолаз, каменщик.
V. Find 13 pairs of synonyms.
build
demand
wood
flat
job
pprovide
assistance
completely
requirement
timber
manufacture
modern
apartment
plant
usual
various
supply
construct
different
help
entirely
ordinary
factory
work
up-to-date
produce
VI. Find 8 pairs of antonyms.
dismantle
useful
useless
reduce
bottom
light
unusual
favourable
increase
assemble
speed up
usual
adverse
slow down
heavy
upper floor
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UNIT 4
MODERN BUILDING MATERIALS
I.Read the vocabulary to the text.
consider
рассматривать
обсуждать,
обдумывать
cross-section
поперечное сечение, поперечный
разрез, профиль
derive (from)
получать, извлекать, происходить
froth
пена; пениться
handle
брать руками, держать в руках
impermeability
непроницаемость, герметичность
kiln
печь для обжига
mortar
раствор
plywood
фанера
resist
сопротивляться
sawdust
опилки
span
промежуток
времени,
период
времени
subject
(to) подвергать, подчинять
tensile
растяжимый
veneere
шпон, фанера
II. A few explanations to the text.
1. ... the first joint of the fingers – первыми фалангами пальцев
2. ... for a vast number of purposes – для многих целей
3. ... and they can be easier machined – и их легче обработать
III. Read and translate the text.
Modern Building Materials
Part I
Some of the most important building materials are: timber, brick, stone,
concrete, metal, plastics and glass.
Timber is provided by different kinds of trees. Timbers used for building
purposes are divided into two groups called softwoods and hardwoods. Timber is
at present not so much used in building construction, as in railway engineering, in
mining and in the chemical industry where it provides a number of valuable
materials.
However, timber is still employed as a building material in the form of
boards. For the interior of buildings plywood and veneer serve a number of
purposes.
A brick is best described as a "building unit". It may be made of clay by
moulding and baking in kilns, of concrete, of mortar or of a composition of
sawdust and other materials. In shape it is a rectangular solid and its weight is from
6.5 to 9 Ib.
There exists variety of bricks for different purposes: ordinary, hollow or
12
porous, lightweight, multicolor bricks for decorative purposes, etc. Bricks are
usually laid in place with the help of mortar.
The shape and convenient size of brick enables a man to grip it with an easy
confidence and, because of this, brick building has been popular for many
hundreds of years. The hand of the average man is large enough to take a brick and
he is able to handle more than 500 bricks in an eight-hour working day.
It is necessary, therefore, for the "would be" bricklayer to practise handling a
brick until he can control it with complete mastery and until he is able to place it
into any desired position.
The brick may be securely handled by placing the hand over the surface of
the upper part of a brick and by placing the thumb centrally down the face of the
brick with *the first joints of the fingers1 on the opposite face. It is better to protect
the thumb and the fingers with leather pads, which also prevent the skin from
rough bricks.
Sometimes natural stones such as marble, granite, basalt, limestone and
sandstone are used for the construction of dams and foundations. Marble, granite
and sandstone are widely used for decorative purposes as well, especially with the
public buildings.
Natural stone is used for foundations and for the construction of dams. The
main varieties of building stone are basalt, granite, marble, sandstone and
limestone.
Metals: Aluminium, principally in the form of various alloys, is highly
valued for its durability and especially for its light weight, while brass is
frequently used for decorative purposes in facing.
Steel finds its use in corrugated sheets for roofing, for girders, frames, etc.
Various shapes are employed in construction.
Plastics are artificial materials used in construction work *for a vast number
of purposes.2 Nowadays plastics, which are artificial materials, can be applied to
almost every branch of building, from the laying of foundation to the final coat of
paint. Synthetic resins are the main raw material for plastics. Plastics have some
good advantages as they are lighter than metals, not subject to corrosion, *and they
can be easier machined.3 Besides, they are inflammable, they can take any color
and pattern, and they are good electrical insulators. More over, they possess a high
resistance to chemical action.
A lot of decorative plastics, now available, have brought about a revolution
in interior and exterior design. But plastics are used now not only for decoration.
These materials are sufficiently rigid to stand on their own without any support.
They can be worked with ordinary builders' tools.
Laminate is a strong material manufactured from many layers of paper or
textile impregnated with thermosetting resins. This sandwich is then pressed and
subjected to heat. Laminate has been devel oped for both inside and outside use. It
resists severe weather conditions for more than ten years without serious
deformation. As a structural material it is recommended for exterior work. Being
used for surfacing, laminate gives the tough surface.
Foamed glass is a high-porosity heat insulating material, available in block
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made of fine-ground glass and a frothing agent.
Foamed glass is widely used in prefabricated house building, to ensure heat
insulation of exterior wall panels, and in industrial construction.
Foamed glass has a high mechanical strength, is distinguished by moisture,
vapour and gas impermeability. It is non-inflammable, offers resistance to frost,
possesses a high sound adsorption, and it is easily sewn and nailed.
Structural foamed glass blocks designed to fill ceilings, and for making
interior partitions in buildings and rooms, to ensure heat and sound insulation.
For insulation mineral wool or cinder wool is often resorted to.
IV. Add the missing parts of the sentences from the text.
1. ...for building purposes are divided into two groups called softwoods and
hardwoods.
2. However, timber is still employed ...
3. ... ordinary, hollow or porous, lightweight, multicolor bricks for
decorative purposes, etc.
4. ... they use natural stones such as marble, granite, basalt, limestone and
sandstone.
5. ... while brass is frequently used for decorative purposes in facing.
6. These materials are sufficiently rigid to stand...
7. ... severe weather conditions for more than ten years without serious
deformation.
8. ... to ensure heat insulation of exterior wall panels, and in industrial
construction.
9. It is non-inflammable, offers resistance to frost,...
V. Translate into English, and find sentences in the text with following wordcombinations.
Прямоугольное твердое тело, держать кирпич с легкой уверенностью,
восьмичасовой рабочий день, шлаковая вата, преднапряженный бетон,
площадь поперечного сечения, выдержать напряжение растяжения
(растягивающее напряжение).
VI. Tell the group about any of the building materials.
VII. discuss different building materials from the text finishing the following
phrases:
1. What you need most of all is...
2. Another important thing is...
3. ... can make a real difference.
4. I think ... is pretty important too.
VIII. Read and remember.
on the other hand
14
с другой стороны
bend
crack
desire
gravel
load
sag
store
tensile
сгибаться, гнуться, изгибаться
треск; трещина
желание, просьба, требование
гравий,
груз, нагрузка
оседать, обивать, падать
запас, склад
растяжимый
IX. Answer following questions. Then read the text and check your meanings.
1. Why is concrete more fit for foundation?
2. What floor covering is the best?
3. What colour should bedroom walls be? (kitchen walls, living-room walls)
4. What should a chimney be made of?
5. Why is it nice to have a mantelpiece?
6. What timber is considered to be the best for the window frames?
7. What professionals does a construction team need?
Modern Building Materials
Part II
Concrete is perhaps the most widely spread building material used
nowadays. Concrete is an artificial stone, made by thoroughly mixing such natural
ingredients or aggregates as cement, sand and gravel or broken stone together with
sufficient water to produce a mixture of the proper consistency. It has many
valuable properties. It sets under water, can be poured into moulds so as to get
almost any desirable form, and together with steel in reinforced concrete it has
very high strength, and also resists fire. Prestressed concrete is most widely used at
present while prefabricated blocks are employed on vast scale for skeleton
structures.
AGGREGATES FOR CONCRETE
By the simple definition from the dictionary "aggregates are the materials,
such as sand and small stones, that are mixed with cement to form concrete". In
other words aggregates (or cushioning materials) can be defined as a mass of
practically inert mineral materials, which, when surrounded and bonded together
by an active binder, form the rock. This rock is denoted by the general term
concrete.
Aggregates have three principal functions in the concrete: they provide a
relatively cheap filler for the concreting material, or binder; they provide a mass of
particles which are suitable for resisting the action of applied loads, of abrasion, of
percolation of moisture through the mass, and of climate factors; they reduce
volume chang es resulting from the action of the setting and hardening of the concrete mass.
All aggregates, both natural and artificial, which have sufficient strength and
resistance to weathering, and which do not contain harmful impurities may be used
15
for making concrete.
As aggregates such natural materials as sand, pebbles, broken stone, broken
brick, gravel, slag, cinder, pumice and others can be used.
PRESTRESSED CONCRETE
Prestressed concrete is not a new material. Its successful use has been
developed rapidly during the last two decades, chiefly because steel of a more
suitable character has been produced. Concrete is strong in compression but weak
when used for tensile stresses.
If, therefore, we consider a beam made of plain concrete, and spanning a
certain distance, it will at once be realized that the beam's own weight will cause
the beam to "sag" or bend. This sagging at once puts the lower edge of the beam in
tension, and if the cross-sectional area is small, causes it to break, especially if the
span is relatively large.
If, *on the other hand1, we use a beam of similar cross-section, but
incorporate steel bars in the lower portion, the steel will resist the tensile stress
derived from the sag of the beam, and thus assist in preventing it from breaking.
In prestressed concrete steel is not used as reinforcement, but as a means of
producing a suitable compressive stress in the concrete. Therefore any beam (or
member) made of prestressed concrete is permanently under compression, and is
consequently devoid of crack under normal loading, or so long as the "elastic
limit" is not exceeded.
Prestressed concrete is not only used for beams but is now employed
extensively for columns, pipes, and cylindrical water towers, storage tanks, etc.
X. Translate following phrases.
1. A relatively cheap filler, the proper consistency, resistance to weathering,
spanning a certain distance, the cross sectional area, negotiated fee.
2. Вредные примеси, удачное использование, цементируемый материал,
искусственный камень, быть постоянно под напряжением,
заполняющие материалы.
XI. Write out international words out from the text and translate them without a
dictionary.
XII. Add the missing parts of the sentences from the text
1. ... to produce a mixture of the proper consistency.
2. Concrete is an artificial stone, made by thoroughly...
3. ... they provide a relatively cheap filler for the concreting material,
or binder; ...
4. This sagging at once puts the lower edge...
5. ... as a means of producing a suitable compressive stress in the concrete.
6. ... any beam made of prestressed concrete is permanently under
compression...
7. This sagging at once puts the lower edge....
16
UNIT 5
SILICATE INDUSTRY
I. Read and translate the text paying attantion to the following words.
1. It embraces the production of cement, glass and ceramics. – она включает
производство цемента, стекла и керамики.
2. … does not become hard at once. - … не застывает сразу.
3. ..., which is not subject to disintegration or decay. – который не подвержен
разрушению или загниванию.
4. ... on external agent for setting power – от внешнего фактора для
застывания
bind
embrace
grind
ignite
impurity
lump
pit
puty
quarry
roast
slake
связывать, скреплять
включать, охватывать
размалывать
зажигать, загораться; прокаливать
примесь
глыба, комок
яма, копь, шахта
замазка
каменоломня, карьер
обжигать, кальциновать
гасить (известь)
Silicate Industry
Silicate industry is the industry processing the natural compounds of silicon.
*It embraces the production of cement, glass, and ceramics1.
The production of ceramic goods is based on the property of clay when
mixed with water to form putty, from which various articles can easily be moulded.
When these are dried and then for easily moulding baked, that is, ignited at a high
temperature, they become hard and retain their shape, no longer being softened by
water.
In this way clay, mixed water and sand is moulded into bricks, which are
then dried and baked. The materials used to make silicate bricks are white sand and
slaked lime.
Cement Production. Cement is made from limestone and clay, or from their
natural mixture, marls. The materials roasted in cylindrical rotary kilns are charged
into a slowly rotating kiln at its upper end and travel, mixing continuously, towards
the lower end, while a current of hot gases, the products of the burning of fuel,
flows in the opposite direction. During the period of their movement through the
kiln the clay and the limestone react chemically, and the material emerging from
the kiln in lumps of a caked mass is cement, which is then grounded.
When cement is mixed with water, it forms mortar, which hardens, binding
various objects, such as bricks or stones, very firmly. It is for this reason that
cement is used widely as a binding materials in large-scale construction, including
17
underwater construction.
Cement is often mixed with sand or gravel, in which case we get concrete.
Concrete has roughly the same coefficient of thermal expansion as iron.
Glass Production. The initial materials for the production of ordinary glass
are mainly soda, limestone, and sand. A mixture of these substances is heated in a
bath-shaped furnace.
When it cools, the liquid mass of glass *does not become hard at once2. At
first it becomes viscous and readily assumes any shape. This property of glass is
used in making various articles out of it. Definite portions of the cooling
semiliquid mass are taken from the bath, and these are blown or pressed to make
various glassware. By machine methods glass sheets, tubes, etc., can be drawn
continuously from the molten mass.
Sand is the chief material used as a fine aggregate. It is required in mortar or
concrete for economy and to prevent the excessive cracking. Mortar made without
sand would be expensive.
The word "sand" is applied to any finely divided material which will not
injuriously affect the cement or lime and * which is not subject to disintegration or
decay. Sand is almost the only material which is sufficiently cheap and which can
fulfil these requirements.
A mixture of coarse and fine grains is very satisfactory, as it makes a denser
and stronger concrete with a less amount of cement than when only fine-grained
sand is used.
The following sands are used for mortars: pit or quarry sand, river sand and
sea sand.
Lime is a calcium oxide. It is used in great quantities for mortar and plaster.
Lime (quicklime) is a white solid that reacts violently with water to form calcium
hydroxide. It is made by heating limestone in a special kind of furnace called a
"kiln". Lime must be stored in a dry place, otherwise it will absorb moisture.
Limes may be divided into three distinct classes:
1. Rich limes that contain not more than 6 percent of impurities, slake very
rapidly, and are entirely dependent *on external agents for setting power4. These
are widely used for interior plasterer's works.
2. Poor limes that contain from 15 percent to 30 percent of useless impurities
and possess the general properties of rich limes, only to a lesser degree.
3. Hydraulic limes that contain certain proportions of impurities, which
when calcinated, combine with the lime and endow it with the valuable property of
setting under water or without external agents.
Lime is a basic building material extensively used all over the world, but it
was not until the later years of the 19th century that a greater appreciation of the
fuel-burning problems involved became apparent. Until this time the requirement
for lime was largely agricultural and it was produced by farmers or by small
builders who used it for making mortar and plaster.
As industrial requirements increased "running" kilns were developed. These
were lined with firebrick and charged at regular intervals with stone and fuel.
Around the world there are many different types of kilns and variations in
18
lime-burning practice.
II. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text.
Жидкая масса, изделия из стекла, природная смесь, расплавленная масса,
связующее вещество, цилиндрическая вращающая печь, нагревание
известняка, изготовление раствора и штукатурки, гашеная известь.
III. explain in English the meaning of the following words.
Cooling
Putty
Slaked lime
Mortar
Running kilns
IV. Group these phrases under the following headings:
a) Cement Production
b) Glass Production
to roast in; large-scale construction; ordinary glass; to move through the
kiln; building material; bath-shaped furnace; definite portions; cylindrical rotary
kilns; to ignite at a temperature; a mixture of substances; cooling semiliquid mass;
to press; the molten mass.
V. Speak about the glass production.
19
UNIT 6
ASBESTOS
I. Find in the text a definition of asbestos and translate it into Russian.
Asbestos
Asbestos has been known and used as a textile since the earliest times. The
first written evidence of asbestos was recorded by Pliny *in the first century A. D.l
It is told that one of the Emperors of Rome delighted guests by throwing a
tablecloth made of asbestos into fire and then removing it unchanged from the
flame. A few centuries later Marco Polo told his friends in Italy about a substance
he observed in Siberia. He told that it could be woven into attractive textiles, which
did not burn even in direct flame.
Asbestos is one of the strangest of all the naturally occurring fibers. It is a
rock, *which has been subjected to unusual treatment during its formation2.
Asbestos is the only mineral substance used as a textile fiber in the form it is
obtained from natural sources. There are many varieties of asbestos rocks but only
chrysotile is widely used for textile products. Chrysotile is mined in many
countries of the world. The soft, long, white fibers of this mineral can be spun into
yarn by the usual processes. Pure asbestos being very difficult to spin, a proportion
of cotton fiber is usually added to help to bind the asbestos fibers together. The
strangest characteristic of asbestos fibers is their resistance to heat and burning.
This property determines 4he ways in which they are used.
Early uses for asbestos included such articles as handkerchiefs and table
coverings. The Chinese used asbestos to make false sleeves, which could be
cleaned by putting them in the fire. All the dirt was burned off, leaving the asbestos
clean. We know commercial development of the fiber to have started in the 19th
century. Asbestos was used in flameproof clothing of many kinds, for laboratory,
industrial and military purposes.
Fabrics made of asbestos have good strength. Today the main applications
are those in which non-inflammability is essential such as conveyor belting for hot
materials, industrial packings, fireproof clothing, etc. Asbestos is sometimes used
with glass fiber in making decorative fabrics for curtains used in hospitals, theatres
and other buildings where the public assembles. Some grades of asbestos are used
for electrical windings and insulation.
Vocabulary
... in the first century AD – в первом веке нашей эры
... which has been subjected to unusual treatment durin its formation – который
подвергся необычному воздействию во время своего образования
belt – пояс
dirt – грязь
fiber (fibre) – волокно, нить
handkerchief – носовой платок, косынка
sleeve – рукав
20
spin – прясть
treatment – обращение, обработка, зд. Воздействие
yarn – пряжа, нить
II. Read and translate the text and complete the sentences.
1. Fabrics made of asbestos have...
2. .... one of the Emperors of Rome...
3. Early uses for asbestos included such articles...
4. All the dirt was burned off, leaving...
5. .. .fibers of this mineral can be spun into yarn by the usual processes.
III. Match the verbs in A with those in B.
to include происходить
to add
добывать
to start
прясть
to spin
использовать
to mine
гореть
to occur
прясть
to burn
начинать
to weave добавлять
to use
включать
21
UNIT 7
AIR – CONDITIONING
I. Read the vocabulary and few explanations to the text
an amount of
attic
be capable of
desire
duct
exceed
humidity
inhabit
moisture
motion
outlet
precipitator
purity
stuffy
velocity
waste
... one for the processing of materials
... a uniform temperature and humidity
... neither..., nor...
A stove causes the hot air around it...
количество чего-л
мансарда, чердак
быть способным
желание
проток, канал
превышать, превосходить
влажность
жить, обитать
влажность
движение
выпускное или выходное отверстие
осаждатель, ускоритель
чистота
душный
скорость
бесполезная трата
первый для обработки материалов
одинаковую
температуру
и
влажность
ни…, ни…
Сушильная печь заставляет воздух
вокруг…
II. Read the following text. Prepare several questions for discussion and discuss
them in your group.
Air-conditioning
Air-conditioning is the bringing of air in a building to a desired temperature,
purity, and humidity throughout the year to maintain healthy and comfortable
atmosphere.
Air-conditioning may be divided into two main sections: *one for the
processing of materials1 in industry; the other for human comfort. It has been
found that there is an optimum condition of temperature and humidity at which the
processing of different materials may be carried out with the minimum of wastage
and the maximum of goods of specification quality. The system is therefore
designed to produce air of predetermined temperature and moisture content and to
keep it so despite all external influences. Such air is filtered free of foreign
material.
Conditioning air for human comfort may also be divided into two main
sections — winter and summer. Frequently, the systems installed in office
22
buildings provide control during both seasons. Complete air-conditioning provides
the following services.
First, filtration of the air both in winter and summer to remove dust.
Second, circulation of the air at low velocity and with proper diffusion to
prevent draughts and maintain *a uniform temperature and humidity2 at all parts of
the inhabited space.
Third, introduction of enough fresh air from the outside atmosphere.
Fourth, heating of the air in winter.
Fifth, cooling of the air in summer below the outside atmosphere.
Sixth, humidifying the air in winter to a relative humidity of at least 20-25
per cent.
Seventh, dehumidifying the air in summer to a relative humidity not
exceeding 55 per cent.
The basic pieces of equipment are the filters, preheat coils, humidifiers,
reheat coils, additional cooling coils, fans and controls. The control of air purity
can be achieved in various degrees. As a minimum control some sort of filtering
must be done near the entrance of the air-conditioning system. Possibly the most
efficient filtering device is the electrostatic precipitator.
Air conditioning for human comfort is employed in both large and small
installations, such as theaters, office buildings, department stores, residences,
airplanes, railways, cars and submarines.
II
People are comfortable when they are *neither too cold, nor3 too warm and
when the air about them is neither too dry, nor too damp and is not stuffy or dusty.
To bring about these desirable conditions the heating or air-conditioning apparatus
must be capable of maintaining the following conditions inside the house,
whatever the conditions outside may be.
To avoid stuffiness, the air should be given a certain amount of motion.
Under winter conditions this must be sufficient to distribute the heat uniformly
throughout the rooms. It must not be too cold at the floor, not too hot at the ceiling.
* A stove causes the hot air around it4 to rise up toward the ceiling and cooler air
to flow toward the stove. A radiator acts in this respect like a stove. Warm-air
registers bring heated air into a room with a certain motion or velocity which
imparts movement to the air already in the room. An outlet for this air should be
provided in order to have good ventilation. In summer time much greater air
motion is needed, enough to change the air in a room completely from three to ten
times per hour. Sometimes a fan is placed in the attic to blow the warm air out and
to cause the cooler night air to flow through open windows. When this is done, air
in the house can be expected to be changed completely every two or three minutes.
When air is brought into a house from outside, heated in a furnace and distributed
through all the rooms, it ought to be cleaned by passing it through "filters" before it
enters the furnace.
III. discuss air-conditioning of the house with your partner using the following
23
phrases:
1. Another important thing is ...
2. You must keep in mind that ...
3. You avoid this ... should ...
4. ... (this) must be sufficient.
5. What people need most of all ...
24
UNIT 8
ARCHITECTURE: ITS FORMS AND FUNCTIONS
I. Let's talk about architecture.
1. What famous Russian/English architectors do you know?
2. Among Seven Wonders of the World there were some famous buildings
and constructions. Do you know them?
3. What famous architectural complexes in Russia do you know?
4. What do you think about your city/town architecture?
II. Read few explanations to the text
1... .a building cannot be considered as a work of architecture. —здание не
может считаться архитектурным произведением.
2... .in the first century В. С. (before Christ) —.. .в первом веке до нашей
эры (до рождества Христова).
3. No true architect could think of any of them... — Ни один настоящий
архитектор не смог бы думать только об одном из них...
4. It needs some unique type of imagination... — Она (архитектура)
требует своеобразного видения...
III. Read the vocabulary to the text.
entail
evolve
incoherent
inherent
heritage
requite
triple
вызывать
развиваться
непоследовательный, несвязный
присущий, неотъемлемый
наследство
вознаграждение
тройной; утраивать
IV. Read the text and answer the following questions.
1. What is architecture?
2. What is the oldest book to set forth the principles of construction?
3. How should mankind deal with the heritage of the past?
4. What three basic factors in architecture were listed nearly two thousand
years ago?
5. Why architecture is a difficult art?
6. What can we say about any truly great building?
7. What integration must an architect achieve?
Architecture: Its Forms and Functions
Architecture is the art or science of planning, building and structures.
Without consideration of structural principles, materials, social and economic
requirements a building cannot take form. But without aesthetical quality inherent
in its form *a building cannot be considered as a work of architecture1 as well.
From the very beginning of construction in human history lots of
architectural skills, systems and theories have been evolved for the construction of
25
the buildings, which have housed nations and generations of people in any kind of
their activity. Writings on architecture are almost as old as writing itself. Books on
the theory of architecture, on the art of buildings, and on the aesthetical view of
buildings exist in great number. The oldest book, which sets forth the principles,
upon which buildings should be designed and which aim is to guide the architect,
is the work of Markus Vitruvius Pollio written *in the first century B. C.2
Architecture is an art. Its nowadays expression should be creative and
consequently new. The heritage of the past cannot be ignored, but it must be
expressed in modern terms. There exists an evident paradox in the coexistence of
change and survival in every period of human civilisation. This paradox of change
and repetition is clearly illustrated in any architectural style.
Architecture is also the style or manner of building in a particular country or
period of history. There are widely known examples of Gothic architecture all
round the globe. During many centuries mankind admires the architecture of
ancient Greece or Roman Empire as well.
Nearly two thousand years ago the Roman architect Vitruvius listed three
basic factors in architecture. They are convenience, strength and beauty. These
three factors have been present and are always interrelated in the best constructions
till the 21st century. *No true architect could think of any of them3 without almost
automatically considering the other two as well. Thus, architectural design entails
not only the necessity to study various solutions for convenience, structure, and
appearance as three separate processes. Architectural design also includes the
necessity to keep in mind the constant interaction of these factors. It's impossible
for an architect first plan a building from the point of view of convenience, and
then make the design of a strong construction around his plan to shelter it. Then, as
a final touch, try to adjust and decorate the whole to make it pretty. Any design
evolving from such kind of work will produce only a confused, incoherent, and
unsatisfactory building. When speaking about any truly great building we cannot
but say that every element in it has a triple implication or significance.
This triple nature of architectural design is one of the reasons why
architecture is a difficult art. *It needs some unique type of imagination4 as well as
long years of training and experience to make a designer capable of getting requite
in the light of these three factors—use, construction, and aesthetic effect—
simultaneously. The designer must have a good knowledge as of engineering so of
building materials. This knowledge will enable him to create economically strong
and practical construction. The designer, in addition, must possess the creative
imagination, which will enable him to integrate the plan and the construction into
the harmonious whole. The architect's feeling of satisfaction in achieving such
integration is one of his/her (their) greatest rewards.
26
UNIT 9
BIOCLIMATIC ARCHITECTURE
I. Read a few explanations to the text
1. As public awareness of environmental issues increases ... — По мере
того как растет осведомленность общественности по вопросам окружающей
среды...
2. ... who profess interest in the concept of sustainable architecture —
которые открыто интересуются концепцией поддерживающей архитектуры
3. ... buildings have had an increasingly severe and damaging impact on the
environment — здания оказывают все более разрушающее воздействие на
окружающую среду
II. Read the vocabulary to the text
benign
comfortable
comply
conviction
enhance
have an impact
incentive
jeopardize
mimetic
promote
restrict
stucco
vernacular
благотворный; плодоносная (почва)
уютный, удобный
исполнять (просьбу, приказ—with )
убеждение, убежденность
усиливать, повышать
оказывать влияние / воздействие
побуждение, стимул
угрожать, подвергать опасности
подражательный
способствовать, продвигать
ограничивать
штукатурка; штукатурить
национальный; местный
III. Read and translate the text.
What Is Meant by "Bioclimatic Architecture"
Bioclimatic architecture is a way of designing buildings and manipulating
the environment within buildings by working with natural forces around the
building rather than against them. Thus it concerns itself with climate as a major
contextual generator, and with benign environments using minimal energy as its
target. Bioclimatic architecture aims to protect and enhance the environment and
life. It is developing on many different levels from rethinking basic concepts about
our need for shelter and the function of the "city" in our lives to developing
recycled or sustainable building materials.
The impact of traditional building on the environment and natural resources
is enormous. However, the ideal of designing and building structures that are
environmentally friendly has become fairly widespread throughout the community
of architects and builders in developed nations. In many areas there is the necessity
of complying with new regulations and standards aimed at protecting the
environment. In addition, there are an increasing number of incentives for putting
up buildings with more efficient energy consumption and that reduces the negative
impacts on natural resources by using recycled or sustainable materials. While
27
these vary around tjie world, there is awareness that our need for shelter must not
jeopardize the environment.
There is growing interest in "green" building practices, which offer an
opportunity to create environmentally sound and resource-efficient buildings by
using an integrated approach to design.
"Green" buildings promote resource conservation through energy efficiency,
renewable energy, and water conservation features. They take into consideration
the environmental impact of the building and minimize waste. Other goals are to
create a healthy and comfortable environment, reduce operation and maintenance
costs, and address issues such as historical preservation, access to public transportation and other community infrastructure systems, The entire life cycle of the
building and its components is considered, as well as the economic and
environmental impact and performance.
* As public awareness of environmental issues increases1, the construction
developers are also beginning to see that "green building" can be profitable and a
selling point. Market surveys are showing that a surprising number of potential
buyers are interested and will pay the higher prices for a home that is
environmentally friendly. In the last few years there has been much talk concerning
environmentally responsible architecture, that is, architecture respectful of the
earth's resources and its natural beauty. Unfortunately, many of the architects and
designers *who profess interest in the concept of sustainable architecture2 do not
practice it in their own work for whatever reason, be it their client's lack of interest
or their own lack of conviction. In fact, most architects ignore the issue altogether,
preferring to regard architecture as fashion. This is a terribly irresponsible view,
because in terms of energy use and visual pollution, *buildings have had an
increasingly severe and damaging impact on the environment,3 this makes the
issue of sustainable architecture not only an important consideration but also a
necessary one. As for a building philosophy for national parks, which were created
to conserve nature for future generations, it seems that sustainable architecture, or
"integrated biocli-matic architecture", is the only logical and responsible approach.
What is integrated bioclimatic architecture? It is the architecture that arises
out of the landscape, with the site determining the orientation and construction of a
building, not just aesthetically, but also mechanically, determining its heating,
cooling, and lighting tbo. Thus, it is an architecture that respects nature and its
resources and provides its occupants with the most comfortable and pleasing
environment possible. However, this architectural approach need not be a
restrictive one for imaginative practitioners. As integrated bioclimatic architecture
encompasses examples of vernacular archi tecture, like the typical "white stucco
Mediterranean fishing village", as well as mimetic architecture, which draws on
the materials, textures, even the plants of the surrounding landscape for its inspiration. Indeed, good integrated bioclimatic architecture should exist in harmony
with the site.
IV. Speak on the usage of the words mentioned above. Discuss with уour partner
such bio notions as:
28
bio- architecture, sustainable architecture
V. Find in the text all synonyms to the phrase "green building".
VI. Find Russian equivalents:
environmentally friendly, bioclimatic architecture, more efficient energy
consumption, to promote resource conservation, an irresponsible view, to exist in
harmony with the site or nature, public awareness of environmental issues,
resource efficient buildings, the environmental impact of the building,
VII. Translate from Russian into English
Арка, поддерживаемая колоннами; создание здоровой окружающей
среды, плодоносная почва, разрушающее воздействие, пересмотр основных
взглядов (понятий), строительство, запланированное в этом районе,
повторное использование материалов, возобновляемые ресурсы, развитые
страны, отсутствие убежденности.
VII. Answer the questions to the text
1. What is bioclimatic architecture?
2. The impact of traditional building on the environment and natural
resources is not enormous, is it?
3. Why is there growing interest in "Green" building practices?
4. What makes the construction developers see that "green" building can be
profitable?
5. Do most architects regard architecture as fashion?
6. What is integrated bioclimatic architecture?
7. Explain the words "vernacular architecture".
8. Good integrated bioclimatic architecture should exist in harmony with the
site, shouldn't it?
29
UNIT 10
FROM THE HISTORY OF BUILDING
I. Read a few explanations to the text
1 pyramid of Khufu [' ku' fu:] — пирамида Хуфу
2. ... to withstand the Thames current. — ... чтобы противостоять течению
Темзы.
3. ... but mention was made of it in the writings of architects from time to
time — но время от времени можно встретить упоминание об этом в работах
архитекторов.
4. They were the first to use... — они первыми использовали
5. ... on a pretty large scale – в довольно широких масштабах
II. Read the vocabulary to the text.
art of building
brick
borrow (from)
concrete
dome
dwell
embody
erect
find (out)
kiln
pile
pillar
remains
tribe
искусство строить
кирпич
занимать, заимствовать
бетон
купол
жить, проживать
олицетворять, воплощать
возводить, строить
обнаружить, найти
обжиговая печь, сушильная печь
свая, столб
столб, колонна
остатки, руины
племя
III. Find in the text equivalent English phrases to the following Russian
доисторические
времена,
римский
период,
бесполезность
использования стали в качестве строительного материала, грубо обтесанный
камень, они первыми использовали, недавние открытия, в довольно широких
масштабах.
From the History of Building
Many thousands of years ago there were no houses such as people live in
today. In hot countries people sometimes made their homes in the trees and used
leaves to protect themselves from rain or sun. In colder countries they dwelt in
caves. Later people left their caves and trees and began to build houses out of
different materials such as mud, wood or stones.
Later people found out that bricks made of mud and dried in the hot
sunshine became almost as hard as stones. In ancient Egypt especially, people
learned to use these sun-dried mud bricks. Some of their buildings are still standing
after several thousands of years.
30
The ancient Egyptians discovered how to cut stone for building purposes.
They erected temples, palaces and huge tombs. The greatest tomb is the stone
*pyramid of Khufu1, king of Egypt. The ancient Egyptians often erected their huge
constructions to conmemorate their kings or pharaons.
The ancient Greeks also understood the art of building with cut stone, and
their buildings were beautiful as well as useful. They often used pillars, partly for
supporting the roofs and partly for decoration. Parts of these ancient buildings can
still be seen today in Greece.
Whereas the ancient Greeks tried to embody the idea of harmony and pure
beauty in their buildings, the Roman architecture produces the impression of
greatness, might, and practicalness.
The Romans were great bridge, harbour and road builders. In road works the
Romans widely used timber piles. They also erected aqueducts, reservoirs, water
tanks, etc. Some of their constructions are used till now. It is known that the
manufacture of lime is one of the oldest industries used by man. Lime is a basic
building material used all over the world as today so in the ancient world. One of
the Romans, Marcus Porcius Cato, gave an idea of a kiln for lime, pro duction: it's
shape and dimensions. They are rough cylindrical or rectangular structures, built of
stone in a hillside with an arched opening at the front to enable the fire to be made
and the lime to be withdrawn. Such kilns were fired with wood or coal and were
extremely inefficient. There are still many remains of kilns in some places of Great
Britain as well as roads and the famous Hadrian Wall, which was erected to protect
the Romans from the Celtic tribes in the first century A.D. Britain was a province
of the Roman Empire for about four centuries. There are many things today in
Britain to remind the people of the Romans: towns, roads, wells and the words.
By the way, Hadrian, the Roman emperor, was also the one who suggested
the absolutely new for that time idea of building the Pantheon with a dome. He
constructed it, and alongside with a number of other outstanding buildings such as
the Colosseum and the Baths of Caracalla, it is still there in Rome. Many ancient
buildings in Rome were designed by Hadrian as well as by other Roman emperors.
In a period of 800 to 900 years the Romans developed concrete to the position of
the main structural material in the empire.
It is surprising, therefore, that after the fall of the Empire, much of the great
knowledge should have disappeared so completely. The knowledge of how to
make durable concrete has been lost for centuries, *but mention was made of it in
the writings of architects from time to time2.
Fusion of Roman and North European traditions in construction was
reflected in many ways. Buildings combined the Roman arch and the steep peaked
roof of Nothern Europe. Roman traditions were continued in the architectural form
known as Romanesque. London Bridge, finished in 1209, took thirty-three years to
build. It consisted of nineteen irregular pointed arches with its piers resting on
broad foundation, which was designed *to withstand the Thames current3.
The Romanian period was followed by other periods each of which
produced its own type of architecture and building materials. During the last
hundred years many new methods of building have been discovered. One of the
31
most recent discoveries is the usefulness of steel as a building material.
Nowadays when it is necessary to have a very tall building, the frame of it is
first built in steel and then the building is completed in concrete. Concrete is an
artificial kind of stone, much cheaper than brick or natural stone and much stronger
than they are. The earliest findings of concrete building fragments belonging to
prehistoric times were discovered in Mexico and Peru. The Egyptians in the
construction of bridges, roads and town walls employed it. There are evidences
that ancient Greeks also used concrete in the building purposes. The use of
concrete by the ancient Romans can be traced back as far as 500 B.C. They were
the first to use4 it throughout the ancient Roman Empire *on a pretty large scale5
and many constructions made of concrete remain till nowadays thus proving the
long life of buildings made of concrete. Of course, it was not the concrete people
use today. It consisted of mud, clay and pure lime, which were used to hold
together the roughly broken stone in foundations and walls. It was the so-called
"pseudo concrete": The idea of such building material might have been borrowed
from the ancient Greeks as some samples of it were found in the ruins of Pompeii.
IV. Explain in English the meaning of the following words:
sun-dried mud bricks, timber piles, pseudo concrete, the ruins of Pompeii,
harmony and pure beauty.
V. Make a report about the history of building ant tell it in class.
32
PART II
TEXTS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING
EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
Warming-up
Who doesn't dream about travelling to Egypt? We think all the architects
do. Lets have a wonderful journey.
1. What wonders of the world do you know?
2. What is the only remained wonder of the world?
3. What are the greatest monuments of Egyptian architecture?
4. Who is supposed to be the first named architect?
5. What are the periods in the history of ancient Egyptian architecture?
EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
Text 1
During the Old Kingdom, the period when Egypt was ruled by the Kings of
the 3rd to 6th Dynasties, artists and craftsmen were drawn to the court to work
under the patronage of the king and his great nobles. Techniques of working in
stone, wood, and metal made tremendous progress, demonstrat» ed by surviving
large scale monuments, such as the pyramids of the 4th Dynasty and the sun
temples built by the 5th-Dynasty kings. The pyramids of the 4th Dynasty are the
most spectacular of all funerary works and the only remained wonder of the world.
These monuments celebrated the divinity of the kings of Egypt, linking the people
with the great gods of earth and sky.
This was a time when trade and the economy flourished. Craftsmen worked
in the finest materials which were often brought great distances, and were able to
experiment with recalcitrant stones as well as new techniques of metalworking.
This enabled them by the 6th Dynasty to produce large metal figures. The earliest
that survive are the copper statues of Pepi I and his son, found at Hierakonpolis.
Made c. 2330 BC they are badly corroded but still impressive in their stiffly formal
poses. The eyes are inlaid, and the crown and the kilt of the king, now missing,
were probably originally made of gilded plaster.
During the prosperous period known as the Middle Kingdom fortresses were
built to defend the southern and eastern borders, and new areas of land were
brought under cultivation. Craftsmen achieved new levels of excellence. Very little
architecture remains — many royal monuments were robbed for their stone in later
periods — but what has survived shows great simplicity and refinement. The
example is the pyramid of Sesostris I at Lisht.
The establishment of the 18th Dynasty marked the beginning of the New
Kingdom and a new blossoming of the arts and crafts of ancient Egypt. Craftsmen
benefited from wider contact with other civilizations, such as those of Crete and
Mesopotamia, and were also able to work with imported raw materials.
The kings gave encouragement to artists and craftsmen by ordering great
temples and palaces to be built throughout Egypt. The temple walls were covered
with reliefs celebrating the achievements of the kings and the powers of the gods.
33
The courtyards and inner sanctuaries were enriched with statuary. The most
notable monuments are the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatsheput at Deir-elBahari (c. 1480 BC), which had a series of pillared colonnades on three sides of
three superimposed terraces linked by gigantic ramps and magnificent Great
Temple at Karnak to Amon as the universal god of Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian architecture was revived under the Ptolemies, the
successors of Alexander the Great, who built numerous temples of traditional style
of which the finest examples that survive are the Temple of Horns at Etfu and the
temples on the islands of Philae (c. 323—30 BC).
Vocabulary
kingdom — (зд.) царство
craftsman — ремесленник
surviving — уцелевший
large-scale — крупномасштабный
divinity —божество
recalcitrant — непокорный
to enable — давать возможность
copper — медь
inlaid — инкрустирован
с circa лат. — приблизительно
B.C. (before Christ) — до нашей эры
to miss — пропустить, утратить
gilded plaster — позолота
prosperous — процветающий
to rob — грабить
refinement — усовершенствование
blossoming — расцвет
raw materials — сырье
encouragement — поощрение
mortuary — погребальный
ramp — скат, уклон
to revive — возрождать
successor — последователь, наследник
I. Choose the right sentence.
1. Craftsmen worked in the finest materials.
a) Craftsmen used precious stones for their creations.
b) Craftsmen used concrete in their work.
c) It was forbidden for craftsmen to use the finest materials in their work.
2. The copper statues of Pepi I and his son are still impressive.
a) These statues were made of stone.
b) The copper statues of Pepi I and his son have not survived.
c) These statues have the power of affecting and gaining attention and
feeling.
34
3. Fortresses were built to defend the southern and eastern borders of ancient
Egypt.
a) Fortresses were built in the west of ancient Egypt.
b) Fortresses were erected to protect the southern and eastern boundaries of
ancient Egypt.
c) During the Middle Kingdom many fortresses were built.
4. The beginning of the New Kingdom is associated with the blossoming of the
arts and crafts of ancient Egypt.
a) This was a period of stagnation in the history of arts.
b) In this period craftsmen and artists were ordered great temples and
palaces to be built throughout Egypt.
c) During the New Kingdom the arts and crafts flourished.
5. The Ptolomies built numerous temples of traditional style.
a) Numerous palaces were built by the Ptolomies.
b) Many traditional temples were constructed under the Ptolomies.
c) Ancient Egyptian architecture was revived under the kings of the 4th
Dynasty.
II. Complete the following sentences.
1. During the Old Kingdom artists and craftsmen ...
a) were forbidden to work in metal
b) worked under the patronage of king
c) built pyramids and temples
2. Craftsmen were able to experiment with ...
a) stone and new techniques of metalworking
b) concrete and clay
c) ivory and granite
3. The surviving examples, found at Hierakonpolis are ...
a) the sun temples of the 5th Dynasty.
b) the copper statues of Pepi I and his son
c) the Temple of Mut and the Temple of Amum
4. Very little architecture of the Middle Kingdom remains because ...
a) many royal monuments were robbed
b) of earthquakes
c) of wars
5. Craftsmen benefited from wider contact with other civilizations such as those
of...
a) India and China
b) Crete and Mesopotamia
c) Assyria
6. The most notable monuments of the New Kingdom are ...
a) the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatsheput at Deir-el-Bahari and the Great
Temple of Amon at Karnak
b) Zoser's necropolis at Sakkara and Great Pyramid at El-Gizeh
c) The Temple of Horus at Etfu and the temples on the island of Philae.
35
7. Ancient Egyptian architecture vbs revived under the Ptolemies, the successors
of...
a) Tuthmosis III
b) Alexander the Great
c) Queen Hatsheput
Read the text and tell about the greatest monuments of Egyptian architecture.
Text 2
GREAT SPHINX
From the 15th century AD European travellers carried home tales of the
mysterious and amazing remains of the civilization of Egypt. One of its most
remarkable monuments, which still evokes this sense of awe and might, is the
Great Sphinx of Gizeh, the oldest surviving sphinx, dating from c2550 BC, carved
from a rock with the crouching body of a lion and a human face
(74,4 m. long, 20,1 m. high, and 4,2 m. broad, at its widest point; the head is
8,7 m. high from chin to crown).
The human head was the means of individualizing the sculpture, so that the
Great Sphinx probably bears the idealized features of Khephren whose
pyramid is nearby.
The concept of the king as a powerful lion goes back into prehistoric times,
and several ceremonial objects have survived which depict him in this guise,
overthrowing his enemies. The sphinx was, therefore, a natural development,
personifying the divine power of the king as a force protecting his land and
repelling the power of evil.
The Great Sphinx is one of the most distinctive and dominant of all the
images of ancient Egypt, which is perhaps the source of the misconception that
sphinxes are of central importance in Egyptian culture. However, those that have
survived are among the most impressive as well as intriguing examples of
Egyptian sculpture.
Vocabulary
amazing — удивительный
remains — (зд.) руины
to evoke — вызывать (чувства)
awe — (благоговейный) страх, трепет
might — могущество, мощь; энергия, сила
sandstone — песчаник(овый)
to survive — выжить, уцелеть, сохраниться
to crouch — припасть к земле для нападения (о животных)
to depict — изображать
divine —духовное лицо; божественный
to repel — отгонять, отражать (нападение)
distinctive — отличительный
misconception — неправильное представление
36
I. Choose the synonyms to the words in italics.
1. European travellers saw the mysterious and amazing remains of the ancient
Egyptian civilization.
a) astonishing
b) interesting
c) modern
2. The Great Sphinx probably bears the idealized features of Khephren.
a) remains
b) characteristics c) points
3. The concept of the king as a powerful lion goes back into prehistoric times.
a) idea
b) story
c) theme
4. The sphinx personifies the divine power of the king,
a) individual
b) human
c) sacred
5. The Great Sphinx is one of the most distinctive and dominant of all the images
of ancient Egypt.
a) structures
b) idols
c) persons
II. Circle a), b), or c) to complete the sentence.
1. The European travellers saw the mysterious and amazing ...
a) ruins of the Hanging Gardens of Semeramide
b) remains of the civilization of Egypt
c) ruins of the Parthenon
2. The Great Sphinx of Gizeh was ...
a) made of marble
b) created by Imhotep
c) carved from rock
3. The Great Sphinx has a crouching body of a lion and ...
a) a dragon's head
b) a human face
c) a cow's head
4. The sphinx personified ...
a) the divine power of the king
b) the mighty of God
c) the greatness of the Roman Empire
5. The concept of the king as a powerful lion goes back into ...
a) the Middle Ages
b) the Archaic period
c) prehistoric times
ANCIENT GREEK ARCHITECTURE
Warming-up
1. What do you know about the greatest monuments of ancient Greek
architecture?
2. Why do you think these monuments are the finest models for all
generations of architecture?
3. What do you know about the architecture of the Acropolis?
Read the text and describe the Acropolis monuments.
37
THE ATHENIAN ACROPOLIS
As one of the world's oldest cities Athens boasts a wealth of splendid relics
of Hellenic art, some of which are more than 3,000 years old. The Acropolis, the
Greek for upper town, the gem of world architecture, stands on a low rocky hill
and contains the ruins of several ancient Greek architectural monuments.
The Parthenon, a stately building with an eight-column facade, was built by
Ictinus and Calibrates in 447—38 BC. The temple was designed to serve as an
exquisite, imposing architectural frame for a stupendous gold and ivory statue of
Athena, the goddess in the Greek pantheon watching over the city. This no longer
extant statue, which stood in the anterior of the shrine, was held in deep reverence.
Next to the Parthenon is another shrine, an Ionic temple of Athena, the
Erechtheum, built by an anonymous architect in 421—06 BC. Its refined loveliness
and proportions are a very bit as enchanting as the monumental grandeur of the
Parthenon. It has the unparalleled portrayal of a contemporary event on the frieze
of the building: the procession of citizens in the yearly festival in honour of Athena
built on an awkward site, it also had to serve different cults, which meant that its
architect had to design a building with three porches and three different floor
levels. Its Caryatid porch, with figures of women for columns, makes use of an old
Oriental motif that
had appeared earlier, in Archaic treasuries at Delphi. The monumental
gateway to the Acropolis, the Propylaea was designed by Mnesicles, who had to
adapt the rigid conventions of colonnade construction to a steeply rising site. In the
precision and finish of their execution, which complements the brilliant innovation
of their design, these three buildings had no rival in the Greek world.
Vocabulary
to boast — (зд.) гордиться
gem — (перен.) драгоценный, жемчужина
exquisite — утонченный
imposing — внушительный, величественный
frame — оправа, обрамление
stupendous — изумительный, громадный
ivory — слоновая кость
anterior — передний
shrine — святилище, храм
refined — изысканный
grandeur — величие
portrayal — изображение
awkward — труднодоступный
porch — портик, крытая галерея
treasury — сокровищница
rigid — жесткий, строгий
steeply — круто
precision — точность
38
rival — соперник
I. Complete the following sentences.
1. The Acropolis means ...
a) upper town
b) a platform
c) front elevation
2. The Parthenon was built by ...
a) an anonymous architect
b) Imhotep
c) Ictinus and Calibrates
3. The Parthenon was a display place for a great statue of... a) Hera
b) Athena
c) Alexander the Great
4. The Erechtheum was also designed to serve different...
a) cults
b) architects
c) cities
5. The porch of the Erechtheum has figures of... for columns.
a) atlases
b) caryatids
c) sphinxes
6. In the Propylaea the rigid conventions of colonnade construction were adapted
to a steeply rising ...
a) floor
b) building
c) site
7. The Propylaea was ... to the Acropolis.
a) a temple
b) the monumental gateway
c) staircase
II. Choose the right adjective.
1. The Acropolis is the gem of... architecture.
a) European
b) contemporary
c) world
2. The temple was designed to serve as a/an ..., imposing architectural frame for
the statue of Athena.
a) exquisite
b) rocky
c) deep
3. The Erechtheum was built by a/an ...architect.
a) famous
b) talented
39
c) anonymous
4. Its caryatid porch features an old ... motif.
a) Oriental
b) monumental
c) world
III. Choose the right form of the verb.
1. The Acropolis ... on a low rocky hill.
a) was standing
b) stood
c) stands
d) are standing
2. The Parthenon ... by Ictinus and Callicrates.
a) will be built
b) is built
c) builds
d) was built
3. Its caryatid porch makes use of an old Oriental motif that... earlier.
a) had appeared
b) appear
c) has appeared
d) appears
4. The Propylaea ... by Mnesicles. a) designed b) is designed
c) was designed
d) has been designed
5. The major buildings of the Acropolis ... no rival in the Greek world, a) have
b)had
c) are having
d) has
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Warming up
What architectural forms did the Romans prefer?
What greatest temples of Roman architecture do you know?
Why are the Romans called the great builders and engineers?
What ancient Roman towns do you know?
What was the influence of Roman architecture on the resulting styles?
Read the text and tell about the architecture of Residential and Public
Structures of the Roman Empire.
Modern knowledge of Roman architecture derives primarily from extant
remains scattered throughout the area of the empire. Some are well preserved, and
other are known only in fragments and by theoretical restoration. Another source
40
of information is a vast store of records. Especially important is a book on
architecture by the architect Vitruvius. His De Ar-chitectura (c.27 BC) is the only
treatise survived from ancient times. It consists often books and covers almost
every aspect on architecture.
Pervasive Roman predilection was for spatial composition -— the organization of lines, surfaces, masses, and volumes in space. In this the Romans
differed from their predecessors in the ancient Mediterranean world, and, however
freely they used the elements of earlier styles, in Rome or in the provinces they
recast them according to their own taste.
In Roman architecture there were three types of houses: the domus, the
insula, and the villa.
The domus, or town house, consisted of suites of rooms grouped around a
central hall, or atrium, to which were often added further suites at the rear, grouped
around a colonnaded court, or peristyle. The atrium, a rectangular room with an
opening in the roof to the sky, and its adjoining rooms were peculiarly Roman
elements; the peristyle was Greek or Middle Eastern. There were few windows on
the street, light being obtained from the atrium or peristyle.
In Rome the chief examples of domus are the House of Vestals in the Forum
in Rome and that of Livia on the Palatine Hill.
Great blocks of flats or tenements were called insulae. Excavations at Ostia,
Italy, have revealed the design of these blocks. Planed on three or four floors with
strict regard to economy of space, they depended on light from the exterior as well
as from a central court. Independent apartments had separate entrances with direct
access to the street.
The Latin word villa pertained to an estate, complete with house, grounds,
and subsidiary buildings.
Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, began about AD 123, was a sumptuous residence
with parks and gardens on a large scale. The unevenness of the site necessitated
large terraces and flights of steps. There are remains of great brick and concrete
structures. All the buildings are Roman in style and method of construction, though
with Greek names.
The Romans were great builders and engineers famous for their factories,
roads, aqueducts and bridges, grand thermae and amphitheatres, theatres, and
temples.
The greatest surviving circular temple of antiquity, and in many respects the
most important Roman building, is the Pantheon in Rome. It consists of rotunda
about 142 feet in diameter surrounded by concrete walls 20 feet thick, in which are
alternate circular and rectangular niches. Light is admitted through a central
opening, or oculus, about 28 feet across, at the crown of the dome. In front is a
porch with an inscription commemorating an earlier building of Marcus Agrippa
(12 BC—AD 14) but built with the existing rotunda (AD 120—124) under the
emperor Hadrian. The rotunda and dome are among the finest examples of Roman
concrete work. The interior was lined with precious marbles, the coffers
(decorative recessed panels) of the dome itself once was covered externally with
bronze plates.
41
The largest and most important amphitheatre of Rome was the Colosseum,
built by the emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian in about AD 70/75 —82.
Covering six acres (2.4 hectares), it had seating for about 50,000 spectators, and its
80 entrances were so arranged that the building could be cleared quickly. The
whole is built of concrete, the exterior faced with travertine and the interior with
precious marbles.
Other important amphitheatres are those at Verona, Italy; Pula, Yugoslavia;
and Aries, France.
Imperial thermae were more than baths. They were immense establishments
of great magnificence, with facilities for every gymnastic exercise and halls in
which philosophers, poets, rhetoricians, and those who wished to hear them
gathered.
The best preserved are the Baths of Caracalla (begun c. AD 217), which
covered an area about 1,000 feet square, and those of Diocletian (c. AD 298—
306), with accommodation for 3,200 bathers.
Vocabulary
to derive — происходить
remains — (зд.) руины
store — запас
treatise — трактат
pervasive — проникающий, распространяющийся повсюду
predilection — предпочтение
spatial — пространственный
surface — поверхность
to recast — придавать новую форму, переделывать
to consist (of) — состоять (из)
rear — расположенный сзади, задний
peculiarly — особенно
to obtain —- получать, приобретать
tenement — многоквартирный дом, сдаваемый в аренду
excavations — раскопки
to reveal — показывать, обнаруживать
with strict regard — со строгим учетом
to depend (on) — зависеть (от)
access — доступ
to admit — допускать, принимать
opening — отверстие
inscription — надпись
concrete —- бетон
precious — драгоценный
marble — мрамор
establishment — учреждение
magnificence — величие
facility — приспособление
42
accommodation — размещение
I. Choose the right sentence.
1. Pervasive Roman predilection was for spatial composition.
a) Spatial composition was seldom used by the Romans.
b) The Romans preferred spatial composition.
c) Roman architecture is characterized by the use of symmetrical
composition.
2. The Latin word "villa" means a suburban house.
a) Villa is a country house.
b) It is a sumptuous residence.
c) The building is Roman in style.
3. The Pantheon is the greatest structure of antiquity.
a) The Pantheon is built of concrete.
b) The Pantheon is a circular temple.
c) The Pantheon is the masterpiece of antiquity.
II. Circle a), b), or c) to complete the sentences.
1. The domus consisted of...
a) three or four floors
b) suits of rooms grouped around a central hall
c) two or three rooms with few windows
2. Insulae were planned ...
a) to impress by their grandeur
b) around a colonnaded court
c) with strict regard to economy of space
3. Handrian's Villa at Tivoli was ...
a) a sumptuous residence with parks and gardens
b) a tenement house
c) a small country house
4. The rotunda and dome of the Pantheon are among the finest examples of...
a) the architecture of the ancient Mediterranean world
b) Roman concrete work
c) contemporary architecture
5. The Colosseum was the most important...
a) temple of antiquity
b) theatre of ancient Greece
c) amphitheatre of ancient Rome
EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
43
Warming-up
When did Byzantine architecture develop?
What is the outstanding example of Byzantine architecture?
When did this style come to Russia?
What greatest Byzantine architects and artists do you know?
5. Can you give any examples of the Byzantine style in Russia?
Read the text about the Byzantine art of building
The art characteristic of the developed Byzantine Empire can be traced back
to the period just before the reign of Justinian, c. AD 500. The style had enormous
influence on both the East and the West. Early Byzantine art may to some extent
be regarded as Roman art transformed under influence of the East. It reached a
high point in the 6th century, rose again for a short time to new heights during the
11th and 12th centuries and still survives among Greek or orthodox communities.
The dominant Byzantine art was architecture. As in Early Christian times,
the two chief types of church were basilican with a long colonnaded nave covered
by a wooden roof and terminating in a semicircular apse and the vaulted
centralized church with its separate components gathered under a central dome. Of
the latter type, the chief examples are SS Sergius and Bachus (526,
Constantinople), San Vitaly (526-547, Ravenna).
The outstanding example of a basilica which combined the longitudinal
qualities of the basilica with the centralized volume of the martyrion was the
church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople.
Brick was the main material used for the construction of Byzantine
churches. It was covered externally with plaster and internally with thin marble
ladoes and mosaics above. Byzantine decoration was flat and incised in contrast to
the bold modeling of western surfaces.
Byzantine architecture of the period of Hagia Sophia was markedly
concerned with mathematics.
The historian Procopius wrote of the great church: "Through the harmony of
its measurements it is distinguished by indescribable beauty".
By the 9th century, the Byzantine style was wide spread throughout the
countries of the Near East and eastern Europe, where the Greek and Orthodox
religion was followed and was beginning to appear in Russia (the Cathedral of St
Sophia in Kiev).
These Byzantine churches followed the plan of a Greek cross, that is a
central domed space with four short square arms (evolved c. 7th century). This
form of church eventually became almost universal, focusing in the brilliantly lit
central space which dissolved mystically into the dark screens and galleries in the
arms of the cross.
Examples are to be seen in the small Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens and
at churches in Daphni, Mistra, Salonica, and Stiris.
Vocabulary
reign — царствование
to some extent — до некоторой степени
to reach — достигнуть
height — высота
longitudinal — продольный
holy — священный
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wisdom — мудрость
plaster — штукатурка
to incise — вырезать, насекать, гравировать
bold — смелый
measurement — измерение
to distinguish — отличаться
to follow — следовать
lit — освещенный
to dissolve — растворяться
screen — ширма, экран, щит
arms of the cross — крылья креста
I. Choose the right word.
1. The Byzantine style had enormous influence on
a) the West
b) the East and the West c) the North
2. The dominant Byzantine art was ...
a) architecture
b) painting
c) sculpture
3. ... was the main material used for the construction of churches,
a) stone
b) concrete
c) brick
4. Hagia Sophia is a ...
a) church
b) palace
c) chapel
5. Byzantine architecture of the period of Hagia Sophia is markedly concerned
with ...
a) biology
b) mathematics c) geography
II. Choose the right sentence.
1. Byzantine style still survives among Greek and Orthodox communities.
a) The vaulted centralized church was typical of the Early Byzantine
period.
b) The Byzantine style influenced both the East and the West.
c) The works of this style can be seen in Greek or Orthodox communities.
2. Hagia Sophia is the supreme example of the centralized type.
a) The Church of Holy Wisdom is the finest model of the circular type.
b) Hagia Sophia was built by Justinian.
c) The early Byzantine architecture is characterized by wide diversity.
3. The Byzantine churches were covered internally with thin marble ladoes and
mosaics above.
a) Brick Byzantine churches were covered externally with plaster.
b) Sheets of marble and mosaics were used for the decoration of the interior
walls and arches.
c) The decoration of western surfaces was bold and ponderous.
4. The Byzantine style influenced greatly the architecture of Russia.
a) Symbolism had now begun to dominate church architecture.
b) This form of church eventually became almost universal.
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c) Numerous churches in the Byzantine style were built in Russia.
5.These Byzantine churches followed the plan of a Greek cross.
a) These Byzantine churches were widespread in the countries of the Near
East and eastern Europe.
b) These Byzantine churches featured a central domed space with four short
square arms.
c) Each Byzantine church was conceived as a microcosm of all earth and
sky.
Read the text and describe the plan of the church and its interior.
HAGIA SOPHIA OR THE CHURCH OF HOLY WISDOM
Though Justinian's domed basilicas are the models from which Byzantine
architecture developed, Hagia Sophia remained unique, and no attempt was
thereafter made by Byzantine builders to emulate it. In plan it is almost square, but
looked at from within, it appears to be rectangular, for there is a great semidome at
east and west above that prolongs the effect of the roof, while on the ground there
are three aisles, separated by columns with galleries above. At either end, however,
great piers rise up through the galleries to support the dome. Above the galleries
are curtain walls (non-load-bearing exterior walls) at either side, pierced by
windows, and there are more windows at the base of the dome. The columns are of
finest marble, selected for their colour and variety, while the lower parts of the
walls are covered with marble slabs. Like the elaborately carved cornices and
capitals, these survive, but the rest of the original decoration, including most of the
mosaics that adorned the upper parts of the walls and the roof, have perished.
Vocabulary
attempt — попытка
to emulate — стремиться превзойти
aisle — боковой неф храма
pier — устой, столб, контрфорс
non-load-bearing — не несущие нагрузку
to pierce — пронзать
slab — плита
to perish — погибать
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Read the text and tell about the subdivisions of Romanesque architecture and its
main features.
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
The generic term Romanesque is sometimes applied to embrace all the styles
of architecture which, in most European countries, followed the Early Christian
style and preceded the introduction of the Gothic style, c. 1200. It is often
subdivided into pre-Romanesque, which includes the Lombardic, Carolingian, and
Ottonian or Rhenish styles as well as Saxon and Romanesque proper, which is
taken to have begun c. AD 1000.
From the ancient Roman tradition, the pre-Romanesque architects adopted
characteristic features: the semicircular arch, the groined cross vault, and a
modified and simplified form of the Corinthian column with its capital of acanthus
leaves. Occasionally, at an early period, they used carved fragments of antique
buildings. They made important advances upon Roman structural methods in
balancing the thrust of heavy vaults and domes by means of buttresses, and in
substituting thinner webs supported on the curved stone ribs for the thick vaults
used by the Romans.
The Romanesque period lasted two centuries, and was the great age of
European monasticism.
The architectural work of the Romanesque period therefor consists almost
exclusively on monasteries, cathedrals, parish churches, and castles. Very few
domestic buildings have survived.
The greatest examples of this style are Benedictine abbey church at
Jumieges, Normandy (1036—1066); S. Ambrogio, Milan, Italy, 1140; Sompting
church in Succex, 11th century; Augsburg Cathedral, Germany.
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LANCET ARCHITECTURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Warming-up
When did the Gothic style develop?
Why is this style called Gothic?
In what countries did the Gothic style flourish?
What are the greatest works of the Gothic style?
What are the main features of the Gothic style?
Read the text and tell about the phases of English Gothic.
GOTHIC CATHEDRALS
The architecture of the central Middle Ages was termed Gothic during the
Renaissance because of its association with the barbarian north. Now this term is
used to describe the important international style in most countries of Europe from
the early 12th century to the advent of the Renaissance in the 15th century.
At the technical level Gothic architecture is characterized by the ribbed
vault, the pointed arch, and the flying buttress.
One of the earliest buildings in which these techniques were introduced in a
highly sophisticated architectural plan was the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris.
The proportions are not large, but the skills and precision with which the
vaulting is managed and the subjective effect of the undulating chain windows
around the perimeter have given the abbey its traditional claim to the title "first
Gothic building".
It should be said that in France and Germany this style is subdivided into the
Early, High, and Late Gothic.
The French middle phase is called Rayonnant, the late — Flamboyant.
In English architecture the usual divisions are Early English, Decorative, and
Perpendicular.
Early English Gothic developed from c. 1180 to c.1280. The most influential
building in the new fashion was the choir of Canterbury cathedral (1175—1184),
which has many of the features of Laon cathedral.
The building retains a passage at clerestory level — an Anglo-Norman
feature that remained standard in English architecture well into the 13th century.
Both in the shape of the piers and in the multiplicity of attached colonettes,
Canterbury resembles Laon. Colonettes became extremely popular with English
architects, particularly because of the large supplies of purbeck marble, which gave
any elevation a special coloristic character. This is obvious at Salisbury cathedral
(begun 1220), but one of the richest examples of the effect is in the nave of Lincoln
cathedral (begun c. 1225).
English architects for a long time retained a liking for heavy surface decoration: thus, when Rayonnant tracery designs were imported, they were combined
with the existing repertoire of colonettes, attached shafts, and vault ribs. The result
which could be extraordinarily dense — for instance, in the east (or Angel) choir
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(begun 1256) at Lincoln cathedral and at Exeter cathedral (begun before 1280) —
has been called the English Decorated style (1280-1350).
The architectural affects achieved (notably the retrochair of Wells cathedral
or the choir of St. Augustine, Bristol) were more inventive generally than those of
contemporary continental buildings.
English Gothic came to an end with the final flowering of the Perpendicular
style (c. 1350—1550). It was characterized by vertical emphasis in structure and
by elaborate fan vaults.
The first major surviving statement of Perpendicular style is probably the
choir of Gloucester cathedral (begun soon after 1330). Other major monuments
were St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster (begun 1292 but now mostly destroyed)
and York Minster nave (begun 1291), St. George's Chapel, Windsor, King's
College Chapel, Cambridge (1444), the naves of Winchester (c. 1480), and
Canterbury (c. 1400), the Chapel of Henry VII at Westminster Abbey.
Gothic was essentially the style of the Catholic countries of Europe. It was
also carried to Cyprus, Malta, Syria, and Palestine by the Crusaders and their
successors in the Mediterranean. The forms that were developed within the style on
a regional basis were often of great beauty and complexity. They were used for all
secular buildings, as well as for cathedrals, churches, and monasteries.
By the Gothic Survival is meant the survival of Gothic forms, particularly in
provincial traditional building.
It developed after the advent of the Renaissance and into the 17th century. It
should be differed from the Gothic Revival (Neo-Gothic) in the 18th — the 19th
centuries.
Vocabulary
advent — приход, прибытие
rib — ребро
arch — арка
pointed arch — стрельчатая (остроконечная) арка
buttress — контрфорс
flying buttress — аркбутан, арочный контрфорс
sophisticated — изощренный
abbey — аббатство
skill — мастерство
precision — точность'
undulating — волнистый
claim — требование; претензия; притязание; утверждение; заявление
Rayonnant — лучистый (стиль)
Flamboyant — «пламенеющий» (стиль)
choir — место хора в соборе
to retain — удерживать; поддерживать; сохранять
clerestory — верхний ряд окон, освещающий центр высокого
помещения
to attach — прикреплять; присоединять
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tracery — ажурная каменная работа; рисунок, узор; переплетение
shaft — ствол
dense — густой, плотный
chapel — часовня
secular — светский, мирской
I. Complete the sentences.
1. At the technical level the Gothic style is characterized by the ribbed vault, the
flying buttress, and ...
a) the round arch
b) the bulbous dome
c) the pointed arch
2. The title the "first Gothic building" is given to ...
a) the abbey of Saint-Denis
b) Westminster abbey
c) King's College Chapel
3. In English architecture the usual subdivisians are Early English, Decorated and
... styles.
a) Carolingian
b) Flamboyant
c) Perpendicular
4. English architects for a long time retained a liking for ...
a) plain surfaces
b) heavy surface decoration
c) curved surfaces
5. Gothic was essentially the style of... countries.
a) the Buddhist
b) the Orthodox
c) the Catholic
II. Choose the right sentence.
1. The Gothic style developed in most countries of Europe.
a) The Gothic style was associated with the barbarian north.
b) Gothic is represented in many European countries.
c) Paris — for much of this period the home of a powerful and artistically
enlightened court — played an especially important role in the history of Gothic
art.
2. Canterbury Cathedral was the most influential building in the new fashion.
a) Canterbury Cathedral was the most important structure of the Early
English Gothic.
b) Canterbury resembles St. Paul's Cathedral.
c) Canterbury Cathedral was built in the 12th century.
3. English architects retained a liking for heavy surface decoration.
a) English architects preferred restrained decoration.
b) The stained glass of the period was heavily coloured.
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c) English architects kept on using ponderous exterior decorations.
4. Gothic was used for cathedrals, churches and monasteries.
a) Gothic was used for industrial buildings.
b) Gothic was used for ecclesiastic structures.
c) In most European countries artists imitated architectural styles from
northern France.
Read the text and speak on the reason of imitation of Gothic architecture
NEO-GOTHIC
The architectural movement most commonly associated with Romanticism
is the Gothic Revival, a term first used in England in the mid-19th century to
describe buildings being erected in the style of the Middle Ages and later expanded
to embrace the entire Neo-Gothic movement.
The first clearly self-conscious imitation of Gothic architecture for reasons
of nostalgia appeared in England in the early 18th century. Buildings erected at
that time in the Gothic manner were for the most part frivolous and decorative
garden ornaments, actually more Rococo than Gothic in spirit. But, with the
rebuilding beginning in 1747 of the country house Strawberry Hill by the English
writer Horace Walpole, a new and significant aspect of the revived style was given
convincing form; and, by the beginning of the 19th century, picturesque planning
and grouping provided the basis for experimentation in architecture. Gothic was
especially suited to this aim. Scores of houses with battlements and turrets in the
style of a castle were built in England during the last years of the 18th century.
French architects, in particular, Viollet-le-Duc, who restored a range of
buildings from the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame in Paris to the whole town of
Carcassonne, were the first to appreciate the applicability of the Gothic skeleton
structure, with its light infilling, to a modern age, and the analogy was not lost on
subsequent architects at a time when the steel frame was emerging as an important
element of structural engineering. Functionalism and structural honesty as ideals in
the Modern movement were a legacy of the Gothic Revival.
Not surprisingly, the Gothic Revival was felt with most force in those
countries in which Gothic architecture itself was most in evidence — England,
France, and Germany. Each conceived it as a national style, and each gave to it a
strong and characteristic twist of its own.
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THE REBIRTH OF CLASSICAL ART
Warming-up
1. What is the meaning of the word "Renaissance"?
2. In what country did this style originate?
3. What do you know about the Renaissance in Russia?
Text 1.
Read the text and tell about the Renaissance in Italy and in Russia.
THE RENAISSANCE
The Renaissance began in Italy, where there was always a residue of classical feeling in art.
Knowledge of the classical style in architecture was derived during the
Renaissance from two sources: the ancient classical buildings, particularly in Italy
but also in France and Spain and the treatise De architectura by the Roman
architect Vitruvius. For classical antiquity and, therefore, for the Renaissance, the
basic element of architectural design was the order, which was a system of
traditional architectural units. During the Renaissance five orders were used, the
Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite, with various ones prevalent in
different periods. For example, the ornate, decorative quality of the Corinthian
order was embraced during the early Renaissance, while the masculine simplicity
and strength of the Doric was preferred during the Italian High Renaissance.
On the authority of Vitruvius, the Renaissance architects found a harmony
between the proportions of the human body and those of their architecture. There
was even a relationship between architectural proportions and the Renaissance
pictorial device of perspective.
The concern of these architects for proportion caused that clear, measured
expression and definition of architectural space and mass that dif- ferentiates the
Renaissance style from the Gothic and encourages in the spectator an immediate
and full comprehension of the building.
In the early 15th century an Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi formulated
linear perspective, which was to become a basic element of Renaissance art. At the
same time, Brunelleschi investigated ancient Roman architecture and acquired the
knowledge of classical architecture and ornament that he used as a foundation for
Renaissance architecture.
His brilliant vork, the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti (1419— 51)
was the first building in the Renaissance manner; a very graceful arcade was
designed with Composite columns, and windows with classical pediments were
regularly spaced above each of the arches.
Donato Bramante's Tempietto San Pietro in Montorio (1502) symbolized the
beginning of the High Renaissance style in Rome. Erected on the supposed site of
the martyrdom of St. Peter, the Tempietto is circular in plan, with a colonnade of
16 columns surrounding a small cella, or enclosed interior sanctuary.
52
In 1505 Pope Julius II decided to rebuild St. Peter's, which was in a very
poor condition. Bramante prepared plans for a monumental church and in 1506 the
foundation stone was laid.
St. Peter's Cathedral is the largest church in the Christian world. It has 29
altars in addition to the high altar, interior length, 187m.,width at front, 26,5 m.,
length of transept, 137 m. The dome (diameter, 42 m., height, 123 m. to the top of
the lantern) was built by Michelangelo.
In Russia the Renaissance is represented by the works of Italian masters (the
Moscow Kremlin, the 15th — 16th cc.) The cathedral of the Assumption was built
in 1475—1479 by Aristotile Fioravante on the site of an old church dating back to
the reign of Ivan Kalita. By combining the characteristic features of the VladimirSuzdal and early-Moscow style with Italian Renaissance decoration and
construction methods Fioravante produced a masterpiece of lasting beauty.
Another example is the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, designed by Alevisio
Novi in 1505-1508.
The Granovitaya Palata Faceted Pulace (1487—91) was built by Russian
craftsmen according to the design of Italian architects Marco Ruffo, Aloisio da
Carcano, and Pietro Antonio Solari. Its eastern facade is faced with faceted white
stones, hence the name.
Vocabulary
to embrace — воспользоваться, выбирать
masculine — мужской, мужественный
authority — (зд.) авторитетное мнение, утверждение
device — средство
to cause — вызывать, являться результатом
to encourage — ободрять, поощрять, поддерживать
immediate — непосредственный, прямой; немедленный
comprehension — понимание
to acquire — приобретать
graceful — грациозный, изящный
arcade — аркада, сводчатая галерея
pediment — фронтон
martyrdom — мученичество
enclosed — окруженный, огороженный
sanctuary — святилище
to lay — (зд.) заложить фундамент
lantern — фонарь верхнего света
assumption — (рел.) успение
hence — отсюда; следовательно
I. Complete the following sentences.
1. For the classical antiquity and for the Renaissance the ... was the basic element
of architectural design.
a) order
53
b) asymmetry
c) the effect of illusionism
2. Clear measured expression and definition of architectural space and mass
differentiates the Renaissance style from ...
a) the Rococo
b) the Gothic
c) the Byzantine style
3. It was an Italian Renaissance architect perspective.
a) Filippo Brunelleschi
b) Donato Bramante
c) Pietro Lombardo
4. The first building in the Renaissance manner was
a) Tempietto San Pietro
b) Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
c) the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti
who formulated linear
5. The largest church in the Christian world is ...
a) St. Paul's Cathedral
b) St. Peter's Cathedral
c) Gloucester Cathedral
6. The cathedral of the Assumption was built by ...
a) Fioravante
b) Novi
c) Bernini
7. The eastern facade of the Faceted Palace is faced with
a) mosaics
b) glazed tile
c) faceted white stones
Read the text and speak on a typical example of the Renaissance style in
England.
Text 2
The Renaissance style in England
The Renaissance style of architecture made a very timid appearance in
England during the first half of the 16th century, and it was only from about 1550
that it became a positive style with local qualities. In fact, the Gothic style
continued in many parts of England throughout most of the 16th century, and
English Renaissance architecture was a very original fusion of the Tudor Gothic
and classical styles.
The Renaissance style really begins in England in the middle of the 16th
century in architecture built for the circle of the Lord Protector Somerset.
A typical example of the Renaissance style of England is to be found in the
quadrangle that John Caius added to Gonville Hall at Cambridge.
The architecture of the new court was basically Tudor Gothic, but Caius
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planned three gateways in connection with the court, two of which were in Italian
style. The three gates were to mark the progress of the student through the
university. At the entrance was the Gate of Humility (1565), a modest doorway,
now in the Master's garden. The Gate of Virtue (after 1565), opening into the new
quadrangle, is a fine classical portal with Ionic pilasters, but with a Tudor Gothic
many-centred arch for the opening. Finally, the Gate of Honour (1573) is a
separate tiny triumphal arch leading out toward the schools for the final disputation
and degree.
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BAROQUE AND ROCOCO
Warming-up
1. When did the Baroque flourish?
2. What world famous Baroque landmarks do you know?
3. Who brought the Baroque to Russia?
Text 1.
Read the text and tell about the main features of the Baroque.
BAROQUE
Baroque and late Baroque, or Rococo, are terms applied to European art of
the period from the early 17th century to the mid-18th century.
"Baroque" was probably derived from the Italian word barocco. This term
was used by philosophers during the Middle Ages to describe an obstacle in
schematic logic. This word also described an irregular or imperfectly shaped pearl.
During the Baroque period (c. 1600-1750), architecture, painting, and
sculpture were integrated into decorative ensembles. Architecture and sculpture
became pictorial, and painting became illusionistic. Baroque art was essentially
concerned with vivid colours, hidden light sources, luxurious materials, and
elaborate, contrasting surface textures.
Baroque architects made architecture a means of propagating faith in the
church and in the state. Baroque space, with directionality, movement, and positive
molding, contrasted markedly with the static, stable, and defined space of the High
Renaissance and with the frustrating conflict of unbalanced spaces of the preceding
Mannerist period. Mannerism is the term applied to certain aspects of artistic style,
mainly Italian, in the period between the High Renaissance of the early 16th
century and the beginning of Baroque art in the early 17th.
The Baroque rapidly developed into two separate forms: the strongly Roman
Catholic countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Flanders, Bohemia, southern Germany,
Austria, and Poland) tended toward freer and more active architectural forms and
surfaces; in Protestant regions (England, the Netherlands, and the remainder of
northern Europe) architecture was more restrained and developed a sober quiet
monumentally impressive in its refinement. In the Protestant countries and France,
which sought the spirit through the mind, architecture was more geometric, formal,
and precise — an appeal to the intellect.
Hardouin-Mansart's Dome des Invalides, Paris (c. 1675), is generally agreed
to be the finest church of the last half of the 17th century in France. The
correctness and precision of its form, the harmony and balance of its spaces, and
the soaring vigour of its dome make it a landmark not only of the Paris skyline but
also of European Baroque architecture.
Other greatest works of this style are the church of Santa Susanna (Maderno, c.1597), Versailles (Le Vau), National Palace in Madrid (Sacchelti, 1736),
56
Royal Palace at Caserta (Vanvitelli, 1752).
Vocabulary
to apply — применять
to derive — происходить
the Middle Ages — Средние века, средневековье
obstacle — препятствие
pearl — жемчуг
vivid — яркий, ясный
hidden — скрытый
luxurious — роскошный
elaborate — тщательно разработанный, искусно сделанный
surface — поверхность
means — средство
faith — вера
preceding — предшествующий
rapidly — быстро
to tend — иметь тенденцию; направляться
the remainder — остальная часть
restrained — сдержанный
sober — трезвый, спокойный (о красках)
refinement — утонченность
to seek (sought) — искать; обращаться
spirit — дух
precise — точный
an appeal — призыв, обращение
I. Choose the right form of the adjective.
1. Baroque space contrasted with the static, defined space of the ... Renaissance.
a) Higher
b) the Highest
c) High
2. The Baroque tended toward ...architectural forms and surfaces,
a) free
b) freer
c) the freest
3.
In Protestant regions architecture was ... and developed a sober, quiet
monumentality.
a) the most restrained b) restrained
c) more restrained
4. In the Protestant countries and France architecture was ..., formal, and precise.
a) more geometric
b) the most geometric
c) geometric
5. Dome des Invalides, Paris is generally agreed to be ... church of the last half of
the 17th century in France.
a) finer
b) finest
c) the finest
II. Choose the right sentences.
1. During the Baroque period architecture and sculpture became pictorial.
a) Baroque architects and sculptors used luxurious materials.
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b) "Baroque" means imperfectly shaped pearl.
c) Baroque architects and sculptors used the methods of painting.
2.
Baroque art was concerned with vivid colours, hidden light sources and
elaborate contrasting surface structures.
a) Baroque art was characterized by vivid colours, hidden light sources and
elaborate contrasting surface structures.
b) The Baroque never exploited hidden light sources.
c) The Baroque developed from the early 17th century to the mid 18th
century.
3. This style contrasted markedly with the High Renaissance and Mannerism.
a) The Baroque resembled the High Renaissance and Mannerism.
b) The Baroque had little in common with the High Renaissance and
Mannerism.
c) The Mannerist period featured the frustrating conflict of unbalanced
spaces.
4. In Protestant regions architecture was restrained.
a) In Protestant regions architecture was austere.
b) In Protestant regions architecture had free and active forms.
5. Domes des Invalides is the finest church of European Baroque Architecture.
a) Domes des Invalides is the finest church of the 18th century.
b) Domes des Invalides was built in 1675.
c) Domes des Invalides is a masterpiece of European Baroque architecture.
III. Circle a), b), or c) to complete the following sentences.
1. The term "Baroque" was used by philosophers ...
a) during the period of the Enlightenment
b) during the Middle Ages
c) in ancient times
2. During the Baroque period architecture and sculpture became ...
a) illusionistic
b) realistic
c) pictorial
3. Baroque architecture was a means of propagating ...
a) faith
b) atheism
c) anarchism
4. Mannerism is the term applied to certain aspects of...
a) social life
b) artistic style
c) scientific research
5. The Baroque rapidly developed into two separate ...
a) forms
b) sides
c) parts
Text 2.
Read the text and speak on the difference between the Baroque and Rococo.
ROCOCO
During the period of the Enlightenment (about 1700 to 1780), various
currents of post-Baroque art and architecture evolved. A principal current,
generally known as Rococo, refined the robust architecture of the 17th century to
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suit elegant 18th-century tastes. Vivid colours were replaced by pastel shades;
diffuse light flooded the building volume; violent surface relief was replaced by
smooth flowing masses with emphasis only at isolated points. Churches and
palaces still exhibited an integration of the three arts, but the building structure was
lightened to render interiors graceful and ethereal. Interior and exterior space
retained none of the bravado and dominance of the Baroque but entertained and
captured the imagination by intricacy and subtlety.
By progressively modifying the Renaissance-Baroque horizontal separation
into discrete parts, Rococo architects obtained unified spaces, emphasized
structural elements, created continuous decorative schemes, and reduced column
sizes to a minimum. In churches, the ceilings of side aisles were raised to the
height of the nave ceiling to unify the space from wall to wall (Church of the
Carmine, Turin, Italy, 1732, by Filippo Juvarra; Pilgrimage Church, Steinhausen,
near Biberach, Germany, 1728, by Domini-kus Zimmermann; Saint-Jacques,
Luneville, France, 1730, by Germain Boffrand.
Vocabulary
to evolve — происходить, возникать
current — течение
robust — крепкий; сильный; грубый
to replace — заменять
to flood — литься цотоком
flowing — текущий
ethereal — легкий, воздушный
to retain — сохранять, поддерживать
to entertain — занимать, извлекать
to capture — захватывать, увлекать
intricacy — запутанность, сложность
subtlety — тонкость, нежность
discrete — раздельный, состоящий из разрозненных частей
to obtain — получать, приобретать
to reduce — сокращать, уменьшать
I. Choose the right verb.
1. Vivid colours were ... by pastel shades.
a) replaced
b) chosen
c) created
2. Smooth flowing masses ... emphasis only at isolated points,
a) exhibited
b) had
c) separated
3. By progressively modifying the Renaissance-Baroque horizontal separation
into discrete parts, Rococo architects ... unified spaces.
a) reduced
b) obtained
c) retained
4. Rococo architects emphasized structural elements, ...continuous decorative
schemes, and reduced column sizes to a minimum.
a) described
b) borrowed
c) created
5. In churches, the ceilings of side aisles were raised to the height of the nave
59
ceiling to ... the space from wall to wall.
a) unify
b) divide
c) close
NEOCLASSICISM
Warming-up
1. Why is this style called Neoclassicism?
2. How did excavations at the newly discovered ancient cities influence
Neoclassicism?
3. What are the finest examples of this style?
Read the text and tell about the qualities of Neoclassical architecture.
The classicism that flourished in the period of 1750-1830 is often known as
Neoclassicism, in order to distinguish it from the classical architecture of ancient
Rome or of the Renaissance.
The search for the intellectual and architectural truth characterized the
period. Stylistically this began with an onslaught on Baroque architecture, which
— with its emphasis on illusion and applied ornament — was felt to be manifestly
untruthful.
Essentially representing a new taste for classical serenity and archaeologically correct forms, 18th-century classicism manifested itself in all the arts.
The discovery, exploration, and archaeological investigation of classical
sites in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor were crucial to the emergence of
Neoclassicism.
The centre of international Neoclassicism was Rome. The cradle of Italian
antiquities, it provided the stage, but the leading actors in the Neoclassical drama
were French, German, or English; very little was contributed by Italians to this new
movement. The centre of activity was the French Academy. The winners of the
Academy's Prix de Rome went to Italy to study the monuments firsthand. The
projects produced by the French Prix de Rome winners are characterized by their
grandeur of scale; strict geometric organization; simplicity of geometric forms;
Greek or Roman detail; dramatic use of columns, particularly to articulate interior
spaces and create urban landscapes; and a preference for blank walls and the
contrast of formal volumes and textures. The same qualities describe Neoclassical
architecture as it was to emerge throughout Europe and in America.
Vocabulary
search — поиск
onslaught — нападение, атака
serenity — ясность
to manifest — проявлять
exploration — изучение, исследование
crucial — решающий
emergence — появление
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cradle — колыбель
to contribute — вносить вклад
to articulate — выделять
I. Complete the following sentences.
1. Stylistically this began with an onslaught on ...
a) Romanesque architecture
b) Greek architecture
c) Baroque architecture
2. The excavations of classical sites were held in Italy, Greece, and
a) Asia Minor
b) Egypt
c) India
3. The projects produced by the winners are characterized by ...
a) rich floral decorations
b) stained glass windows
c) a preference for blank walls
4. There were also the strict geometric organization and ...
a) simplicity of geometric forms
b) spatially complex compositions
c) massive walls and round arches
5. Neoclassicism emerged throughout Europe and in ...
a) Africa
b) Asia
c) America
61
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE TURN OF THE CENTURIES
Warming up
1. When did Art Nouveau develop?
2. What outstanding architects of Art Nouveau do you know?
3. How is this style called in Russia?
Read the text and speak on the aesthetics of Art Nouveau.
ART NOUVEAU
An individual and highly romantic reaction to the currents of eclecticism and
academic classicism (Ecole des Beaux-Arts in late 19th century architecture) Art
Nouveau was a diverse phenomenon which affected most of Europe and, some
historians argue, even North America between 1890 and 1910. It was known at the
time under a variety of rubrics — for instance, in England it was the "modern
style", in Germany it was called the Ju-gendstil, in France it was known variously
as the "style nouille" (noodle style), "style Guimard" (after Henry Guimard, who
designed the decorative entrance to the Paris Metro Stations in 1899), or Art
Nouveau. The Austrians named it Secessionsstil; in Italy it was the "stile Liberty"
or "stile floreale", and in Spain "modernisme".
Often referred to simply as the style 1900, Art Nouveau expresses an
essentially decorative trend that aims to highlight the ornamental value of the
curved line, which may be floral in origin (Belgium, France) or geometric
(Scotland, Austria). This line gives rise to two-dimensional, slender, undulating
and invariably asymmetrical forms. The applied arts were the first to be affected
(textiles by William Morris, 1880; wood-engraved title page to Wren's City
Churches by Arthur H. Mackmurdo, 1883; vases by Emile Galle, 1884; ornamental
lettering by Fernand Khnopff and Georges Lem- men, 1890-1; mural tapestry The
Angels' Vigil by Henry van deVelde; 1893; furniture by de Gustave SerrurierBovy, 1891).
Among the most characteristic architectural products of Art Nouveau,
widely differing in purpose and plastic expression, were: the houses built by Paul
Hankar in Brussels (1893—1900); works of Willem Kromhout (1864-1940), Th.
Sluyterman (1863-1931) and L. A. H. Wolf in the Netherlands; Guimard's Castel
Beranger (1897—1898), entrances to Metro stations and the auditorium of the
Humbert de Romans building (1902, destroyed) in Paris; Horta's Maison du Peuple
(1896—1899, destroyed) and the former Hotel Solvay (1895—1900) in Brussels.
In Russia Art Nouveau is represented in the works of F. Shekhtel, (S.
Ryabushinsky's Mansion (1900), the building for the newspaper "Utro Rossii"
(Moscow, 1907).
All these works are the result of an attempt to put an end to imitations of
past styles; in its place is offered a florid type of architecture, which exploits craft
62
skills, using coloured materials (faience cabochons, stoneware, terracotta panels,
stained glass), exotic veneers, moulded stonework, grilles, balconies, and tapered
brackets in wrought iron; and burgeoning with asymmetrical door — and windowframes, bow and horseshoe windows, etc.
In the later phases of Art Nouveau, facade decoration was accompanied by a
powerful plastic treatment of the whole building, either by the dramatic
accentuation of individual parts of the structure (Glasgow Art School, 1898-1909,
by Mackintosh) or by the sculptural modelling of the whole building mass
(Werkbundtheater, Cologne, 1914 by van de Velde; Casa Mila, Barcelona, 1905—
1910, by Gaudi).
Art Nouveau was first and foremost an aesthetic undertaking, based on
social theories and inspired by aesthetes such as Ruskin, Morris and Oscar Wilde.
It was born of a reaction to the rise of industrialism.
Distinguished architects of the Art Nouveau style, such as Mackintosh,
Behrens and the Viennese masters became pioneers of modern architecture, it is
true, but with their forward-looking buildings they overstepped the frontiers which
the style had imposed upon its adherents.
Vocabulary
current — поток, течение
diverse — разнообразный
to argue — спорить
rubric — название, заголовок
instance — пример
noodle — лапша
entrance — вход
to refer — иметь отношение, относиться
to highlight — выдвигать на первый план; придать большое значение
two-dimensional — двухмерный
undulating — волнистый
the applied art — прикладное искусство
to engrave — гравировать
former — бывший
attempt — попытка
to offer — предлагать
craft — ремесло
stoneware — керамические изделия
stained glass — витраж
veneer — шпон; однослойная фанера; (кирпичная) облицовка
wrought iron — ковкая мягкая сталь
horseshoe — подкова
treatment — обработка
to inspire — вдохновлять
to impose — налагать (обязательство)
adherent — сторонник
63
I Choose the right sentence.
1. Art Nouveau was a reaction to the currents of eclecticism and academic
classicism at the turn of the 19th century.
a) Art Nouveau was a reaction against Neo-Gothic.
b) It was a reaction to the currents of eclecticism and academic classicism in
the late 19th century.
2. This style has a lot of rubrics.
a) It is often referred to as "style 1900".
b) It was the "modern style" in England.
c) It is known under a variety of titles.
3. The curved line gives rise to invariably asymmetrical forms.
a) A florid type of architecture exploits craft skills.
b) The whiplash line creates constantly asymmetrical forms.
4. Fyodor Shekhtel is the main representative of Art Nouveau in Russia.
a) Ryabushinsky's mansion by Fyodor Shekhtel is one the best works of Art
Nouveau in Russia.
b) Mackintosh is an outstanding representative of Art Nouveau in Scotland.
5. Art Nouveau was inspired by Ruskin, Morris and Oscar Wilde.
a) The echoes of Gothic had a considerable effect on the age and emerged
in some Art Nouveau works.
b) Art Nouveau was an aesthetic undertaking.
c) Ruskin, Morris and Oscar Wilde were the inspirers of Art Nouveau.
II. Complete the following sentences.
1. Art Nouveau is characterized by ... and asymmetrical forms,
a) plain surfaces
b) whiplash lines
c) symmetrical composition
2. This decorative trend highlights ... of the curved line,
a) structural value
b) durability
c) ornamental value
3. It was an attempt to put an end to imitations of... styles,
a) past
b) new
c) different
4. This architecture exploits craft skills, using ...
a) coloured materials
b) Landscape Architecture
c) computer technology
III. Answer the following questions. Only one variant is correct from the three
choices.
1. What does Art Nouveau exploit?
a) This style exploits the effects of illusionism.
b) The artists of Art Nouveau imitate past styles.
c) It exploits craft skills using coloured materials.
2. What were the sources of Art Nouveau?
a) Increasing interest in archaeology was crucial to the emergence of Art
64
Nouveau.
b) It was inspired by such aesthetes as Ruskin, Morrison, and Oscar Wilde.
c) It adopted the ideas of Constructivism.
3. What kind of reaction was Art Nouveau born of?
a) It began with an onslaught on Baroque architecture.
b) It was the reaction to the ban on human representation.
c) It was born of a reaction to the rise of industrialism.
4. What were the decorative elements of this trend?
a) Art Nouveau featured exotic veneers, moulded stonework, assymmetrical door-and window frames, horseshoe windows.
b) It was characterized by unadorned exteriors and interiors.
c) The Doric order was preferred during this period.
5. Who were the greatest architects of Art Nouveau?
a) Carlo Rossi is one of the greatest representatives of the modern style.
b) August Endell, Charles R. Mackintosh and Antonio Gaudi are among
those who created this style.
c) Filippo Brunelleschi is supposed to be its initiator.
65
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE 20th CENTURY
Warming-up
1. What works of Le Corbusier can you name?
2. What did Le Corbusier build in Moscow?
3. What other greatest 20th century architects do you know?
Read the text and tell about Le Corbusier's creative activity.
CHARLES EDOUARD (JEANNERET) LE CORBUSIER
(1887-1966)
Le Corbusier was the dominant figure internationally in modern architecture
from 1920 to 1960.
He proposed the "Modulor", a system of proportions grounded on the golden
section or the Fibonacci series using the human figures as its basis, formulated the
famous definition of architecture as 'the masterly correct and magnificent play of
masses brought together in light'. His comparisons with engineering constructions
and with modern forms of transportation were formulated into such oftmisunderstood postulates as 4he house is a machine for living in' and that it should
be as practically constructed as a typewriter. By this he meant not a mechanistic
'machine aesthetic1 but rather complete rationality in plan, capacity for serialproduction and function.
His 'five points for a new architecture': the pilotis, roof terraces, free plan,
continuous window strips and free facade composition were to be the essential
elements of the new aesthetic.
Le Corbusier's works have become monuments of modern architecture with
their general independence of terrain as well as a rich variety of interior and
exterior spaces achieved by means of 'double-height rooms, gallery floors, bridges
and ramps with views into the interior as well as 'framed' views looking out, all
expressions of a genuine luxury in architecture.
Le Corbusier's long period as a leading figure in modern architecture — for
nearly half a century — was unique among architects of his time and is, finally, a
reflection of his capacity to endow architecture with an expression which evokes
the spirit of his epoch. In this sense he was at once the 'terrible simplificateur' in
the tradition of the rationalist enlightenment and a creator of forms which will
endure well beyond his time.
Among his works are Villa Savoye, Poissy (1929—1931); Pavilion Su-isse,
Cite Universitaire, Paris (1930-2); The Clarte apartment house in Geneva (19301932); Unite d'Habitation, Marseilles (1947-1952); the urban planning schemes for
large North African and South American cities, (the 1930s); the Pilgrimage church
of Notre Dame-du-Haut at Rou-champ (1950—1954); the Carpenter Center for the
Visual Arts at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1961—1964); the
66
plan of the city of Chandigarh, India (1950—1951), and others.
Vocabulary
oft-misunderstood — часто понимаемый неправильно
capacity — способность
continuous — сплошной
terrain — местность
ramp — скат, уклон, наклонная плоскость
luxury — роскошь
to endow — наделять, одарять
to evoke — вызывать (восхищение)
enlightenment — просвещение
to endure — выдерживать испытание временем; длиться, продолжаться
I. Choose the appropriate adjective.
1. Le Corbusier was the ... figure internationally in modern architecture from
1920 to 1960.
a) dominant
b) foreign
c) possible
2. According to Le Corbusier architecture is "the masterly correct and ... play of
masses brought together in light ".
a) bright
b) wooden
c) magnificent
3. Free facade composition is one of his "five points for a ... architecture".
a) new
b) great
c) modern
4. Le Corbusier's long period as a ... figure in modern architecture was unique
among architects of his time.
A
) continuous
b) leading
c) wise
5. Le Corbusier's works have become monuments of ...architecture,
a) modern
b) medieval
c) native
II. Complete the following sentences.
1. According to Le Corbusier, "the house should be as practically constructed as
...".
a) a TV-set
b) a type-writer c) a refrigerator
2. He advanced the "Modulor" in order to determine the proportions of...
a) machines
b) terrain
c) building units
3. His formulas of architectural typology are: the pilotis, roof terraces, free plan,
continuous window strips and ...
a) free facade composition
b) conspicuous use of decoration
c) complexity of forms
4. Le Corbusier worked out the urban planning schemes for Paris and for several
large North African and ... cities.
a) South African
b) North American
67
c) South American
BRITISH ARCHITECTURE
Buildings: first impressions
What makes the look of British towns and cities distinctive? The most
striking feature is the lack of blocks of flats. People prefer to live in individual
houses — units with their own front doors and sometimes gardens. Perhaps this
says something about the national character; a love of privacy and a lack of interest
in the wider community. There is a proverb: "An Englishman's home is his castle."
Whatever the deeper reasons for it, the result is that British towns and cities
are full of two or three-storey houses. Only in the 1950s and 60s did councils start
building tall blocks of flats in the American style; but these have been very
unpopular, and the cheaper ones are now being demolished.
Another distinctive feature of British buildings is the use of brick. Some of
the oldest monuments, like Hampton Court Palace or Queens' College, Cambridge,
are made of brick. It remains the favourite material for new houses today. While
the rest of the world prefers concrete, for some reason the British taste is for brick,
at least in smaller buildings.
British architecture
Apart from some ancient churches, the oldest buildings you will see in
Britain are castles. They are dotted all over the country, with many beautiful
examples in Scotland and Wales. They were first built by the Normans after their
invasion of England in 1066. The Tower of London dates from about 1078.
Because of the Normans' desire to control the population, they started to build
castles everywhere, but especially in the more restless regions. For example, King
Edward I built a series of massive castles in Wales at the end of the 13th century;
his aim was to keep the lawless Welsh under English rule.
As the dominance of the English crown was established, the need for castles
diminished. Then the use of gunpowder meant that they could no longer resist
attack. So by the 15th century the castle-building age was over. Many Scottish
castles are from a later period, but these are not military buildings; they are
aristocratic family houses that imitated older styles.
Since the Middle Ages, architecture in Britain (as in most of Europe) has
been based on three major styles: Gothic, classical, and modern. The great early
cathedrals and churches are in Gothic style - tall, with pointed arches and highly
decorated; they are covered in sculptures of people, animals and plants. The
buildings are fantastic engineering achievements., constructed with very little
machinery and designed by architects whose names have been forgotten. The
tallest spire in Britain, at Salisbury Cathedral, is 123 metres high and was built in
the 1330s. It is incredible that such size and perfection were achieved without a
single crane or computer!
After the Gothic period, architectural fashion looked back to the classical
68
age of Greece and Rome for its inspiration. So we see columns and triangular
pediments as on Greek temples; round arches, domes and perfect Latin lettering as
on Roman public buildings. Many of the finest London churches are in this style;
St Paul's Cathedral (built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1710) is the
biggest and most celebrated, but there are many more all over the city.
Not only churches were in the classical style. Rich aristocrats built huge and
impressive houses surrounded by parkland; they are on such a grand scale that it is
difficult to imagine that they were once private homes, but of course they had
dozens and sometimes hundreds of servants.
Many of the most beautiful parts of British cities consist of houses in this
style. The period of kings George I to George IV is known as the Georgian period,
and cities such as London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath still today have large
numbers of elegant Georgian houses, which give the streets a striking sense of
unity and design.
In the 19th century, during the Victorian age (taking its name from Queen
Victoria), architects went back to medieval Gothic ideas for their inspiration. At
first sight it is sometimes difficult to tell whether a Victorian church is 100 or 500
years old! At the same time, classical styles did not disappear
altogether. In fact, there was a "Battle of the Styles" between classical and
Gothic. The British Museum (1823) was a victory for the classical, and the Houses
of Parliament (1836) for the Gothic. There was also debate about the use of iron
and steel: should these new materials be visible, as in the new bridges and railway
stations, or hidden, as in the Natural History Museum, London, where the metal
frame is covered by coloured brick and stonework?
From the 1920s on, new ideas were transforming art and music, and
architecture, too, was caught up in the modernising culture. People wanted
buildings which were not just copies of the past. Having abandoned both classical
and Gothic styles, the challenge was to create - to invent -something really new.
Luckily, this change in attitude came at the same time as exciting new engineering
materials were becoming available.
With concrete and steel together, and new types of glass, it was possible to
escape from the traditional forms. For the first time in history, architects were free
to make almost any shapes they liked.
Richard Rogers
British architecture is going through a dynamic period, with several big
international names such as James Stirling and Norman Foster. Perhaps the
architect best known in Britain is the designer of the Millennium Dome, Richard
Rogers. He too, has carried out many major projects abroad. He was responsible
for the airport in Marseille, numerous office complexes in Japan and the USA, and
(with an Italian, Renzo Piano) for the great Centre Pompidou in Paris. In his own
country he has worked on many smaller projects, such as the flats shown in the
photograph on the right. But he is best known for the most spectacular modern
building in the financial centre of London - the Lloyd's Building. Although it
contains a very conservative insurance business, and is in the oldest part of
69
London, it is an extraordinary and daring piece of modern architecture - all steel
and glass, with pipes and lifts on the outside.
Richard Rogers is also modern in his philosophy. He is extremely concerned
about the environmental aspects of design: can a building use solar power, can it
make the most of natural light, and can it function without wasteful air
conditioning? He is keen to make London a better place to live in, with less traffic
and more spaces in which people can enjoy city life. Talking about famous parts of
the city like Oxford Circus, Parliament Square and Marble Arch, he says: "They
are dangerous, degrading, inhuman and unnecessary spaces where vehicles have
replaced people, and the servant has become the master. ... clean, live-work cities
based upon the bicycle and upon walking, are absolutely possible." Happily, the
government is beginning to follow Rogers' advice and the future of London is
looking brighter; there are, for example, plans for a car-free Trafalgar Square.
Topics for discussion.
 Which are more common in your area – houses or flats? Which do you
prefer?
 Do you enjoy walking round old buildings such as castles? If so, why?
 Is the architecture in your country very different from that in Britain?
 Why do you think architectural styles change from time to time?
 Do you take notice of new buildings around you? Which ones do you
admire?
 What should be the priorities of architects today – beauty, environmental
factors or what?
70
PART III
Amsterdam
The city of Amsterdam (formerly Amsterdam) lies at latitude 52°22'30" north
and longitude 4°53'48" east, in the Dutch province of North Holland. The centre of
the old town, Dam Square, lies 2.20 meters above sea level on flat peat land at the
dammed mouth of the River Amstel south of the IJ, an extended bay of the former
Zuiderzee. The city covers an area of 20,743 ha, of which 4,184 ha are water. The
population of Amsterdam in 2003 was 719,500 - 5.24% of the Netherlands' 13.8m
inhabitants.
Amsterdam was the most important trading city of the Republic of the Seven
United Provinces (1588-1795). Only in 1813 did Amsterdam become the capital of
the Netherlands, when after the French occupation (1795-1813) the Kingdom of
the Netherlands was founded. The title of capital is only a symbolic one, since the
seat of the government, the ministries and the Parliament remain in the Hague, the
old residence of the Counts of Holland, which had also since the end of the 16th
century been the seat of central institutions of the Republic, the Prince of Orange,
the Stadtholder, and the government of the province of Holland. The kings of the
House of Orange, however, are inaugurated in Amsterdam's New Church on Dam
Square.
The oldest document mentioning Amsterdam is a toll privilege granted by Count
Floris V of Holland in 1275 to the homines manentes apud Amestelledamme, the
people living near the Amstel Dam. The inhabitants were exempted from paying
toll-dues to the Count in the interests of their trade. The dam across the River
Amstel was not much older than the town itself, dating back to about 1270. Thanks
to the privilege granted in 1275, Amsterdam was able to establish itself as a trading
town, and development began quickly. Amsterdam received civic rights under a
charter from Guy of Hainault, Lord of Amstel; these rights were confirmed in 1342
by William IV of Hainault, Count of Holland.
About 1300 the city government consisted of schout en schepenen (sheriff and
aldermen) who exercised jurisdiction, enacted keuren (regulations), managed the
city's affairs with specialized assistance from four raden or burgemeesters
(councillors or burgomasters). During the 14th century the burgomasters became
the actual governors of the city, with particular charge of municipal finances and
public works such as care of the town ramparts, walls, dykes and canals, and the
Town Hall and other municipal buildings, while the power of the burgomasters
grew, the duties of the sheriff and aldermen were gradually confined to
jurisdiction. In the first half of the 15th century the care of the municipal finances
and the execution of public works were delegated to a board of four thesaurieren
71
(treasurers) under the supervision of the burgomasters, who also supervised in the
second half of the 15th century the board of fabriekmeesters or timmermeesters
(masters of the works or master carpenters), which was charged with executing
public works and ensuring the observance of building regulations.
The medieval town centre near St Olof's Gate was surrounded by a wall from
1380. A new fortress was built in 1481. The oldest monuments are the ecclesiastic
institutions of the various religions. The originally cruciform Oude Kerk (Old
Church) dates from the 13th century. The Beguine Dutch lay order was existing in
1346. Their buildings became known as the Begijnhof (Beguinage). The oldest, the
Wooden House (No. 34), dates from the second half of the 15th century; No. 6 still
possesses a wooden frame behind its stone facade. The Oudezijds or St Olof's
Chapel (Oudersplein 13), in origin a 15th century chapel, had been adjoined to the
St Olof's Gate demolished in the 17th c. The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) on Dam
Square is a three-aisled, in part five-aisled basilica built originally in the 15th
century but several times destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The Oude Walenkerk (Old
Walloon Church) was also begun in the 15th century; since 1578 it has served a
congregation of French-speaking Calvinists.
The oldest type of house in Amsterdam was made of wood, but it gradually gave
way to stone housing because of the fire risk. The only wooden houses still in
existence are in the Begijnhof and in the Zeedijk. Amsterdam's most typical houses
are narrow and deep and with one or two floors built on a voorhuis (hall) with in
insteek, a room forming a kind of gallery to the hall. There was sometimes an
independent achterhuis behind. Until 1650 most houses were built with stepped
gables, from which more elaborate versions such as the Vredeman de Vries and the
Hendrick de Keyser types developed. The stepped gable was superseded by the
'neck' facade, sometimes divided by pilasters, the most beautiful examples of
which were designed by Philips Vingboons.
The 16th century was a period of unrest, in which the Reformation coincided
with mounting opposition to absolutism. The enmities were deepened as the
County of Holland, just like the other Dutch provinces, was in personal union with
the House of Habsburg. During the reign of Philip II (1555-1581), King of Spain, a
growing resistance to the activities of the Inquisition and other measures that
conflicted with Dutch interests led to the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648).
Amsterdam joined the side of the revolt only in 1578, but played an important role
in the independent republic that was formed on the basis of the Union of Utrecht in
1579.
In spite of its rather unfavourable position on the Zuiderzee, Amsterdam in the
15th and particularly the 16th century developed into the foremost trading city of
Holland, with its activities centring on the Baltic trade. The oldest parts of the town
are bounded by the Burg-wallen (city canals), within which the shipping business
was originally confined. Later, room for shipping activities was found at the Oude
Waal and Kromme Waal outside the fortifications in the area known as the
Lastage.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Amsterdam became the centre for trade
with the East Indies and a world port and staple city for colonial goods. The East
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and West Indian Companies built warehouses, offices, shipyards and maintenance
yards.
From 1613 onwards the old medieval centre was enlarged with the famous ring
of canals, which was enclosed by the fortified Singelgracht. Windmills were built
on the ramparts of this canal, and a wooden palisade, closed at night, was built
around the IJ harbour. Five gates opening onto the roads to Weesp, Muiden,
Utrecht, Leiden and Haarlem were built in the walls.
Regulations prescribed what sort of factories could be allowed within the walls.
Outside there was a strange medley of little workshops, poor housing and taverns,
especially along the Amstel, Boerenwetering and Over-toom. The town expansion
plan of 1613 (which was more or less implemented by 1662) was so lavish that
there was room inside the city walls for recreation areas like the Plantage, a
popular space for taverns and summer cottages.
Zuiderkerk (South Church), the first Protestant church of Amsterdam, was built
between 1603 and 1611 by the architect Hendrick de Keyser. It is a fine example
of Dutch Renaissance with sandstone columns and richly ornamented facades, now
restored and used as a social . and cultural centre for the neighbourhood. The
various denominations all built important churches: the Roman Catholic hiding
church Ons' Lieve Heer op Zolder (Our Dear Lord on the Loft, 1662-3), the
Mennonite hiding church Het Lam (The Lamb, 1607) and the Oude Lutherse Kerk
(Old Lutheran Church, 1633). The Portuguese Synagogue, built in 1671-1675 and
designed by Elias Bouman, stands in a courtyard. Stalpaert's I7th century Grote
Sjoel (Great Synagogue) and Maybaum's 18th century Meije Sjoel (New
Synagogue) form a single building.
The city's visual character stems from its administrative and commercial
buildings, from which an idea of the city's commercial and industrial activities can
be had. The Royal Palace on Dam Square was originally built as a town hall (164862). The former St Anthony's Gate (1488) was converted into the Waag
(Weighbridge House, 1617-18), where a number of gilds had rooms on the upper
storey. The characteristic De Geyer (Corn Mill) dates from the same period, and so
does the Munttoren (Mint Tower). The Harbour Office used to be the
Schreierstoren, a rampart tower from the later Middle Ages. The Trip family's
Trippenhuis is a characteristic building with chimneys in the form of barrels, to
recall the guns manufactured in the Trip foundries.
Houses along the canals in the 18th century were mostly built in the Louis XIV,
XV and XVI styles. All the bridges were built in the lyth and 18th centuries, either
with stone arches or simply on wooden piles. Where it became necessary
drawbridges were also built of which the Magere Bridge crossing the Amstel and
Sloterdijk bridge on Prinsen Island are the most beautiful. In the igth century
numerous arched bridges were lowered and transformed into girder bridges. (Later,
with the exception of two, the igth c. bridges were removed.)
The 17th century was a flourishing period in the architecture of Amsterdam. It
was then that the foundation stone of the New Town Hall and of the Bourse were
laid, and churches, towers and numerous welfare institutions were built. The
architect Hendrick de Keyser designed the Westerkerk, the Zuiderkerk, and
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perhaps the Noorderkerk too. He also designed the_Bourse, the Munttoren, the
Montelbaanstoren and the Haring-pakkerstoren. The architect of the New Town
Hall was Jacob van Campen, assisted by Daniel Stalpaert.
In the mid-17th century the Palladian style appeared, the most mature examples
of which are the plain sandstone facades, ornamented by Dutch Renaissance
pilasters, of Philips Vingsboons. Later numerous Neo-classical buildings such as
the City Hall were built in this style. But the roads serving these new large edifices
remained uncompleted as the development of Amsterdam slowed down in the 18th
century and were only finished in the mid-19th century.
Administrative changes followed the periods of economic activity. In the 16th
century, a single fabriekmeester was in charge of the execution of public works
with timmermeester and stadsmetselaar (town bricklayer) as his subordinates.
After 1501 building inspection was passed to the rooimeesters (surveyors). The
fabriekmeester had to account for his expenses to the treasurers. After the end of
the 16th century, a clear distinction was made between the administrative duties of
the fabriekmeester and the technical duties of the stadsmeester-timmerman (master
architect),
stadsmeestermetselaar
(master
bricklayer),
and
stadsmeestersteenhouwer (master stone mason). From 1633 the treasurers directly
supervised public works, and thus the town masters, whose number was increased
again (geometer, superintendent of digging and earthworks, water, locks, and so
on). In 1746 all the above-mentioned officials were subordinated to one DirecteurGeneraal van Stadswerken en Gebouwen (Director-General of City Works and
Buildings). From 1777 three directors were appointed, each with his own
department, including one for archi-tectura civilis, the city's buildings. In 1809, a
Commissaris over de Publieke Werken (Commissioner of Public Works) was
appointed. The number of the departments and directors changed several times.
From 1820 to 1850 two departments existed: the director of the Stads-fabriekambt
(City Building Office) and the director of the City Water Works. After several
reorganizations, the activities of the stadsarchitect, the stadsingenieur and the
Commissioner of the Public Works were merged into the Dienst der Publieke
Werken (Public Works Service), under the control of the Alderman for Public
Works. As parts of this Service grew the Architect's Office and the Engineer's
Office.
The Batavian Revolution brought a change in the political structure of the state.
After the entry of the French army, the pro-Orange government resigned. In 1813
the Kingdom of the Netherlands was established after the flight of the French. In
the mid-19th century Amsterdam went through a crisis due to a recession that
affected the port, trade and industry. The problems of urbanization were also
multiplying. Growing immigration from the country to the city caused a lack of
housing, and people sometimes even lived in cellars. The silting up of the
Zuiderzee caused pollution of the canals.
The city corporation was unable to develop a plan to compare with the 17th
century city. Slowly the city even began to sell the land that it did possess. The
1866 design of the city engineer Van Niftrik for a new girdle of residential and
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industrial districts around the 17th century city, with many parks and wide streets,
was rejected.
Extension and enlargement of the city fell into the hands of private individuals,
who sought the cheaper solution of following existing patterns and adding one
street after another. That was the way in which igth century districts like De Pijp in
the south, Dapperbuurt in the east, and Staatsliedenbuurt and Kinkerbuurt in the
west were developed. Although the streets were laid out according to plans
provided by the city, the authorities were unable to ensure housing standards, and
maintenance of the new buildings was neglected for lack of money. Under the
pretext of modernization numerous 17th century monuments, gates and towers
were demolished. In the 20th century rehabilitation of these 19th century districts
became an urgent task.
Gradually the city authorities became better able to improve conditions for
economic development and allow standards of public hygiene to improve.
First the harbour was provided with a better entrance when the Groot
Noordhollands Kanaal (Great North Holland Canal, 1819-24) was dug from Den
Helder to Amsterdam, and two new harbours, Oosterdok (1832) and Westerdok
(1834), were built. However, the length of the Groot Noordhollands Canal
prevented it from being a success, and only when the Noordzeekanal (North Sea
Canal) from IJmuiden to Amsterdam opened in 1876 was the desired result fully
achieved. In 1871 plans were put forward for ensuring the circulation of the water
hi the city's canals. The most important step towards higher standards of hygiene
was the opening in 1851 of the central waterworks. The gas, electricity and
transport networks were developed. Each had originally been in private hands, but
later the city authorities took them over, leading to the foundation of the Gas en
Elec-triciteitsbedrijf (Gas and Electricity Service), Gemeente-waterleidingen (City
Waterworks), and Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf (City Transport Service).
From 1874 the City Council gave financial support to housing construction. The
Housing Act of 1901 helped improve housing conditions by giving local
authorities greater powers to regulate house-building and also to build cheaper
housing themselves. The Act also gave local authorities the power to declare
housing unfit for habitation and required the authorities in all towns with more than
10,000 inhabitants to prepare ten-year development plans. An indirect result of the
Housing Act was H. P. Berlage's plans for the enlargement of South Amsterdam
(1917). In 1915 the City Council elaborated its own housing construction plan.
The city raised buildings of central importance: the Central Station (P. J. H.
Cuypers and A. L. van Gendt, 1879-89); the Rijksmuseum (P. J. H. Cuypers,
1885); the Stedelijk Museum (A. W. Weissman, 1892-5) inspired by the Dutch and
French Renaissance architecture of the 17th century. The Concertgebouw (A. L.
van Gendt, 1883-6) was reminiscent of contemporary Viennese architecture.
As in the other European countries in the 19th century, the Neoclassical,
Neogothic, and later Jugendstil (art nouveau) became dominant in Amsterdam. The
squares and parks of Amsterdam were mainly laid out in the igth century. Dam
Square is the oldest and best-known square in Amsterdam, near the dam across the
River Amstel. At the beginning of the 20th century it was decided to give the
75
square a more grandiose air; several older buildings were demolished and office
buildings and department stores put up in their stead. The square gained a more
monumental air but also emptied, since many pubs and small shops disappeared.
Of the other squares, the Leidseplein, Wecsperplcin and Haar-lemmerpleinwere
old stage-coach stations, the Rembrandt plein was originally the buttermarket. The
first gradually developed into an amusement centre. The Waterlooplein came into
being in 1882 when the Leprozengracht and Houtgracht were filled in. Till 1977 a
famous flea market was held there until it had to make way for the future building
of the city hall, to the designs of the Viennese architect Holzbauer.
The Museumplein, originally a vacant area between the Rijksmuseum and the
Concertgebouw, was created in the 19th century and received its present form in
1952.
In the first half of the 19th century, the stadsrooimces-ters were in charge of
inspecting building and demolition work by private builders. In 1858 the
bouwopzichters (building superintendents) took their place. In 1901 a special City
Building and Housing Inspectorate was set up. The Inspectorate, until 1915, also
supervised the housing associations, the oldest of which dated from 1852.
To prepare extension plans for the city, the public works department set up a
city development department in 1928 with the task of designing new extensions of
the city. Basis for Amsterdam's expansion was provided by the Algemeen
Uitbreidingsplan (General Extension Plan) of 1934.
In the 20th century the old centre ha changed both in outward appearance and
function. Living and working, which existed side by side in the 17th, 18th and 19th
centuries, have become separated by increasing distances. The residential houses
along the canals were transformed into offices, while the population living in the
narrow streets between the canals and in the older residential areas like the Jewish
Quarter and the East and West Islands decreased. In 1928 a Voorlopige
Monumentlijst (Register of Monuments) was introduced and symbolized a
different, more positive appraisal of the old city. But it was only a schedule owners were under no obligation to apply for planning permission from the city
before pulling a historic monument or building down. The situation changed only
after the bombing of Rotterdam in 1940. Thereafter scheduled historic monuments
and buildings, and even their entire environment, enjoyed state protection. Some
parts of Amsterdam were scheduled as Beschermd Stadsgezicht (Protected City
Area). Seven thousand dwelling houses and 200 public buildings were scheduled
in the Monumentenlijst van Amsterdam (List of Amsterdam Monuments), to which
have now been added the most important buildings of the I9th and 20th centuries.
Since 1953 the independent City Bureau Monumen-tenzorg (Office of
Monument Protection) has been in operation, with its own budget for restoration
work. A third of Amsterdam's monuments have been restored. In 1969 Parliament
passed a Monuments Act. Nevertheless, between 1945 and 1970, the pattern of
some streets in the eastern part of the city, like Weesperstraat and Jodenbreestraat,
were altered to improve traffic flow. The preparations for the building of the new
City Hall at Waterlooplein and the construction of the first underground railway
led to many streets being pulled down. Several hundred houses were demolished to
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make way for a new cross-town highway, the Haarlemmer Houttuinen, but it was
decided to modify the project after the climate of public opinion changed. The loss
of so many buildings in the old quarters since 1970 has brought a greater emphasis
on the protection of architectural monuments; it has been decided to build narrower
streets and to restore many houses. It has also been decided to abandon plans for a
complete underground railway system, since it would have involved too much
demolition.
The small scale of the inner city cannot handle large volumes of traffic, which
has led some industrial and commercial concerns to move to the new southern and
western parts of the city, nearer to the highway that encircles the city. A number of
separated traffic-free tram-lanes have been made in the city.
Several associations have been founded for the preservation of monuments, and
the restoration of old housing has gathered momentum since 1950.
77
Athens
Athens, the capital of Greece, lies at latitude 37058/ north and longitude 23043/
east, across a plain starting about 6 km. from the sea, at a height of 100 m. above
sea level.
The city is surrounded on three sides by mountains and opens towards the sea
only on the western side. The surrounding mountains are Parnes( 1,440 m.),
Pentelicon (1,108 m.), Hymettos (1,026 m.) and Aigaleos (476 m.), with four
passes giving access to the rest of Greece.
The present area of Greater Athens is 433 sq.km. with a population of about
2,540,000, which is about 38% of the population of Greece. Greater Athens
belongs to the Nomos of Attica and consists of 99 demes (municipalities) and
communities.
The green belts of Greater Athens now cover only 1.8% of the total area. Most
of the mountains are barren rock with no vegetation. The water output of the small
rivers known since ancient times (the Kephissos and the Ilissos) is today
insignificant; water supplies come primarily from the reservoire created by the
Marathon Dam and from Lake Hyliki and, in the near future, will also be supplied
from the Mornos River.
The earliest signs of human habitation on the site of the present city date back to
around 4000 BC, the late Neolithic Age.
The ancient nucleus of the city, the fortified dtadel on the Acropolis, later
known as the Upper Town, is still the symbol of Athens. Little is known about the
extent and layout of the settlements developed around it in the Neolithic Age.
Apparently the inhabitants engaged in agriculture, cattle-breeding, manufacture of
pottery and trade. Traces of Neolithic settlements have also been found in the area
which later became the site of Plato's Academy, on Strephi Hill and in the
Olympieion region. There are also traces of 30 Neolithic settlements all around
Attica (Nea Makri, Palaia Kokkinia and others).
In the Early Bronze Age (also known as the Early Helladic period, 2600-2000
BC) the population of Athens increased steadily and there is evidence of strong
influence from the Cyclades.
In the Middle Bronze Age (the Middle Helladic period, 2000-1600 BC) the area
of the city grew continuously. Traces of dwellings have been found on and around
the Acropolis, on the hill of the Areopagus, and at the sites later occupied by the
Ancient Agora, the Kerameikos and the Olympieion area.
Several important routes developed in Athens itself. One of them led from the
area of the Agora, the later civic center, to the site which later became Plato's
Academy. A second route, the ancestor of the later Panathenaic Way, connected
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the southern part of the later Agora with the approach to the Acropolis, while
another road branched off towards the south slope of the Acropolis. Other roads
along hilltops and river valleys were destined to link Athens with the surrounding
settlements of Attica. Since the roads followed the contours of the terrain, they
remained essentially unchanged during the centuries.
Athens' importance grew in the Late Bronze Age (Late Helladic or Mycenaean
Age, around 1600-1100 BC). The Mycenaean fortification wall on the Acropolis,
4-6 m. wide, the remarkable Mycenaean Spring Stairway in the Acropolis' North
Slope and a second outer fortification wall protecting the western approach to the
Acropolis were built between 1240 and 1200 BC. The fortification walls together
and separately were called the Pelargikon. In the i3th century BC Athens was
surely the centre of a Mycenaean-type kingdom. Judging by the tholos tombs
excavated at Thorikos, Spata,
Marathon and Achamai, it may be assumed that the territory of Atdca comprised
several kingdoms. In the Mycenaean period the royal palace of Athens and houses
were built on the Acropolis.
The area occupied by Athens expanded during the last phase of the Mycenaean
period. Settlement continued on the site of the Olympieion and new residential
districts developed to the south, at the end of present-day Dimitrakopoulou St. The
unification of Attica into a single homogeneous state was ascribed to Theseus in
the mythical tradition. This probably happened at the end of the 8th century BC.
Even so, it is thought that in the 13th century BC the inhabited area (the Acropolis
and surroundings) already amounted to about 90,000 square metres. At this time
there were about seventy settlements throughout Attica. In all probability, the
endeavours to centralize had led to wars and Athenian myths preserve numerous
instances of conflicts. However, the Athenians attributed the unification of the
scattered settlements to their favourite hero, Theseus, and celebrated the event with
the Synoikia festival and the Panathenaic festival. According to legend, Athene or
Kranaa or Kekropia, the later city of Athens, was the most important of the twelve
small Attic states. The town was named Athinai (Athens) in the plural after the
merger of the different kingdoms. Today the city still goes by the ancient name.
During the Mycenaean period the burial ground of the inhabitants of the
Acropolis was on the north-eastern dope of the hill named Areopagus. Material
excavated from the rich chamber tombs is exhibited in the Agora Museum. There
were other burial grounds at the northern foot of Philopappos Hill, south of the
Acropolis and along still surviving roads leading to the sea.
The most important remains of the Mycenaean period are on the Acropolis. The
huge dimensions of the fortifications made them appear impregnable and the
ancient Athenians later considered them to be the work of the superhuman
Cyclops. Only small sections of the Cyclopean wall so much respected by the
inhabitants of the city are extant, the most spectacular being east of the temple of
Nike, from the south wing of the Propylaea to the Acropolis wall built in classical
times.
After Theseus had united the city, the Acropolis became known as the polls, the
Greek equivalent of the word city, while another Greek word: asty, was used to
79
denote the Agora and other parts of the lower town.
At the very end of the Mycenaean period (the turn of the 12th-11th centuries
BC), a large burial ground developed in the Eridanos river valley in north-west
Athens in what is now the Kerameikos Excavations. The Sub-Mycenaean,
Protogeometric and Geometric finds from graves excavated here represent the
most important sources for the history of the city between the end of the Bronze
Age and the archaic period (around 1100-700 BC). Attica was spared the
devastations of the socalled Doric migration. The population of the city increased
rapidly and the unification of the Attic settlements under the leadership of Athens
at the end of the 8th century BC greatly contributed towards this development.
As an institution, the kingdom showed a marked decline. The king was divested
of most of his powers which were transferred to nine regents (archons). The
Acropolis lost its significance as a royal seat. The main organ of the aristocratic
government was the Areios Pagos, a council of nobles composed of archons who
had served their terms of office. The Council of the Areopagus met on the barren
rocks of Ares' Hill, beside the Acropolis.
During the 11th-8th centuries BC the foundations were laid for prosperous
growth and Athens flourished economically, politically and artistically. Athenian
cultural supremacy in Greece is exemplified by its superb Proto-Geometric and
Geometric pottery.
Excavations at the Kerameikos, at the ancient Agora and in other parts of Attica
have yielded rich harvests of Protogeometric and Geometric artifacts, almost
without exception found in graves. Consequently, the methods and rites of burial at
that time are much better known to us than, for example, architecture and sanctuaries and daily life.
During the 8th century BC a temple to the goddess Athena Polias was built on
the Acropolis. Two stone bases for wooden columns, still visible inside the foundations of the Old Temple of Athena, belonged to the 8th century temple. The
territory south of the Acropolis as far as the Olympieion was the nucleus of
contemporary Athens. The building materials used had a very short life. Metals
were scarcely available, save for iron, which was used primarily for weapons.
During this period Athens became the religious and administrative centre of
Attica.
Comparatively little information is available on the settlement pattern in Athens
during the Geometric period. It may be assumed that the administrative centre was
north of the Acropolis at the Agora of Theseus. Though the palace still stood - we
have no information about its destruction - the Acropolis was gradually becoming
a religious rather than a secular centre. Historical sources point to the Olympieion
area as another religious centre. The remains of a Late Geometric building (Sacred
House) with a highly intricate ground-plan were found in the Academy area. An
oval enclosure which dates from the 9th century BC was found on the north slope
of the Areopagus. We know from written sources that in the 8th century BC highranking families moved from the country into the city, choosing the sorroundings
of Pnyx Hill and nearby Melite as a place to live, thereby beginning the
development of a residential area in the city.
80
During this period the city's water supply sdll came from springs on the slopes
of the Acropolis or from wells. The discovery near Syntagma Square of a rock-cut
aqueduct and a well point to the square having been an open-air sanctuary of some
kind. Later the Lyceum and the Garden of Theophrastos may have occupied the
site. The Dissos and Eridanos rivers also supplied water.
More detail is known about the Athenian constitution and political history from
the beginning of the yth century BC. The first list giving the names of the annually
elected archons dates from 682 BC.
The nine archons were the basileus (matters of religion), the polemarch (military
leader), the eponymos (after whom the year was named) and six thesmothetai
(legislators). The Areopagus (Council of Nobles) was primarily a law court but
they also supervised the archons' exercise of executive power and monitored the
application of the laws.
The development of Athens as a commercial and industrial force during the yth
century BC brought with it political conflicts and the old social system was thrown
out of balance. The artisans and peasantry attempted to secure political rights from
the nobles, who had earlier taken over the royal powers and divided the hereditary
offices amongst themselves. The situation was worsened by a severe plague.
A nobleman called Kylon tried to take advantage of this popular dissatisfaction.
With his adherents he occupied the Acropolis in 636 BC but failed to gain
sufficient support from the people to succeed in a coup d'etat. However, the class
struggle continued. One basic popular demand was for codification of the law, and
this was done by Dracon in 624 BC on the commission of the nobles. However, the
severity of the Draconian Code left everyone still unsatisfied. In 594 BC Sokm was
elected archon and given special powers to amend the form of government. A
major grievance had been that a creditor might sell his debtor into slavery if he
defaulted. Solon's first measure was to cancel all debts where this had been made
and to forbid enslavement for debt. He promulgated a new constitution which
consolidated the newly arisen class system called the Timocracy, based upon
property distinctions and income. There were four classes: the
Pentakosiomedimnoi (those with an income equivalent to 500 medimnoi of grain),
the Hippeis (knights with an income of 300 medimnoi), the Zeugitai (yeomen,
owners of a pair of oxen) and the Thetes. He limited the Council of the Areopagus
to judicial matters and instituted a Council of Four Hundred (Boule) to take over
its deliberative functions and ensure continuity of government. However, election
to archonship was still restricted to the highest class - the Pentakosiomedimnoi although an archon no longer needed to be of noble birth. Solon gave teeth to the
Assembly (ekklesia) which became the supreme controller of public affairs and to
which the Thetes were also admitted. To ensure impartial administration of justice,
tribunals (heliaia) were set up with 5,000 full and 1,000 supplementary members.
The Thetes were also admitted to these, while junior public office could be held by
the Zeugitai. The Thetes were exempted from taxes and public works were
financed entirely from levies on the richest two classes.
Solon's epoch saw the first attempt at systematic town-planning in the area
north-west of the Acropolis.. The main square was transferred to the north of the
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Areopagus and the outlines of the Solonian Agora began to take shape. The oldest
Council House (Bouleuterion) was built in Solon's time.
Several private houses were pulled down in the area allocated for the Agora and
burials were forbidden there.
During the early decades of the 6th century, after the implementation of Solon's
reforms, three political groups developed in Athens: the old landowners of the
plains (pediakoi); the coastal inhabitants (paralioi) including the merchants and
mariners; and the inhabitants of the surrounding hills (diakrioi), the poor people of
the Attic mountains, mostly wood-cutters, charcoal burners and cattle-breeders.
The latter group was headed by Peisistratos, who in 561 BC seized the Acropolis
and established autocratic rule (tyrannis) over Athens. He made it his concern to
remedy the wrongs of the poor; he had roads built to provide easy access to the
administrative centre of the city and granted credits to the farmers. He also
introduced income tax, set pu mobile courts to administer justice in the villages,
gave active support to trade and the crafts, and promoted the development of
shipping, so that Athens turned into a major economic and cultural centre during
his time.
Under Peisistratos the Athenians had their first coins minted when the
Corinthian monetary system was founded in 575 BC.
It is believed that a shrine to Athena Nike was built just outside the Acropolis
gates in 566 BC. Between 560-550 BC a large Doric temple dedicated to Athena
was built on the Acropolis, perhaps on the site later occupied by the Parthenon. At
around 566 BC the Greater Panathenaia, celebrated every four years, became the
main festival of Athens for a thousand years.
A building resembling a house, erected in the south-west corner of the Agora
near the Council House in the mid-6th century BC, on the site later used for the
Tholos, may have been the residence of Peisistratos himself- The temple of Apollo
Patroos on the west side of the Agora was also built around the middle of the 6th
century BC. Another important building was the office of the basileus. the archon
whose task was to direct the state religious ceremonies and preside over certain
trials. The Stoa Basileios, erected at the end of the archaic period, was also the
office where the ancient laws of Athens were preserved and where the Nine
Archons took the oath to observe them. The sons of Peisistratos began the building
of a huge temple to Olympian Zeus which was not completed until the 2nd century
AD. The Old Temple of Athena was built on the Acropolis, south of the
Erechtheion, between 525 and 520 BC. Only the foundations are still in place but
enough of the architecture and sculpture has been found to permit an accurate
reconstruction.
Around 520 BC the South-east Fountain House in the Agora and the Altar of
The Twelve Gods were completed.
At this time Athens had three gymnasia: the gymnasium at the Academy; the
Lykeion (Lyceum) named after Apollo Lykios; the Kynosarges gymnasium with a
sanctuary of Herakles near the present-day church of St Panteleimon.
We know little about how Athens was laid out as a city at that time. Traces of
private houses have been found south-west of the Agora by the modern road
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Leophoros Apostolou Pavlou. These finds clearly show that the streets were
irregular and unauthorized building often took place as the strict building
regulations issued later by Hippias confirm. The Peisistratid aqueduct served the
Athenians for several hundred years. The residential area soon spread beyond the
city walls, where the richer. citizens built their homes.
The tyranny took a turn for the worse under the sons of Peisistratos. One of
them, Hipparchos, was murdered at the Panathenaic festival of 514 BC, which
spurred the other son, Hippias, to still greater despotism. The fight for power ended
with victory for the people of Athens who in 510 BC drove Hippias into exile; he
went to the court of the king of Persia.
With Kleisthenes' rise to power in 508 BC Athens entered upon a period of
democracy: his constitution put an end to the rule of the aristocracy. Most of the
civic buildings needed for the legislative and administrative functions of the
democracy were put up in the Agora. The Assembly met on nearby Pnyx Hill.
The city flourished, trade and the crafts developed and there were plenty of
opportunities open both to Athenians and immigrants. However, the new
democracy soon had to fight for survival against the despotic eastern empire of
Persia.
During the Persian Wars Athens leading statesman was Themistocles, who put
comprehensive military plans into action, gave Athens a strong fleet and developed
the harbour of the Piraeus. When the Persians advanced in 480 BC he ordered the
evacuation of the dty. The Persians entered Athens and devastated the Acropolis.
After their defeat at Salamis in 479 BC a new dty wall was built. Piraeus and its
harbour were also fortified. The debris of private houses and public buildings and
even tombstones were used as building material. Besides providing for the defence
of Athens, the idea was to ensure uninterrupted communication between Athens
and Piraeus in case of war, and so the Long Walls - the North Long Wall and the
Phaleron Wall - were started to provide safe access to the port of Athens. However,
the implementation of the project extended well into the second and even into the
third quarter of the 5th century BC. It is estimated that the walls around Athens and
Piraeus endosed an area of 15 million square metres.
While Themistocles gave top priority to fortifying the dty, Kimon, the leading
statesman of the second quarter of the century, concentrated on reconstruction. He
built the Tholos and Stoa Poikile in the Agora and also the Theseion, the shrine
containing the bones of Theseus.
After Kimon's expulsion from Athens in 462 BC, the administration of the dty
passed into the hands of Pericles. Under his government democracy in Athens
reached the peak of its development. In 448 BC Pericles set about his main
building project on the Acropolis.
The main gateway of the dtadel, the Old Propylon, may have been built around
500 BC; it was replaced by the Periclean Propylaia built in 432- 427 BC.
The Older Parthenon had begun after 490 BC and was destroyed by the Persians
while it was under construction. In 448-432 BC it was replaced by the new
Parthenon, a votive temple dedicated to Athena Polias, the architectural
culmination of the Doric style. The Erechtheion, an Ionic temple with the old cult
83
statue of Athena Polias, was built after the death of Pericles. The graceful Ionic
temple of Athena Nike was the last building erected on the Acropolis in the 5th
century BC. At the same time important building operations were in progress
within and outside Athens.
In the age of Pericles Athens was the scene of bustling artistic activity.
Outstanding personalities like Pheidias, Agorakritos, Kallimachos, Iktinos,
Thukydides, Anaxa-goras, Kallikrates, Mnesicles and Hippodamos lived and
worked in the city.
The Acropolis was decorated with votive statues and steles. New public
buildings were erected in the Agora. The surroundings of the Acropolis and the
Agora were so densely populated that dwelling houses occupied almost all the area
enclosed by the city wall. Outside the dty wall every road radiating out of Athens
was flanked by grave monuments; the State Burial Ground was in the Kerameikos.
A meeting-place for the Assembly was laid out on Pnyx Hill at the beginning of
the 5th century BC. Towards the end of the 5th century BC Athens had a
population of about 36,000 living in some 6,000 private houses; the area within the
city wall amounted to 2.15 sq.km. and there must have been but little open space
within this area.
In 431 BC the Peloponnesian War broke out. It consumed the power reserves of
the opposing sides and in the Battle of Aigospotamoi, 404 BC, the Athenian fleet
suffered a crushing defeat. The victorious Spartans and their allies destroyed the
walls of Athens and Piraeus, seized all but ten ships of the fleet and put the harbour
out of use by filling it up with earth.
In 394 BC, with Persian aid, the general Konon destroyed the Spartan fleet and
rebuilt the fortification walls of Athens and Piraeus. Building operations were
restarted in the Agora. The Panathenaic Stadium was built on the left bank of the
Hisses around 330 BC. The stone Theatre ofDionysos was erected on the south
slope of the Acropolis about the same time. Plato's Academy was founded in the
sacred grove of the Hero Akademos.
During the second half of the 4th century BC the city walls were restored and
fortified on several occasions. An outer defence wall known as the proteichisma
and a dry moat strengthened the defences of the city wall. At the end of the 4th
century BC the city wall and the Long Walls were rebuilt; the Dipylon Gate, the
largest gate in Greece, was completely reconstructed. The line of the city wall was
shortened by means of a cross-wall, the diateichisma, running from the Hill of the
Nymphs, along the ridge of the Pnyx, to the top of Philopappos Hill.
In the 4th century BC internal strife sapped the strength of the city-state. In the
second half of the century King Philip II of Macedonia pushed himself into the
league of the Greek city-states and came into conflict with Athens. In the Battle of
Chaironeia in 338 BC Philip defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes.
After the Lamian War of 322 BC the Macedonians placed a garrison in Athens.
Between 317 and 307 BC the philosopher Demetrios ofPhaleron ruled the city
with the support of the Macedonians and the economic situation of Athens
improved temporarily. Drama, philosophy, painting and sculpture flourished again.
Athens then entered into an alliance with Sparta and Egypt against Macedonian
84
rule. As a result of the Chremonidean War (267-261 BC) the city was again
garrisoned by the Macedonians. The archons were replaced by a Macedonian
governor known as the epistate. It was not until 229 BC that the Athenians
succeeded in regaining their independence with the aid of an alliance with Achaia.
The expansion of the Roman empire began in the 2nd century BC. At this time
Athens was going through a period of economic recession, although it was still the
centre of scholarship and its schools were attended by many foreigners including
Romans. New public buildings and temples were erected.
On the Acropolis the votive offerings of the kings of Pergamon decorated the
south wall. The most famous of them represented the victory over the Celtic
Galatians.
Attalos II, king of Pergamon, donated a large stoa built on the east side of the
Agora. The Middle Stoa, East Stoa and South Stoa II closing off the south side of
the Agora also date from this period, as does the Metroon, the sanctuary of the
Mother of the Gods, and the Stoa of Eumenes of Pergamon on the southern, slope
of the Acropolis.
The ruins that survive are scarcely sufficient to give even an approximate idea of
the ancient city nor does Pausanias' Periegesis (itinerary) provide a full picture.
The pre-Roman endeavours of the Athenians to fortify their city proved futile: they
were unable to protect it from invaders.
Under Roman rule Athens at first enjoyed many privileges. However, in the ist
century BC the situation changed -when in 87 BC the sophist Athenion took power
with the aid of Archelaos, the commander under King Mithradates IV of Pontos,
and rose up against the Roman general Sulla who besieged and occupied Athens in
86 BC. He gave his soldiers leave to plunder the city and had a section of the city
walls pulled down. Athens remained unfortified for the next three hundred years.
At around 15 BC a concert hall, the Odeion of Agrippa, was built in the middle
of the Agora. The earlier Odeion of Pericles, which had been destroyed by Sulla,
was also reconstructed. The temple of Rome and Augustus was erected east of the
Erechtheion and the Roman Agora east of the Agora of classical times. Next to it
stood the Horologion of Andronikos, commonly known as the Tower of the Winds
after the reliefs on each of its eight sides.
It was probably in the ist century AD that the temple of Ares, originally built on
an unknown site in the 5th century BC, was moved to the classical Agora. The first
monumental stairway leading up to the Acropolis dates from about the same time.
South-east of the Tower of the Winds stood the colonnaded building dedicated to
Athena Archegetis and Augustus.
The philhellene emperor Hadrian visited Athens in the 2nd century AD. This
was to become a period of rebirth for Athens. New buildings sprang up, the city
acquired an aqueduct named after Hadrian, and a whole new and
prosperous'suburb stretching eastwards, dotted with fine new villas. It became
known as Hadrianopolis, the city of Hadrian. Hadrian's arch separated the old city
from the new. Hadrian also built the Pantheon, the library that bears his name and a
basilica situated east of the Roman Agora .which was, perhaps, the temple of Hera
and Zeus Panhellenios.
85
Another benefactor of the city in the 2nd century BC was Herodes Atdcus
whose generosity is still visible in buildings like the Odeion on the south slope of
the Acropolis.
On the ridge of Ardettos, Herodes Atdcus built a temple to Tyche above the
Panathenaic Stadium for which he provided marble seating arrangements, and in
front of the Stadium he had an arched bridge built over the Ilissos.
In the mid-3rd century AD the emperor Valerian attempted to prepare Athens
for attacks from the Goths by rebuilding the old Themistoclean city wall with an
eastward extension around Hadrianopolis. A supply of fresh water for the
Acropolis was assured by making the Klepsydra spring accessible solely via a
tunnel from the Agrippa Monument terrace which was now fortified by walls and a
gate known as the Beuld Gate.
The walls did not stop the Heruli from sacking Athens in 267 AD. The city was
burnt down and numerous buildings completely destroyed. The Acropolis,
however, was not taken by the barbarians. Soon after the departure of the
barbarians, the Athenians retracted their line of defence and withdrew behind a
new city wall, the Post-Herulian Wall, which enclosed only the Acropolis slopes,
perhaps only the north slope. In order to build this wall fast, the Athenians tore
down and re-used the material of their public buildings, temples, sculpture and
inscriptions.
Few significant edifices were built in the later part of antiquity. One was a large
gymnasium completed around 425 AD occupying the site of the classical Agora
and re-using the Tritons and Giants from the Odeion of Agrippa, the Gymnasium
of the Giants. South of the y- Stoa of Attalos a water mill was built c. 450 AD. A
large gymnasium was built in the Academy area. The north room of the Metroon
was, possibly, a synagogue at that time. From the 3rd century onward renowned
Christian philosophers also came to teach in Athens, but their schools were outside
Athens at places like Hymettos, where hermitages and monasteries were built later
on.
The last outstanding pagan philosopher of the 5th century AD was Proklos who
taught in a school on the south slope of the Acropolis.
In 529 AD Justinian closed the schools of pagan philosophy including Plato's
Academy. Fearing barbarian invasions, he strengthened the defences of his empire,
including the walls of Athens.
Numerous temples and monuments of ancient times were converted into
Christian churches, perhaps starting in the 6th century, for example, the Parthenon,
the
Erechthdon, the Hephaistcion; the Tower of the Winds was used as a baptistry
and several buildings in the Asklepieion were used for a basilica.
From the 7th to the 9th century, referred to as the Dark Ages, Athens declined,
but recovered again in the loth to 12th centuries, known in Byzantine art as the
Athenian period. A new wave of building activity occurred and a complete
Byzantine suburb has been unearthed. Surviving monuments of this period include
churches such as Kapnikarea, the Panagia Gorgoepekoos (the Little Metropolis),
Haghioi Theodoroi, Soteira Lykode-mou (Russian Church), Haghioi Apostoloi and
86
several monasteries outside of Athens. Two schools functioned on Hymettos; they
were later turned into monasteries.
In 1040 Attica was devastated by the Normans and in 1154-82 by the Saracens.
The city is described by various medieval travellers, such as the Arab geographer
Idrisi, Benjamin of Tudela, and the metropolitans Michael Akominatos and
Michael Psellos. After the capture of Constantinople in 1204, the whole Byzantine
empire disintegrated into small states, most of which came under the control of the
crusaders.
The medieval wall around the Acropolis slopes was named the Rizokastron, but
nowadays the name serves to designate only the quarter lying north of the
Acropolis. The old Acropolis circuit wall and the Post-Herulian Wall were still in
use.
The Frankish occupation which began in 1205 was the cause of general decline.
The new rulers treated the Greek population with ruthlessness or indifference.
French was introduced as the official language and the Athenians were excluded
from all public office.
Building on the Acropolis caused great damage to ancient monuments especially
to the Propylaia which the reigning dukes turned into their residence; two churches
were built, one in the southern wing of the Propylaia, the other in the centre of the
building. The Parthenon became a Catholic church. The so-called Frankish Tower
was built in the south-western wing of the Propylaia and the Belvedere at the east
wall. It is thought that the inhabited area of the city amounted to about 400,000
square metres and did not extend beyond the Post-Herulian Wall; a traveller who
visited Athens in 1395 asserts that there were only about 100 dwellings.
Decline and depopulation continued throughout the Frankish occupation, but a
radical change came in 1456 with the advent of the Turks. The privileges granted
by the Sultan allowed the city to flourish again. Despite the frequent famines,
epidemics and other vicissitudes, the population preserved its vitality and began to
grow, partly through immigration of Turks and Albanians. The Albanians settled
mainly in the Plaka district until the middle of the 16th century.
In the course of time four distinct social classes came into being: the wealthy
lords (archons), the well-to-do fanners, the merchants and the simple peasants. In
1464, during the Turkish-Venetian War (1463-1475) the Venetian Vittorio Capello
led a raid against Athens. Although he did not succeed in capturing the Acropolis,
he methodically devastated and plundered the city.
The Acropolis became the residence of high-ranking Turkish officials and the
quarters of the garrison. The area between the buildings gradually filled up with
small houses belonging to Turkish families and members of the garrison. No Greek
was allowed to enter the area surrounded by the Rizokastron. The northern section
of the wall formed the boundary between the fortified hill and the lower city north
of the Acropolis. The southern section was at that time known as the Serpentze. In
1506 new water pipes were installed.
The Greek temples inside the prohibited area fell into ruins. The Propylaia and
the Parthenon were severely damaged by explosions in 1645 and 1687. As the
Venetian Morosini prepared for the siege of the Acropolis, the Turks demolished
87
the temple of Athena Nike in order to construct the so-called Turkish rampart. The
architecture and sculpture from the temple of Nike was recovered and the temple
was reconstructed in 1835-6.
The Turks lived on the Acropolis and both inside and outside the Post-Herulian
Wall. The Parthenon was transformed into a mosque with the Byzantine bell-tower
at the south-western corner serving as a minaret. Four mosques were built in the
lower city. As the population increased, more and more houses went up near the
Post-Herulian wall.
In the city itself 40 Christian churches, a Cistercian abbey and a Capuchin
monastery were erected. In 1671 there were 2,053 houses in Athens which was
divided into eight districts; the population was a mixture of Greeks, Turks, GreekAlbanians and some foreigners, amounting to 12,500 in all. In the 17th century the
area of the town amounted to 460,000 sq.m.
Athens' last city wall was constructed during the rule of Ali Haseki (1775-1798)
as a protection against Albanian raids. It was built partly along the line of the
Themistoc-lean Wall but it was much lower and not as thick. Many fragments of
ancient monuments went into it. The Haseki Wall, completed in 1778, was 4,300
metres long and enclosed an area of 1,104,000 sq.m. During the last phase of
Turkish rule, the situation of the Greek population improved considerably. At the
end of the i8th century Athens had a special atmosphere of its own. Numerous
fountains decorated the squares and streets, and ancient monuments stood side by
side with public buildings and mosques.
At the beginning of the 19th century the Turkish Sublime Porte granted Lord
Elgin permission to remove antiquities from the Acropolis. The Parthenon
sculpture
and other rich material he acquired later became part of the famous collection of
the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.
The Acropolis also suffered a great deal during the Greek War of Independence
when it was besieged on two occasions (1821-2 and 1826-7). The second time,
when the Greeks were the defenders, the besiegers bombarded the Acropolis
without any consideration for the heavy damage caused to the ancient monuments.
Greece was proclaimed a free and independent state and Athens a definitively
Greek city by the Protocol of London on February 3, 1830. The Turkish garrison,
nevertheless, did not leave the Acropolis until March 31, 1833. By virtue of a
resolution passed on September 18; 1834. Athens became the capital of Greece. In
1835 the population of the city amounted to about 4,000. The War of Independence
had left the majority of the houses in ruins and most roads were still; unfit for
traffic.. From the architectural remains of the Turkish rule only one house and two
mosques survive today. At the beginning of the Greek War of Independence there
were 129 Christian churches in Athens. Of these only 24 survive in their original
form. The mosque built inside the Parthenon in 1690, following the explosion of
1687, was pulled down in 1852. The Haseki Wall was demolished in 1875 and the
Mendreses, the Theological Academy north of the Tower of the Winds, in 1914.
After Greece had regained her independence, a member of the Bavarian royal
house took the throne. In 1834 he commissioned Ludwig Ross to restore the
88
monuments on the Acropolis. Important excavations were carried out between
1885 and 1891.
When Athens was chosen as capital, it was proposed that the ancient monuments
on the Acropolis should be pulled down and that the royal palace should be built
there, incorporating the Parthenon as a reception hall in a palace courtyard. King
Ludwig of Bavaria rejected this plan. His son Otho, the king of Greece,
endeavoured to introduce the fashionable Neoclassical style into the new capital.
While town plans were being prepared, the roads of present-day Athens were laid
out. The Palace was built by von Gartner in 1836; von Weiler was responsible for
the Military Hospital (today the Barracks of the Gendarmerie at Makryiannis) in
1837; Christian Hansen built the University in 1839. Greek architects who
participated in building up Athens were Stamatios Kleanthes, Lysandros
Kaphtandzoglou and Panayotis Kalkos. Some of the outstanding buildings from
this period are: the Neoclassical Triad, the marble buildings of the University, the
Academy and the National Library on Panepistimiou St., the National Archaeological Museum, the Polytechnic, the Palace on Irodu Attikou St., the Old Palace,
today the Parliament, the Old Parliament (Historical Museum), the Schliemann
House (Iliou Mclathron), the Roman-Catholic church, the
Eye
Hospital.'the'Anglican church of St Paul.
In 1830 Stamatios Kleanthes and Eduard Schaubert prepared the first map of
Athens' important monuments of antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times. In
1832 the same architects were commissioned by the Greek government to draw up
a development plan for the capital. The Kleanthes-Schaubert plan, which
envisaged the development of wider streets, squares and other public areas to allow
for excavations, was later modified by Klenze in the spirit of the first Monument
Preservation Act, passed in 1834. The new capital centred around the Acropolis
and developed north and east into the Anaphio-tika, Plaka and Aerides (Tower of
the Winds) quarters.
Many an important event in the modern history of Greece took place in the new
capital. On September 3, 1843, General Kallergis led the "constitutionalists" in a
revolt which resulted in Greece's first constitution.
In 1852 the city was devastated by an earthquake.
Greece joined the Crimean War on the side of the Russians in 1854, in order to
liberate the territories still occupied by the Turks. Upon Turkey's request, French
troops landed in Piraeus, where they remained until March 1857; the occupation
ended with the outbreak of an epidemic of cholera which wiped out half of the
population of Athens and Piraeus. On October 10, 1862, a national revolt caused
the expulsion of King Otho.
Between 1831 and 1853 the population of Athens and Piraeus rose from 4,000 to
816,000.
The town development plan of the Stavridis Committee was tabled in 1860. It
formed the basis for the development of the present centre and the broad
thoroughfares crossing the city which were built at that time.
Athens was hard hit by the war of 1897 and by the revolt of 1909 which brought
Eleutherios Venizelos to power. Venizelos regained possession of Crete and
89
prepared the country for the 1912-3 Balkan War. In 1908 the government
commissioned the town planner and architect Ludwig Hoffmann to prepare a
general development plan for Athens. The German architect suggested the building
of boulevards instead of the earlier radial roads. In 1911 the British architect
Thomas Mawson put forward modifications to the plan, mainly concerning the
development of the city centre. In 1920 a committee headed by Petros Kalligas
recommended further modifications which, however, failed to take into account the
complex problems of town planning and urbanization, among them the problem
presented by the rapid growth of the population.
Greece took part in the First World War. The Asia Minor campaign (1921-2)
ended with a crushing defeat for the Greek troops and the flight of the Greeks from
the peninsula. After a series of coups the kingdom was re-established in Greece by
a plebiscite in 1923.
In 1922, after the failure of the Asia Minor campaign, the population of the
capital increased to 460,000. The random growth of new districts in the capital
soon caused serious difficulties. The authorities endeavoured to control building
operations with National Building Regulations and the restriction on building
heights introduced in 1934.
In 1936, during the rule of King George II, general loannis Metaxas became
dictator. On October 28, 1940, the Italians declared war on Greece. The City
Council declared the capital an "open city" to save the ancient and Byzantine
monuments from destruction. The Greek people successfully resisted the Italian
advance until April 6, 1941, when Hitler's Germany joined the Italian side and
Athens was occupied by German troops.
When the Italians pulled out of the war in September 1943 and the anti-fascist
resistance movement, begun in 1941, grew stronger, the Germans responded with
even more brutal reprisals. On October 12, 1944, the Nazi troops withdrew from
Athens and soon after a new Greek government was set up in the capital. The
country became independent. Athens grew more important both in the life of the
country and in international relations. These circumstances were reflected by the
rapid development of the city both in area and architecture, and this again made the
excavation of its monuments a desideratum of high priority.
After several attempts, the Ministry of Construction completed the general
architectural plan of the whole plain of Athens in 1947. In 1954 the Housing Board
set up by the Ministry drew up its general plan; in 1962, with the co-operation of
the American expert W. Smith, the same Board examined the city's traffic
problems and in 1965 it produced a new general plan.
Three departments within the Monument Preservation Board (which functions
under the Ministry of Culture and Sciences) are in legal control of preserving finds
excavated during construction work in the city: the First Ephorate of Ancient
Monuments, the Ephorate of the Acropolis and the Third Ephorate of Ancient
Monuments. The Archaeological Act of 1932 is still in force. It amplified an earlier
act of 1834 and extended its powers to protect historic monuments to Byzantine
material. Since the 1932 Act it has been compulsory to notify the authorities of all
finds unearthed during construction work. An Act of 1966 extended these
90
obligations to Neoclassical buildings and also covers certain aspects of
environmental protection.
Unfortunately the lack of an effective master plan for the development of Athens
hinders the progress of archaeological research and the adaptation of the city to
modern requirements. The situation has become particularly critical in the centre.
91
Berlin
This book deals with the capitals of the European countries of today and so this
chapter confines itself to a description of Berlin, the Capital of the German
Democratic Republic. Berlin lies along the ancient glacial spillway of the River
Spree, and after Magdeburg is the second largest inland port. Its average altitude is
36 metres, and its geographical position is latitude 520 18' north and longitude 13°
15' east. The city his an area of 403 sq.km., and had 3,289,500 inhabitants at the
end of 2003-6.5% of the German Democratic Republic.
There is evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age. Slavic
tribes founded villages here in the 7th century. The history of the twin cities of
Berlin and Kölln begins in the early 13th century. Various assumptions have been
made about their foundation. The first documentary evidence of the existence of
Kölln dates from 1237, while Berlin is first mentioned in a document of 1244.
Near the ford over the River Spree, where the Mühldammbrücke now stands,
trading centres developed on both sides of the river, and important trade routes met
in the two cities. The favourable position of Kölln and Berlin led to rapid development, and by the end of the 13th century they were already larger than other cities
in the Mark of Brandenburg. The walls of Berlin enclosed 42 ha and of Kölln 23
ha. Leagues of the cities in the Mark were formed on several occasions under the
leadership of Berlin, where their meetings were held. In the last quarter of the 13th
century the two cities already had as many as five churches. The oldest in Berlin
were the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas's) and Marienkirche (St Mary's) followed by
Klosterkirche (Abbey Church) and Heiliggeistkapelle (Chapel of the Holy Spirit).
The main church in Kölln was Petrikirche (St Peter's).
In 1307 the cities of Berlin and Kölln merged and built a joint city hall by the
Lange Brücke. Originally the alliance was to serve defence purposes, bet it
increased Berlin's political influence, and brought economic and cultural
development. Its powers included the right to mint coins and decide over life and
death. Even the fires of 1376 and 1380 failed to undermine its power, although
they all but reduced the building ashes. Berlin was reconstructed using new
methods of timber framing, and the first houses of baked brick also appeared
among the new building.
For centuries Berlin occupied an area which can be well seen today from the top
of the Television Tower on Alexanderplatz. The built-up area extended to the
present-day Littenstrae in the north, Alexanderplatz in the east, and Kupfergraben
in the south and west, but did not include the marshy area where later the Schloß
and Lustgarten - now Marx-Engels-Platz - were built.
92
The sister cities preserved their independence from the Land's princes until the
15th century. However, when four of the guilds rose against the Council in 1442,
the Prince-Elector had to use arms to force ain entry through the city gates. He then
split the twin cties up and gave the guilds seats on the Council. From that time
onward, the Prince reserved the right to confirm the appointment of magistrates. In
1443 he built a castle on the site of the Hohes Haus in Klosterstraße, in front of the
city walls of Kölln, with direct access to the city. The uprising of the citizens of
Berlin in 1448, which interrupted the building of the castle, was suppressed by a
feudal court.
Around 1450 the city had about 6,000 inhabitants. Berlin's population growth
was accelerated when the Prince-Elector transferred his seat here, and further areas
of the city and its suburbs were built upon. The court nobility had certain building
privileges. A large number of new dwelling houses were built in the 15th century
after yet another fire had caused considerable damage in 1483. Unbaked brick and
timber framing were almost entirely superseded by stone as a building material.
Prosperity in the 16th century was interrupted by the Thirty Years' War. From
1618 to 1648 the population of Berlin decreased from 12,000 to 6,000.
Nevertheless, Berlin became the scene of new life: from the 15th century to the end
of the 18th century it was the seat first of the Prince-Electors of Brandenburg and
later of the Kings of Prussia. The stately Schloß which in its design showed Saxon
influence, was built in 1535-71, under the direction of the architect Kaspar Theiss.
Later several other groups of buildings rose around it, among them the
Apothekenflügel (Pharmacy Wing). During the Second World War the Schloß was
badly damaged and in 1950-51 it was demolished.
The mercantile economic and political system designed to serve the purposes of
absolutism led to a new phase of development in the life of Berlin-Kölln. Since
there were not enough local architects, many were invited from Holland.
The first building regulations were issued on November 30, 1641, and continued
at least formally in force until 1853. When they were drafted they constituted a
most up-to-date set of statutory provisions. The streets were gradually paved and in
1682 street lighting was introduced. To protect the capital of the province from
attack, Berlin and Kölln were fortified in 1658, to plans executed under the control
of Johann Gregor Memhardt, an engineer of Austrian birth educated in the
Netherlands. From him originates the oldest surviving map of the two cities
(1650), showing their centres. Most of the fortifications were pulled down again
ten years after their completion.
Between the mid-17th century and the end of the 18th century the Age of
Absolutism saw a rapid improvement of the city's appearance. The Prince
systematically added new settlements: Friedrichswerder (1662), Dorotheenstadt
(1674) and Friedrichstadt (1688). The uniform town houses of Dorotheenstadt and
Friedrichstadt, the conversion of the Schloß according to Schlüter's designs into a
huge Baroque palace (1698) and the building of the Zeughaus (Arsenal) and the
mansions along the Wilhelmstraße, turned Berlin into a European metropolis.
Changes in the methods of town-house building came in the mid-17th century.
Detached houses gave way to uniform terraces with the roofs forming a continuous
93
line and transforming the look of the streets.
Following the example of other European courts, the Kings of Prussia—as the
Prince-Electors of Brandenburg styled themselves after 1701 - endeavoured to
raise grandiose buildings.
Prince Frederick III (King Frederick I) played an important role in the
development of Berlin's architecture and town planning. In 1709 the King united
the newly formed towns of Friedrichwerder, Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt
with Kölln and Berlin into a capital and royal seat which he invested with new
urban rights. The population of the united city amounted to 56,000, of which 6,000
were French immigrants, 500 Swiss and 500 originally from the Palatinate. The
suburbs on the northern, eastern and southern sides of Berlin were later
incorporated into the capital as well.
Berlin architecture from the end of the i7th through the 18th-century showed
Italian and French influences. Andreas Schlüter, a man of many talents who was
appointed court sculptor in 1664, the Dutch court architect Smid, his successor
Arnold Nering, and the Swedish-born court architect (from 1699) Johann Eosander
von Göthe all played an important part in the creation of architectural monuments
of outstanding historic value. Through the taste and authority of its architects, the
court directly influenced private building in the city.
In addition to the extension of the Berlin Schloß and the building of Schloß
Monbijou, other castles were built near Berlin. Charlottenburg was started by
Nering in 1695 and extended by Eosander von Göthe after 1702; the same
architects were responsible for the Castle at Niederschönhausen. Other outstanding
buildings of the period are the Marstall (former court stable; 1665-70, M. Smid),
the Zeughaus (1695-1706, Nering, Grünberg, Schluter and de Bodt), the Opera
(1741-3, Knobelsdorf), Prince Henry's palace, which after 1810 was converted into
a university (1748-53, Knobelsdorf and Boumann), the Königliche Bibliothek
(1774-80, Fischer von Erlach and G. Ch. Unger), the Brandenburger Tor
(Brandenburg Gate; 1788-1794, Langhaus and Schadow). The churches include the
Dorotheenstadt Church, Parochialkirche, Sophienjarche, Hedwigkirche, Deutsche
Kirche and Französische Kirche. Among the more important palaces built by the
government for the nobility were the Palais Podewils and the Schwerinsches
Palais, both designed by Jean de Bodt.
Deliberate town planning began in the second decade of the 18th century. The
wide thoroughfare Unter den Linden, formerly bordered by shabby-looking houses,
was rebuilt in an impressive manner. The development of the city's industry was
favourably influenced by the arrival of Huguenots from France after the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. They settled in and around Berlin in large numbers and
many new buildings appeared to house their businesses.
While the factories set up towards the end of the 17th century first confined
themselves almost exclusively to supplying the army, the government and the
court, later they gradually developed into industrial undertakings catering also to
the general public. Through them the crafts of the Age of Absolutism attained
higher standards that from the end of the 18th century greatly promoted the
prosperity of the city's artisans. Workshops were established hi the eastern and
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northern areas of the city. By the end of the 18th century Berlin had a population of
172,000 and was the leading industrial city of Prussia.
At the same time, it was artistic development rather than systematic extension of
the city that dominated town planning. From the end of the 18th to the middle of
the 19th century Berlin's architecture was typified by Classicist and Neoclassical
styles. This development is associated with the names of the architect K. G.
Langhaus, and of G. Schadow, the sculptor mentioned above. The persistence of
late Baroque can also be observed in Gontard's design of the Oranienburger Tor,
(Gate), the Hamburger Tor and Rosenthaler Tor (architect: Unger). In the persons
of Gentz and Carl Friedrich Schinkel a new generation of Classicist architects
appeared on the scene. The municipal statutes of 1808 brought important
administrative changes. The city councillors, elected from a new franchise, were
granted far-reaching powers over local affairs, and in certain cases the city
corporation was empowered to act on behalf of the state.
During the Napoleonic Wars building came to a standstill in Berlin. After the
liberation of the city the Neue Wache (New Watchhouse; 1819-21. Schinkel
marked the beginning of a period of activity. The building was to form part of an
already existing complex, with the Opera and the Brandenburg Gate. Schinkel is
also associated with the transition from Neo-Gothic to Classicism. From the point
of view of town planning the Altes Museum and the Schauspielhaus (Theatre)
were given great prominence. Schinkel found new forms worthy of ipth century
architecture which transcended the bounds of Classicism. An example was his
Bau-akademie (Academy of Architecture, 1832-36) destroyed in the Second World
War. A fine example of surviving Classicism is the Singakademie (1825-27,)
which today houses the Maxim Gorky Theatre.
During the European revolutions of 1848 Berlin also saw barricade-fighting.
Though the bourgeois revolution fell, owing to the capitalist development of
industry, Germany became one of the strongest industrial powers of the world. The
one-time Prussian royal seat grew into the capital of the German Reich. This could
be seen on the outward appearance of the town as well: it became an imperial,
military centre. The inner city was characterized by the concentration of functional
municipal buildings and dense population. New premises were added to the Berlin
machine, electric and chemical factories, where the majority of the population was
given employment. The development of infrastructural units serving industry and
administration furthered modern urbanization.
The appearance of old Berlin was crowned by the creations of Schinkel. In 1861
the city's area was extended by 2,410 ha, some of the annexed areas (Neu-Moabit,
Wedding, Tiergarten and Hasenheide) becoming working-class developments for
those who had till then lived in extremely squalid conditions.
New types of construction enterprise also emerged as early as the mid-19th
century: corporate bodies, joint stock companies and the city's own administration
were especially active in commissioning new large buildings. Besides industrial,
trade, credit establishments and railway construction^ several public buildings
were erected. The city magistracy of Berlin built the Rotes Rathaus (Red Council
Hall, 1861-9 and the Stadthaus (City Hall; 1902-11). Other public buildings of the
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period were the Nationalgalerie (National Gallery; 1867-76), the Bode Museum
(1897-1904), the Pergamon Museum (1909-30), the Dom (Cathedral; 1894-1904)
and the Neuer Marstall (New Stables; 1869-1902).
However, crowded, ill-lit and ill-ventilated tenements to house the steadily
growing number of manual workers also became a characteristic of the Berlin
townscape. During the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm, Berlin's population doubled,
reading 1,578,000 in 1890. Rapid increase continued in the following two decades.
By 1912 the population was 2,095,000.
The Berlin of 1918-19 was the capital of revolutions. After the fall of the House
of Hohenzollern, the Weimar Republic guaranteed democracy. The city centre was
characterized by the concentration of functional municipal buildings and dense
population.
In 1920 eight towns, among them Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf, Köpenick and
Spandau, 59 villages and 27 large independently administered areas were merged
into Greater Berlin (Einheitsgemeinde Berlin).
The territories united as Greater Berlin maintained their suburban characteristics
for the following couple of decades, giving a peculiar atmosphere to the
metropolis. The oldest historical town centre is situated on the territory of the
GDR. 55 percent of the territory of Greater Berlin of 1920 today is part of West
Berlin.
Greater Berlin was divided into 20 administrative districts. Of the former 20
districts, 8 make up die capital of the GDR today, 12 West Berlin. The population
was 4 million in 1925, which made it the third largest city in the world after
London and New York. Economic life continued to be concentrated here in the
20th century, especially after the First World War. This meant that 80% of German
capital was concentrated here, as well as the majority of German workers. As a
consequence of this economic development, Berlin also became the center of
scientific and cultural life and pioneered several modern trends in town planning.
In the metropolis that had developed in the shape of concentric circles around
the historical inner city, 8 almost independent city centres developed. As a result,
the Bauhaus, too, was able to exert its influence in the planning of new power
plants, residential districts, business and cultural centres. The simple forms and
new building materials such as concrete and steel, and the development of green
belts around residential districts, dissolved the rigidity of the William era.
Siemensstadt and the Friedrich Ebert Siedlung were typical housing estates of the
time; the Gewerkschaftshaus, Buchdruckereihaus and other tall buildings, on
Alexanderplatz, all destroyed during the war, were its best achievements.
When National Socialism turned Berlin into a military centre, gigantic
architectural forms began to dominate the city-scape.
During the Second World War most of the capital's historic buildings were
reduced to rubble. Of its 226 bridges, 128 were destroyed. Of the 1,562,000 homes
only 370,000 remained habitable.
The inner districts, among them the Mitte (Centre), which included the historic
centre of the city, suffered the severest damage.
The Soviet army liberated Berlin from Nazism on May 2,1945. The city lay in
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ruins, covered by 70m cu.m. of rubble. Life gradually returned to normal. In July
1945, in line with the treaty concluded by the Allies, American, British and French
troops occupied its western districts. Berlin was divided into four zones and
became the headquarters of the Allied Control Commission and Allied Military
Command. Thereafter Berlin became a practically independent city. (The
independent status of West Berlin is governed by the four-party convention signed
by the Soviet Union. Great Britain, the United States and France in 1971. On
November 30, 1948, a democratic Berlin magistracy was formed under the
leadership of Friedrich Ebert as Chief Bürgermeister (Mayor). On October 7, 1949,
the German Democratic Republic was established with Berlin as its capital. Since
1949 there have been two cities in the former Berlin area: Berlin, the Capital of the
GDR, (1,106,200 inhabitants), and West Berlin (2,004,300 inhabitants).
The reconstruction of the capital of the GDR, involving the methodical
formation of an essentially new, socialist city, began under extremely adverse
conditions caused by the heavy war damage and amidst great economic difficulties
and political conflicts. However, nationalization of building land put an end to
speculative jerry-building and created favourable conditions for achieving what
was required. Top priority was given to applying modern urban building standards,
so as to satisfy the needs of the working population. Special attention was devoted
to the reconstruction and preservation of historic buildings. An example was the
reconstruction of the architectural treasures along Unter den Linden such as the
former Zeughaus (today the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte-Museum of German
History), the Staatsoper, the Kommode, the Palais Unter den Linden and the
University.
On August 13, 1961, by virtue of a government resolution of the Warsaw Treaty
countries, the boundary between the GDR and West Berlin was placed under
control along its full length. An impressive city centre based on modern townplanning principles sprang up around Alexanderplatz.
97
Bern
Bern lies in the valley of the River Aare, on the Central Plain of Switzerland
between the Alps and the Jura, at latitude 46°57' north and longitude 7°25' east.
The central railway station is 540 m above sea level. Roads from Zurich, Biel and
Neuchatel, Geneva and Lausanne, and Thun and the Bernese Alps meet at Bern,
as do the railway lines between Lakes Constance and Geneva, and between
northern Switzerland, Lotschberg and Italy. Bern has an administrative area
of 51.5 sq.km. and a population (in 2003) of 121,900.
As an autonomous city within the Swiss Confederation, Bern has been the seat
of the Federal Government, the Federal Parliament and the majority of the
federal administrative institutions since 1848. At the same time it is the capital
of Bern Canton and the seat of the cantonal administration, parliament and
administrative offices. The city's cultural and economic significance has left its
mark on its outward appearance.
There is ample evidence that the site of the present city and its surroundings
was inhabited in prehistoric and ancient times by Celts (Helvetians), Romans,
and Germans (Alemannians). Although the earliest remains found on the
peninsula-formed by a bend in the River Aare where the Old City now standshave been Roman coins, further north on the Enge peninsula a large Celtic
settlement has been excavated, along with a Roman roadside settlement and a
Galio-Roman church. These settlements are believed to have lasted until the end
of the 4th century.
In the immediate vicinity of the city, the remains of - Roman villas and several
7th century Germanic cemeteries have been discovered.
In the early Middle Ages a number of detached homesteads, farms and small
villages existed on the site of the present city. Till AD 843 the area was part of
the Frankish Empire. It then belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy, till it was
annexed to the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. In 1127 Emperor Lothair
appointed Prince Conrad of Zahringen as Regent of Burgundy.
Historians differ over the date and circumstances of the city's foundation.
According to the old chronicles, Prince Berthold V of Zahringen built the city
between Nydegg Fortress and the Clock Tower in 1191; it is, however, more
probable that Berthold IV established a fortified village between Nydegg
Fortress and Kreuz-gasse around 1155-60, and that his son Berthold V extended
it as far as the Clock Tower.
It may be assumed that a small open riverside settlement, probably with a
ferry, developed at the midpoint of the bend in the River Aare at an early date.
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The imperial Fortress of Nydegg, built on the surmounting rocks in the nth or
12th century, was a stronghold of the Zahringers and designed to protect the
ferry. Around 1160 the village extended from the hollow west of the fortress to
the line of the present Kreuzgasse. Of the original town wall only one section, 28
m long and 150 cm thick, has survived. It now forms the western facade of the
Town Hall, which was built in 1406. Remains excavated in 1940-42 may have
belonged to the walls of the town ditch. No trace of the ancient town gate has
been found so far. The nth century settlement was 270 m long and 180 m wide. Its
broad main street (today's Gerechtigkeitsgasse) curves slightly to the right and
rises gently towards the west. It is flanked by two parallel streets, each narrower
by about a third than the main street. The area for development was divided into
lots measuring 17.6 m by 29.3 m. This plot pattern has remained unchanged to
this day.
Around 1191 the city was extended westwards by 350 m and both the main
street and side streets were lengthened. On the western side the city was flanked
by a double wall that ran along a natural ditch, with a gatehouse and a still
extant clock tower. The area thus enclosed is now called Zahringerstadt.
The first written document to mention Bern by name dates from 1208. The
etymology of the name Bern is still in doubt. While tradition ascribes it to the
heraldic bear that features on the city crest, others claim that Bern is the German
form of Verona and was used because the Zahringen princes had close family ties
with the sovereigns of Verona. However, the name may as well have a Celtic or
Latin origin.
The last of the Zahringers, Bcrthold V, died in 1218, when the city again
became part of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Frederick II conferred upon it
important privileges, notably self-government, independent jurisdiction and the
right to hold markets.
During the period that followed (1254-73), in the absence of an emperor, the
city allied itself with Savoy, thus incurring the wrath of the Kyburgs and
Habsburgs. With the help and patronage of monasteries, alliances with cities and
communities in the valleys and the purchase and redemption of bonds, the city
gradually increased its territory and influence.
Around 1256 Bern was extended westwards by a further 300 m as far as
the next natural depression. 7'here a town wall with a new gate was built, where
the Prison Tower now stands. This tower served as a prison until 1897, then as a
storage room of the State Archives. In 1977-1979 it was converted into a cultural
centre The area added to the city in 1256 is called Savoyerstadt in memory of
Count Peter of Savoy, under whose protection it stood.
Around the same time Nydegg Fortress was demolished and the first wooden
bridge was built where today's Untertor Bridge stands. The Nydegg site was
then incorporated in the city's defence systems. In 1339 Bern won a victory near
Laupen over the neighbouring city of Fribourg and the nobility allied with it. In
1353 it concluded an everlasting alliance with the founder cantons of Uri,
Schwyz and Unterwalden, and following Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus and Zug,
entered the Confederation as its eighth canton.
99
A further 300 m of territory were added to the city around 1345. Its extended
main axis (today's Spitalgasse) ended at the Christopher Tower, since demolished.
The city grew beyond the small peninsula of the Aare, and its side-streets also
increased in number.
In 1405 the city was almost completely destroyed by fire, but the wooden
houses of the burgesses were soon replaced by stone houses. In 1415 the Bernese
occupied Aargau, and from this time onwards the young republic concentrated its
policies on the west. Its good relations with France involved it in a war with
the troops of Charles the Bold, who was in league with the Habsburgs. It ended
with victories for Bern at Grandson and Murtcn in 1476 and near Nancy in 1477,
which enhanced the canton's significance and power in Europe.
The participation in the Italian campaign conducted by the cantons and the
service of their troops in foreign armies led to a certain demoralization of the
population and abuses in the Church. Therefore the ideas of Huldrych Zwingli,
the Zurich reformer, attracted numerous followers, so that in 1528 the new
belief became the established religion of the city. The expropriation of
ecclesiastical estates added to the wealth and territory of the Bernese Republic,
which reached its greatest extent after the occupation of Waadt in 1536.
During the 15th century the defences of the city were further developed. From
the system of strongholds built between 1458 and 1473 a section of wall in
Hodlerstrasse, near the Museum of Fine Arts, and east of this a structure known as
the Blood Tower on the River Aare still remain. The Town Hall (by Heinrich
von Gengenbach and Hans Hetzel) was built in 1406-17 and later rebuilt on
several occasions; in 1939-42 its ground-floor hall w?s restored to its original
form. The Cathedral (by Matthaus Ensinger) was begun in 1421; the frontal
tower left unfinished in 1596 was completed in 1889-93; the sculptures of the
main door were created by Erbardt Kiing in 1490-95. Apart from the Dominican
Monastery, Antonitc House, the former church of the hospital order of the
Antonites, is the only surviving monastic church in the city. Built between 1492
and 1505, it was later used as granary and a mail coach house; it was renovated
and altered in 1939-40.
Nydegg Church was erected on the foundations of the Nydegg Fortress,
which had been demolished in 1260-70. The chancel dates from 1341-6, the bell
tower from 1480 and the main aisle from 1494-1500. The church was
completely restored under the city's preservation programme in 1951-3.
Most of the fountains that still typify the city date from the 16th century, and
are partly or fully attributed to the sculptor Hans Gieng. Zahringer Fountain,
decorated with a statue of a bear in armour, was erected in 1535 by Hans
Hiltprand.
During the Thirty Years' War the authorities built a rampart and ditch
system (1622-34) in front of the town wall. A new gate, called the Obertor, now
no longer extant, lay on the western side.
In 1653 the unfavourable economic consequences of the Thirty Years' War and
the privileges enjoyed by the nobility at the expense of the impoverished
peasantry provoked a peasant revolt that was brutally put down. The
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revolutionary attempts of the 18th century were likewise thwarted.
During the 17th and 18th centuries several important buildings were erected
in the city. The Kornhaus (granary) was built by Jakob Diinz (1667-1742) and
Samuel Baumgartner in 1711-18 and rebuilt at the end of the 19th century.
Restoration of the facade began in 1975; today it houses a museum and an
underground restaurant.
The Town Hall of the 'Ausserer Stand' was built to the plans of Albrecht
Stiirler in 1728-30, as the seat of a "mock parliament" of young patricians.
The construction of Erlacherhof, designed by Albrecht Sturlcr (1705-1748) for
Hieronymus von Erlach, began about 1746, and was completed according to a
modified plan (probably by J. A. Nahl) in 1752. In 1832 it was handed over to the
municipal government and from 1848 to 1858 was the seat of the Federal Council.
The building is one of the most highly decorated patrician houses in the city. Its
facade was restored in 1975-79.
The French Church belonging to the city's oldest monastery, founded by the
Dominican order in 1269, was built between 1270 and 1285. Its western front
and the facade of the south aisle were built by Abraham Wild in 1753-4. Both
were renovated in 1968.
The Chapter House, dating from 1745-55, was erected according to designs of
Albrecht Sturlcr on the site of a building formerly owned by the Teutonic
Order. It is an outstanding piece of architecture and an important element in the
townscape. Since 1803 the building has been the seat of the cantonal
administration. It was renovated in 1928-9 and 1979-80.
The present City and University Library was built as a granary in 1755-60
(Ludwig Emanuel Zehender, 1687-1757). It was extended in the 19th century and
renovated in 1969-73.
The Main Guard House (by Niklaus Sprtingli) was erected for the guard corps
in 1766-68. From 1832 to 1910 it served as Police Headquarters. It was partly
restored in 1938.
Under the influence of the French Revolution social unrest spread among the
population of the cantons, and the government itself split into two factions.
French troops invading Swiss territory found little resistance, and even the
victory gained by the Bernese near Neuenegg on March 5, 1798, failed to
counteract the defeat they suffered near Grauholz on the same day. The French
army occupied and ransacked the city.
France forced Switzerland to accept a new constitution which transformed the
confederation into a unified Helvetian Republic. As a result Bern lost the
territories of Waadt and Aargau. But after the failure of the new political
initiatives Napoleon in 1803 introduced an Act of Mediation, establishing a
federal state of 19 cantons. A division of lands was made between the Canton
and the City of Bern, after which they were administered separately. Following
the 'Battle of the Nations' (1813) the Bern Act of Mediation was repealed and
attempts made to revive the old republic. However, under the new federal
constitution introduced in 1815, the city and state administration were
insufficiently separated.
101
Till the 19th century, the layout of the city adopted in the 17th century
underwent no significant change. When the increase in population brought the
need for new housing the Bernese set about demolishing the western
fortifications. The last remnant of the city's defence system, the Christopher
Tower, was pulled down in 1865.
The revolution in France in July 1830 increased unrest in Bern, and the
patrician leaders resigned. The new liberal constitution of 1831 was accepted
despite the resistance of the conservatives. It abolished the priority of the city over
the county and ensured the sovereignty of the people. The constitution of 1846
and the still valid state constitution of 1893 brought the people further democratic
rights.
In 1832 a cantonal order was issued for the establishment of communities, and
the administrative structure acquired then by the city of Bern hardly differed
from that of other communities in the country.
The federal constitution of 1848 transformed the federation of 22 cantons into
a federal state, and on November 28 of the same year the newly established
Federal Assembly appointed Bern as capital. The city committed itself to making
available and maintaining free of charge the premises required by the political
authorities and bodies of the Confederation. That was a considerable burden on a
comparatively small population, and in 1875 Bern redeemed this obligation.
The administrative and economic development of Bern as the capital of the
Confederation was well balanced. The buildings required for the government and
administration were completed. Modern bridges were built over the River Aare to
allow development of new housing on the right bank. The city became linked with
the Swiss railway network in 1858, which improved communications and
stimulated the economy. In 1844 Untertor Bridge, which had become far too
narrow for the volume of traffic, was superseded by Nydegg Bridge, and thus the
territory east of the Aare peninsula was opened up. Kirchenfcld Bridge, built in
1883, led to the systematic development of the area south of the old city centre,
while Kornhaus Bridge (1898) led to the building of new housing estates on the
northern area which till then had only been occupied by scattered villas and
cottages. The growth in th.e population and electorate had its effect on the
administration of the city. An 1887 municipal by-law abolished the municipal
assembly and introduced elections and voting by ballot instead. The municipal
assembly was replaced by a city council which acted as a parliament. A municipal
council was established as executive body, headed by the mayor.
The second half of the 19th century was a period of rapid growth in the city's
area. The suburbs were gradually merged into a single community that still
regards the old town as its social and economic centre. Industrialization brought
factories to former suburbs especially along the railway lines leading to the city,
but no major industrial district developed.
One of the most important 19th century building complexes is the Houses of
Parliament. The west wing was designed by Ferdinand Stadler and erected by
Friedrich Studer in 1851-57. The east wing (1888-1892) and Parliament building
(1894-1902), the seat of the Federal Council and Federal Assembly, are the
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work of Hans Wilhelm Auer. During the same century the fountains were
further embellished, and some of the plinths and basins added.
In the 20th century unification with the neighbouring village of Biimpliz, west
of Bern, in 1918, added further to the city's area.
The latest full revision of the municipal regulations (basic statutes) took place
in 1903. The growing tasks facing the community were considered and a system
of 'facultative financial referendum' was introduced, under which financial
measures proposed by the municipal authorities are decided upon by plebiscite if
a certain aumber of citizens so require.
Bern and the surrounding communities formed a country planning
association in 1963, which functions for the time being under civil law. It
unites about twenty communities which jointly tackle problems of traffic, water
supply, sewage and refuse disposal.
The layout of the city at the time of its foundation, the long-sighted planning
of its street system and the regularly arranged building lots are indications of
official control. A document from 1310 refers to four 'building magistrates'
responsible to the Council and the Judge. Their duties included the drafting of
building regulations and the control of their implementation.
The organization and jurisdiction of the Building Office thus formed can be
traced through the various by-laws issued down the centuries. Since the reform
of 1694, the office has been directed by a single Chief Architect who is
concurrently a member of the Lower Council. There are three master craftsmen
assigned to him: one responsible for woodwork, one for stone structures, and a
third for the Cathedral. In addition to directing the work of their skilled workers,
the master craitsmen prepare their own plans and act also as designers.
Numerous buildings in Bern have been designed by them. The scope of
authority of the building office was not confined to public building. From a building
regulation dated 1786 it clearly appears that private individuals could also be
required by the office to repair their houses at their own expense.
Investments were approved by the Council, which was also responsible for
building matters; if an important new building was involved, a committee of
building experts would also examine the plans and supervise their execution.
The statutes on building valid today were passed by the electorate in 1979. In
addition to regulating the legal and technical aspects of public and private
building, they contain the basic principles of general town development with a
view to protecting the townscape and landscape.
The inner city, and especially its lower section stretching between the Clock
Tower and the Nydegg, is closely guarded through preservation and control of
architectural development. The statutes issued in 1979 govern architectural
alterations, the formation of facades, the materials to be employed, the siting of
fountains and the type of advertisements admissible. They allow the
modernization of the internal arrangement of buildings, while protecting the old
townscape.
The old inner city of Bern constitutes a complex of historic monuments. The
medieval layout of the historic nucleus of the city and the many late Baroque
103
buildings have survived intact. The city's preservation regulations form part and
parcel of its technical administration.
Budapest
Budapest, the capital of the Hungarian People's Republic, lies in the
Carpathian Basin, at latitude 47°28' north and longitude I9°08' east. The Danube
is one of the most important waterways of Europe. A 28-km stretch of the River
Danube divides Buda on the right bank from Pest on the left. Buda is built on a
number of hills, with its highest point 529 m. above sea level. Pest lies on level
ground that forms part of the Great Hungarian Plain. The Danube at Budapest is
a busy waterway, varying in width from 300 to 600 m. and enclosing five
islands, of which Csepel in the south of the city is the largest. The city has
several medicinal springs, some thermal.
Budapest is today the second most populous city in central Europe. Its
1,858,100 inhabitants in 2003 made up 19.6% of Hungary's population and
104
included 27.8% of the country's industrial workforce. The city's area is 525.20
sq.km., two-thirds of which are on the Pest side of the river. The development
plan approved by the Hungarian Council of Ministers in 1971 regards 44
communities outside the city boundaries as parts of the Budapest conurbation.
Archaeological discoveries confirm that there have been important
settlements on the site of present-day Budapest for thousands of years. Celtic
tribes settled on both banks of the Danube in the 3rd century ВС. After the
conquest of Pannonia, the Romans in the last decades ВС built the town of
Aquincum on the site of the Celtic settlement of Ak-ink, on the right bank of the
river. In AD 124 Aquincum became the provincial capital of Lower Pannonia.
Contra-Aquincum, built in AD 294 on the left bank, was the most important
of a string of fortresses along the Danube designed to guard the borders and the
river crossing points.
Roman rule came to an end in AD 409 with the arrival of the Huns. After the
disintegration of the Hunnish Empire in AD 453, Iranic and Germanic peoples
took possession of the territory of present-day Hungary, followed at the end of
the 6th century by the Avars. The Avars were in turn conquered by the Franks,
but small groups of Avars and Slavs were still living here when the Hungarian
conquest began at the end of the 9th century. Prince Arpdd, the military leader of
the Hungarian settlers, made his headquarters on Csepel Island, while the chief
priest, Kursan, took up residence in the former town of Aquincum, which became
the first major Hungarian settlement. (The Roman amphitheatre of which
remains still survive in Nagyszombat utca in Budapest's 3rd district was
referred to as Kursan's Castle in charters as late as the 14th century.) In the nth
century the king founded a priory in the town. It also became the centre of the
royal estates and the royal seat, where King B&a III (1172-1196) received
Frederick Barbarossa as he passed through Hungary on his way to the Holy
Land. This town was called Buda until the 13th century. Early 13th century
documents state that it was inhabited by Latin merchants (probably Walloons), but
in the later 13th century there are references German citizens.
A community called Gezavasar grew up south of Buda by a river crossing point,
not far from the site of today's Margaret Bridge, probably around the end of the
10th century. It was annexed to Obuda in the 13th century and became known as
Felheviz after its abundance of thermal springs, still found today. A community
of Bulgarian Moslem merchants from the Volga region established itself at
Contra-Aquincum, which became known by the Bulgarian-Slavic name of Pest,
signifying the lime kilns that existed there. Pest gained its importance from its
position at the Danube crossing point of a major trading route to western
Europe, known as the Kiev Road. In the nth century, the south wall of the
forerunner of the present Belvarosi templom (Inner City Church) was built
upon the outer wall of a former Roman camp. By the first half of the 13th
century there had been a major population change in Pest: contemporary sources
were by then referring to it as a large and wealthy German town.
Soon after the Hungarian conquest a settlement grew up opposite Pest, on the
right bank of the Danube, between Gellert Hill and Castle Hill. Initially it was
105
called Kisebb-Pest (Lesser Pest), but was later known as Alheviz after its
thermal springs. Pest on the left bank and Kisebb-Pest on the right counted legally
as a single town. Around 1230 a charter granted the citizens staple rights,
exemption from excise duties within the country's borders and the right to choose
their own magistrates and clergy.
In 1241-2 the Tatar forces of Batu Khan devastated the towns, but after their
withdrawal King Bela IV (1235-1270) founded a new town on the site known
today as Castle Hill. It was initially called Pestuj-hegy (Pest New Hill)
because many ~itizens of Pest came to live there. Later its name was changed to
Buda, and the town on the site of Aquincum became Cbuda, meaning Old Buda.
(The German name for Buda remained Ofen, ivhich is a literal translation of the
word Pest.) The king incorporated Kisebb-Pest and the southern part of
Felheviz into the new town he had founded on Castle Hill, and Pest was also
subordinated to it until the beginning of the 15th century. By the second half of
the 13th century Buda had become a busy commercial city and was regarded as
the centre of the country. Its inhabitants included a large number of foreigners;
dominant were the German merchants, who dealt mainly in cloth. Until the 15th
century the city's poorer Hungarian farmers and craftsmen were excluded from
any share in the city's administration. In the 14th century, Italians, mainly
Florentines, settled in the city in increasing numbers; they controlled the city's
financial transactions and dominated trade in luxury articles.
In the late 14th and early 15th centuries crafts developed rapidly in the city
and the first guilds were formed. The code of Buda, from the beginning of the
15th century, lists 58 crafts, of which fine metalwork was the most prominent.
Pest's livestock markets and wine trade also made it prosperous at the end of the
14th century. It was already the second largest city after Buda. A royal charter of
1470 raised it to equal rank with Buda.
However, Obuda's development lagged behind. Till 1541 the estates and royal
palace built there in the 13th century belonged to the queen. In spite of some
building (a castle, a church and the Clarissa Convent) and the foundation of a
university in 1395 by King Sigismund, Obuda remained a rural community. Its
inhabitants were Hungarians who lived mainly by vine-growing, farming and
crafts.
Buda's first great period of building came in the second half of the 13th
century. The long narrow plateau of Castle Hill was surrounded by a wall, and at
the southern end a royal palace and several churches and monasteries were
erected, among them the Church of Our Lady (today Matthias Church) and the
Church of St Mary Magdalene.
The large-scale building work between the 14th and 16th centuries
determined the street pattern and layout of the centre of Buda (now the Castle
District), which has remained unchanged to this day. The buildings and city walls
put up by King Bela IV were demolished and replaced by the Angevin kings
Charles Robert (1308-1342) and Louis the Great (1342-1382). Later Sigismund of
Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary
(1387-1437), built the court of honour and the Friss Palota (New Palace) north of
106
the castle. The royal residence-at Buda reached the height of glamour under the
great Renaissance King Matthias Corvinus (J458-1490), who invited Italian
architects to reconstruct the Gothic facades and interiors of the palace in
Renaissance style and turned Buda into a centre of classical learning. The walls
around the castle were fortified with round bastions, and four main gates faced
the surrounding satellite communities of Felheviz, Szentpeter (later known as
Vizivaros), Logod and Alheviz (Tabdn). By the early 16th century about twothirds of Buda's 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants lived outside the city walls.
Pest was at first confined within today's Petofi Sdndor utca, Karolyi Mihaly
utca and Kecskemeti utca. North of this area lay Uj-Becs (New Vienna) and
south of it Szentfalva, both of which later became parts of Pest. By about 1500
the central district of Pest had become overcrowded, and so a new city wall was
built along the line of the present-day Kiskorut (Small Boulevard, formed by
Tanacs korut, Muzeum korut and Tolbukhin korut), fortified with nine turrets and
six round towers, and with gates opening onto the main roads out of the city. The
population by then was about 10,000.
The development of Buda and Pest was halted by the defeat of the Hungarians
by the Turks at MoMcs in 1526. The royal court and the wealthier citizens fled from
Buda. After a series of battles Buda and Pest, like the whole of central Hungary,
came under Turkish rule on August 29, 1541, and remained so for 145 years. The
Habsburg kings transferred their administration capital to Pozsony in the western
part of Hungary, which remained under their control. Although Buda maintained its
importance as a junction of east-west trade and the centre of the Turkish-ruled
area of Hungary, repeated attempts to recapture Buda and Pest caused lasting
damage. The Pashas of Buda did not live in the splendid old royal palace; it was
used first as stables and later as an arsenal. Churches were converted or new
'djamis' were built for the Moslem Turkish population and domed bath houses
adorned with the Turkish crescent appeared over many thermal springs, but apart
from that the Turks confined their building to a complete reconstruction of
Buda's fortifications during the course of the 17th century. The Hungarian
population of both Buda and Pest fell, but Turks and a variety of other peoples
arrived from other parts of the Turkish Empire to settle there, bringing with them
a number of new crafts, including carpet weaving.
During the eventual recapture of Pest and Buda from the Turks in 1686, still
more extensive damage was done, but reconstruction and resettlement began
immediately. Materials from the old walls and other ruins were used to rebuild
houses, while the old street pattern and plot boundaries remained largely
unchanged. In Buda, the Castle District was populated mainly by Germans,
Vizivdros by a mixture of Germans, Croatians and Hungarians, Serbians moved
into Tab&n, and Hungarians, Germans and Serbs settled in Pest. Obuda became
the property of the Zichy family, and later of the Treasury, but it did not develop
beyond the rank of a market town with modest rights of self-government. Most
inhabitants of Obuda earned their living from vineyards, which with the wine
trade were important sources of income to many citizens of Buda and even Pest
as well.
107
Buda and Pest only regained their freedoms in 1703. Buda's charter refers to it
as a Capital, but the diet continued to meet in Pozsony, and the government offices remained there, too. The royal residence was Vienna.
Public building after the recapture of Buda was mainly military and
ecclesiastical. The old churches and the Turkish djamis were handed over to
the monastic orders, which also erected new churches and monasteries in the
Baroque style. About 17Ю the construction of town halls was begun in both Buda
and Pest, the one in front of the Church of Our Lady in Buda, the other near the
Inner City Church in Pest. The ruins of the old royal palace were demolished
and a new, more modest one built in its place. The huge Invalidus kaszarnya
(Veterans' Barracks) was also begun (now the Budapest City Hall). Once the two
cities had regained their privileges, the development of Buda and Pest gathered
momentum. At the end of the 17th century their joint population did not exceed
10,000. By 1777 it reached 35,000, with a proportionate increase in the builtup area. The old town walls of Pest were gradually removed after 1730 and the
communities of Terezvaros, Jozsefvaros, Lipotvaros and Ferencviros grew up on
former farmland and gardens outside them. The population and number of houses
on the outskirts of Buda also increased considerably, and the new suburb of
Krisztinavdros was built in the 1770s. Joseph II (1780-1790) transformed Buda
from a nominal capital into a true centre of government. By his orders the offices
of the Governing Council of the Governor-General, responsible for the
administration of the country, of the Hungarian Treasury and of the Military
High Command took over buildings vacated by religious orders suppressed in
1783-1784. As the royal palace of Buda did not regain its former importance,
although from 1790 to 1848 the nddor (palatine, or viceroy), who also presided
over the Council of the Governor-General, resided there with his court.
Building work was regulated from the time of Mark Theresa (1740-1780).
Private individuals had to apply for building permits and submit drawings to the
City Council. The city's own building plans and costings were considered by the
Council of the Governor-General. The first fire regulations were issued in Buda
and Pest in the last decades of the 18th century. The increasing administrative
burden of building, paving, drainage and surveying led each city to establish a
City Engineer's Office. From the end of the 18th century Buda, as the seat of
government, and Pest, the still faster developing centre of trade, began jointly to
perform the role of the country's capital. A factor was the university brought to
Buda in 1777 and later transferred to Pest. Pest's development in the 19th century
continued to be based on trade. Its supremacy was consolidated by the charges in
transport means-steam shipping on the Danube in 1830, and in 1846 the first of a
country wide network of railway lines converging on Pest. The employment offered
by the growing number of factories in Pest drew many people to the city. In
1846, Pest with 100,000 inhabitants was the largest city in Hungary, while Buda,
with 40,000 was the third largest. The fast population growth brought urgent
tasks of urban development. On the initiative of Palatine Joseph, the first
comprehensive development plan was completed by J£nos Hild in 1805, and in
1808 the Pest Improvement Committee under the chairmanship of the Palatine was
108
set up to implement it. The Committee regulated building activities north of the city
centre on the newly demarcated plots in Lipotv&ros and elsewhere, and the
decisions of its juries on the projects submitted helped to give the city a unified
Neoclassical appearance. Mihaly Pollack and Joseph Hild were among the
architects in this period to create buildings of lasting value (for example
Pollack's National Museum). Again on the initiative of Palatine Joseph, a
Building Committee was formed in Buda in 1810. It failed, however, to agree upon
a homogeneous development plan like that drawn up for Pest.
After the disastrous floods of 1838, building-work in Pest increased so sharply
that comprehensive building regulations were issued in 1839. They stipulated
the quality of building materials, the thickness of walls, the height of buildings,
sanitary standards and facade, thus laying the foundations for Pest's architectural
development as a great city.
Istvan- Szechenyi, a statesman of broad intellectual interests, did much to make
Pest an industrial, cultural and political centre during the Age of Reform. He
championed the idea of merging Buda and Pest into a single city that could
develop into a modern capital. On his initiative, the first permanent bridge across
the Danube, the Chain Bridge, was built in 1839-49 to the designs of the British
engineer W. T. Clark. Some of Szechenyi's proposals for protecting the two cities
from flooding were also put into effect.
During the 1848-9 War of Independence, the city became the true capital of
the country. Pest was the seat of the first independent Hungarian government and
the first representative parliament. The row of mansions along the Danube
embankment and several other buildings in the city centre, Lipotvaros and
Terezvdros were destroyed by the ruthless bombardment of the Austrian
imperial troops as they re-entered Buda at the beginning of January 1849.
By the early 1860s, Pest's grain trade had become a dominating factor in the
Hungarian economy. Pest had the largest steam-powered flour mills in Europe
to process grain from the whole country. That and a number of other industries
brought prosperity as early as the 1850s. The population of Pest in 1850 was
128,000, while that of Buda and Obuda was 58,000. Most of the inhabitants were
Hungarians. Town planning activity was declining. Building in Terezvaros,
Jozsefvaros, Ferencvaros and along part of the Danube embankment was
becoming very dense as a result of land speculation. Romanticism (Frigyes
Feszl's Vigado concert hall, 1859-63) and the early composite Eclectic style
(Friedrich August Stiiler's Academy of Sciences, 1860-6) appeared alongside late
Neoclassicism. After the Ausgleich, or Compromise between Austria and Hungary
in 1867, the Hungarian government established the Board of Public Works (Act
X/1870) on the lines of London's Metropolitan Board of Works. To quote Prime
Minister Andrdssy, it was established "to develop the capital, Budapest... into a
true city... with a place among the capitals of the civilized western world worthy
of the prestige of the Hungarian state and its 15 million inhabitants." Act
XXXVI/1872 unified Pest, Buda and Obuda, and the joint administration took
over on November 17, 1873. The Board of Public Works prepared a new survey
of the capital. In 1871 there had been an international competition for a city
109
development plan, and from the three prize-winning entries—two from Hungary
and one from Britain-the Board drew up and executed its own plan. That plan
created the present layout of Budapest, with its avenues converging on the city
centre and itsthree rings of boulevards leading to bridges over theDanube. The
achievements of the Board of PublicWorks were many: the final regulation of
the Danube;the building of Sugdrut, a 2.32-km avenue (today called
Nepkoztursasag utja-the Avenue of the People's Republic) between the city centre
and the Vdrosliget (CityPark); the completion of the Kiskorut (Small Boulevard)
and Nagykorut (Great Boulevard) and of a furtherboulevard (Margit korut,
Krisztina korut and Attila korut) in Buda; the construction of three new bridges
over the Danube—the Francis Joseph Bridge (today Szabadsdg, i.e. Liberty
Bridge), the Elizabeth Bridge and the Margaret Bridge -and the development of
the districts around their approaches; and finally, the formation of Szabadsag
Square in place of the demolished Ujepulet barracks. In 1894, the Board of Public
Works issued new building regulations dividing the capital into zones and
providing for a suitable city centre, lower-density suburbs in the Buda Hills,
and the concentration of factories into special zones. Until the turn of the century
housing construction kept pace with the rapid growth of the capital's population,
in fact, over 70% of the housing that existed in 1900 had been built since 1869,
mostly in the form of multi-storeyed tenements. This periodalso saw the
construction of many public buildings that the city's role as a capital
necessitated, for example Miklos Ybl's Main Customs House (1871-4) and the
Opera House (1875-84), Imre Steindl's Parliament (18 84-1904), Alajos
Hauszmann's Supreme Court(1893-6), the Museum of Applied Arts (1893 -6, by
Odon Lechner and Gyula Partos) and Lechner's Post Office Savings Bank (1900).
The Castle District also gained several impressive new additions: the NeoBaroque complex of the Royal Palace (1890-1905, by Miklos Ybl and Alajos
Hauszmann), the Neo-Gothic restoration of the Church of Our Lady (today's
Matthias Church, 1873-96, Frigyes Schulek), the neighbouring Fishermen's
Bastion in Romanesque style (1895-1902, Frigyes Schulek) and new
government buildings. The 1896 millennium of the Hungarian conquest stimulated
several important projects, including the large triple complex consisting of the
Millennium Memorial, the Art Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts in Hosok
tcre (Heroes' Square) by Albert Schickedanz and Fulop Hcrzog at the V&rosliget
end of Sugarut, various exhibition halls, and the first underground tramway in
continental Europe, built beneath Sugarut.
The heterogeneous Romantic style that characterized the last four decades of
the 19th century gave way to art nouvcau towards the end of the century and the
conscious attempt at creating a national style (Museum of the Applied Arts, Post
Office Savings Bank).
From 1873 till the end of the First World War, utilities, roads and railway
stations were built (Southern Railway Station, 1861; Western Railway Station,
with a cast-iron framework supplied by the Paris Eiffel company, 1877; the
Eastern Railway Station, 1884). With the building of local railways at the turn of
the century, a belt of heavily industrialized satellite towns around the capital
110
became the country's largest industrial complex. Between 1869 and 1913 the
population of Budapest more than trebled -from 270,000 to 930,000-while that of
the seven most important satellite towns rose between 1900 and 1910 from
105,000 to 183,000. The unification of Budapest with its outer industrial zone
was being suggested as early as 1908.
In 1918-9 Budapest was the centre of the bourgeois democratic and socialist
revolutions, and the most radical changes brought by the Hungarian Republic of
Councils applied mainly in Budapest. The Budapest Revolutionary Workers' and
Soldiers' Council, formed on April 7, 1919, after democratic elections,
introduced a number of new measures to simplify the administration of the city,
including a development plan that involved annexing the city's suburbs.
The treaties terminating the First World War reduced Hungary to one third of
its former extent. The capital, with its almost one million inhabitants, thus
became disproportionately large, and was unrivalled by any other city in the
country, of which the population was now 7,606,971. Budapest continued to act
as an economic magnet within a country that was otherwise overwhelmingly
agricultural. Between 1921 and 1930 the number of factories and workshops in
Budapest doubled. Half of the country's industrial production was concentrated
in and around the capital.
The modernization of Budapest continued, but at a slower rate. The public
utilities and public transport authorities came under city control. A large covered
market was established to ensure the city's regular food supplies. Between 1920
and 1941 the number of buildings increased by about 50%, but the majority of the
additions were public buildings (hospitals, baths, churches, etc.), and there was
still a shortage of dwellings. Until the Second World War building was
spontaneous and development plans were drawn up only for a few smaller
districts. Under one such plan Taban, an old district of Buda that had an
evocative atmosphere despite its poverty, was demolished in the 1930s and
replaced by a park. Building increased steadily, especially on the outskirts.
Modern styles asserted themselves primarily in private building. The new villas
and freehold apartments in the Buda suburbs displayed evidence of Bauhaus
influence. From the 1930s increasing numbers of commercial, industrial and
public buildings were constructed in modern styles.
When Hungary entered the Second World War on the side of Hitler's Third
Reich, all building work was suspended. Occupation by the Nazis made
Hungary a theatre of war for eight months, during two months of which
Budapest itself was a battlefield. Bombing and street fighting destroyed whole rows
of houses and sections of the capital. Out of 40,000 buildings only 10,000
remained unscathed. All the bridges were in ruins. Liberated with the help of the
Soviet Army, the population, together with the democratic forces and the new
leading body of the city started to rebuild the ruined capital.
Removal of the rubble and restoration work began at a rapid pace. At the same
time an up-to-date master development plan that included the annexation of the
outer suburbs was drawn up. By Act XXVI/1949, seven towns and 16 villages
were annexed, giving Budapest its present-day boundaries. The long overdue
111
amalgamation increased the capital's area by 250% and its population by 50 %
(from 1,057,912 to 1,590,316); the number of districts (boroughs) into which it
was divided grew from 14 to 22, while four existing districts were increased in
size.
The first comprehensive city development plan was completed in 1960 and
approved also by the government. New housing estates were already being built in
accordance with it. However, the war had caused such a shortage of housing that
modernization of the old inner districts of the capital foreseen in the plan had to
wait till the end of the 1960s. The first section of the underground railway (Metro)
system was opened to the public in 1970. The insufficient area available for
housing and industry led in 1970 to the elaboration of a fresh city development
plan.
The general progress after 1945 caused certain changes in the function of the
historic centre of the city. Government offices were transferred from the ruined
Castle District to Pest. After decades of reconstruction work, the Castle District,
including the Royal Palace, which from the 18th century till 1945 was the centre
of public administration, has been made over to cultural institutes and tourist
purposes. On the Pest side the inner city has continued to be a cultural and
shopping centre. The district between Deak Ferenc utca and Szent Istvan
korut, the old Lipotvaros, had been occupied before 1945 mainly by banks,
insurance companies and Stock Exchange. Today it has become an administrative,
economic and, to an extent, a scientific centre.
The development plan of 1960 took into consideration houses and building
complexes of historic or scenic value. However, the preservation of historic
buildings and monuments in Hungary has a much longer past. In the 1850s,
Lipot Varasdi, City Engineer of Buda, was commissioned by the Imperial and
Royal Central Commission for the Identification and Maintenance of Historic
Buildings in Vienna to prepare a schedule of historic buildings and monuments
in Buda and Obuda, and to select those worthy of preservations/In the 1860s the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences placed commemorative tablets on several
buildings in the Castle District, showing the date they were built and their
history. A National Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments set
up in 1872 was declared permanent in 1881, and the listing and restoration of
the country's historic buildings and monuments began. The first detailed
schedule of historic monuments in Budapest was compiled by Jeno Kismarty
Lechner in 1924. In 1959 a new schedule was drawn up in accordance with revised
legislation, and restoration of buildings of various ages in accordance with upto-date preservation principles began. Since 1957 restoration, related research
work and collection of material has been controlled by a National Monument
Inspectorate, while the preservation of historic buildings and monuments in the
capital has been entrusted to the Budapest Monument Inspectorate responsible to
the City Development and Architectural Department of the Budapest Council.
Act III / 1964 again amended the law on the preservation of historic buildings and
monuments and included the concept of areas of historic importance.
Of the projects completed, the reconstruction of the Royal Palace and of the
112
entire Castle District is the most important. It included excavation of the medieval
palace and other buildings that had been covered by several metres of earth.
Long forgotten Gothic doors and windows, and other medieval details, were
discovered in most of the damaged buildings of the Castle District. Today both
the Palace and the Castle District as a whole reflect the medieval Hungarian
capital with greater authenticity than before. Excavations in the centre of Pest
have brought to light the remains of Contra-Aquincum's fortifications and the
foundations of the Hatvan and Kecskemet Gates and their round bastions.
During reconstruction and the erection of new housing estates in Cbuda several
hitherto unknown remains of Aquincum have been unearthed.
Helsinki
Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is situated on the south coast of the country,
on three promontories surrounded by archipelagos. The geographical position of
the city centre (Kallionkirkko-Kallio Church) is longitude 24057/ east and latitude
6009/ north. The terrain is low-lying and rocky. Along the coast the outcrops
mostly range from з to 40 metres high, the highest being 62.30 metres. The
coastline is gradually receding due to a general rise in ground level of 2.7 mm.
a year.
Nine main roads lead into Helsinki, five of which are national motorways and
four mainly serving local traffic. Seven of the nine main radial thoroughfares
in the city are designed for long distance and urban motor traffic; they connect
113
the city's main road network with areas one to five kilometres from the city
centre.
Helsinki and its surroundings are the only region of Finland where
suburban rail traffic is of any importance. Local services extend 70 kilometres
along the northern main line and 40 kilometres along the coastal line. The
average number of local passengers carried is 552,855 per day.
At the time of the census on 2003, Helsinki's population numbered 574,700
which was 10.6% of the population of Finland. In 1970 there were 271,524
persons actively employed.
The city's total area is 185.8 sq.km., of which 86.2 sq. km. is covered by the
current development plan. Of the latter, 44.3 sq.km. are built up; the city's green
belt and similar areas make up 41.9 sq.km.
Helsinki owes its foundation to the growth of the sea routes along the northern
shore of the Gulf of Finland and to the coastal land routes running east and west;
north-south routes existed as well. In medieval times the broad River Vantaa
flowed from the central region of Harne to the natural harbours along the
shore; from earliest times sea routes led from there over the Gulf of Finland
to the trading centres of Estonia.
Communications and trade both encouraged settlement and economic activity
to grow up along the river, which accounts for its position on the Vantaa estuary.
Hunters and settlers in the Helsinki region soon became accustomed to strangers
using the island and river routes. The northern shore of the Gulf of Finland
became familiar to Swedish seafarers in Viking times, and after the city of
Tallinn had been founded in the 13th century, Hanseatic merchants also
appeared. The original inhabitants of the Helsinki region were partly Finnish
(mainly from Hame) and partly Swedish. The name Helsinki would suggest that
the Swedish inhabitants had come from Helsingland in Sweden.
The foundation of Helsinki was one result of the endeavours by the Swedish
King Gustavus Vasa I to establish a powerful mercantile community along the
shores of the Baltic. (Finland formed part of the Kingdom of Sweden from the
12th century until 1809.) To implement this plan, he issued mercantile and
navigational statutes on February 1, 1550, in which he also ordered the
construction of a new city on the Island of Santa-hamina. His aim was to build
centres of trading that could compete with the Hanseatic city of Tallinn for
control of the Russian trade. However, since the king's Finnish representatives
and the local inhabitants preferred the Vantaa estuary, it was there that Gustavus
fixed the site of the new city, to which the inhabitants of Povoo, Tammisaari,
Rauma and Ulvila were ordered to move.
Helsinki was not actually granted a charter, but it received its first privileges
from John III in 1569. By this document, the city acquired a territory of 8.33
sq.km., including the villages of Kumpula and Koskela, and the islands in the
Vantaa estuary.
No officially approved town plan was ever drawn up for the city on the
Vantaa?estuary. Following the lie of the land, it spread gradually westwards
from the river-mouth. According to the wishes of local advisers and the newly
114
settled inhabitants, about 70 house sites and a number of streets were marked
out with pales. However, the city did not fulfil the expectations placed upon it.
The greatest obstacle tojits development was its distance from the open sea, at
the upper end of a silted-up channel that was difficult to navigate. Its population
never exceeded 600, and it became increasingly obvious to the country's rulers
that the city had to be moved nearer to the shore. This was eventually done by
Governor-General Per Brahe.
Following a few intermediate stages, a site for the new city was found on the
Vironniemi promontory, with sheltered bays on either side. The move was
ratified by statute on October 2, 1639, and the present-day city has grown up
around it.
The land on which Helsinki would be built was made over for the purpose by
royal decree on November 20, 1643, which also confirmed the city's right to the
lands it had been granted earlier, and simultaneously granted it all the privileges
of a city. Helsinki now covered an area of 12.35 sq.km., comprising 10.08 sq.km.
of mainland and 2.27 sq.km. of islands. The majority of the land was near the
village of Toolo, which became the focus of expansion during the following three
centuries. The southern end of the Vironniemi promontory, known also as
Kruunuhaka, and the neighbourhood of the Senaatin-tori (Senate Square) were
allocated for housing, while the land along the main routes out of the city were
farmed. The town plan of Anders Torstenson, a Swede, was a typically Baroque
conception. It divided the city into four parts, with the road network
converging on a central square surrounded by public buildings and trading
houses. Artisans' workshops and early industrial buildings were situated
immediately outside this centre. The single-storey dwelling houses of the petty
bourgeoisie occupied the outer districts of the city, which was ringed by various
military buildings, granaries, arsenals, and so on.
In 1710 the city, which then had 1,000-2,000 inhabitants, was devastated by
an outbreak of plague claiming 650 lives. The Helsinki of the 17th century was
destroyed totally in 1713, when the townspeople set it on fire as the enemy
approached during the Great Nordic War (1700-1721). Between 1713 and 1721,
the years the Finns call 'the period of great warfare', Russian troops occupied
the city and a considerable part of the country.
Rebuilding commenced in 1723, following the guidelines of the 17th century
town plan. The area involved was no larger than before, but it was more densely
built upon as the plots were subdivided: with the exception of a few central
plots of 3,000 sq.m., the average size was 400 sq.m.
The town plan was a fairly typical one, but not entirely regular
geometrically, since the uneven terrain and differences in levels influenced the
layout of the streets. The streets were straight except where they had to skirt
hills, as the main Hameenkatu thoroughfare did. Main streets were about ten
metres wide, and numbered some 20 in all. The inhabited area was approximately
half a kilometer wide. During the 18th century there were only about ten stone
houses in Helsinki. All were of two to three storeys and simple in design. One of
the two that have survived is Sederholm House, the oldest in Helsinki, built in
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1757.
Most of the houses were built of wood; the better-class ones were twostoreyed with a mansard roof, the mansard roofs being ousted by the gables and
thatched roofs with the spread of Neoclassicism.
The various functions served by Helsinki were reflected in its layout. It began
as a-merchant town and long retained its staple character. When the Kingdom
lost its eastern marches in wars, Helsinki was forced into fortifying itself. The
fortifications originally known as the Viapori in Finnish and the Sveaberg in
Swedish are today called the Suomenlinna; they were built according to the plans
of Augustin Ehrensvard on the archipelago opposite the headland. Construction
began in 1748 and their completion made Helsinki the most important garrison
city in Finland. The army and naval officers garrisoned in the Viapori brought
with them the ideas of Enlightenment, and by their contacts with the urban
bourgeoisie contributed to the cultural development of the city. The construction
of the Viapori fortifications opened a new chapter in the life of Helsinki, both
materially and intellectually.
By the end of the 18th century Helsinki had a population of 3,000 and was
already the chief city and administrative centre of Unsimaa-Hame province.
Its triple role determined the city's development: the commercial, military and
administrative activities complemented each other, but the question of the use and
ownership of land brought disagreement between the crown and the merchants.
The spreading of the ramparts from the island to the mainland was long
considered desirable but, mainly for lack of money, it was never done. The plan
to make Helsinki a fully fortified city was abandoned at the close of the 18th
century.
Fire was the worst enemy of the timber-built city. The wooden buildings of
the 18th century were largely destroyed by fire in the autumn of 1808. This
disaster and the war of 1808-1809 brought an end to an era of peace in the little
harbour city.
The beginning of the new century also brought great changes in the history of
Finland as a whole. The Peace of Hamina in 1809 broke the centuries-old link
with Sweden. Instead, Finland was annexed as an autonomous Grand Duchy to
Tsarist Russia. The capital during the Swedish period had been Turku, which lay
close to Sweden proper; so for military and political reasons Russia decided to
transfer the capital of the Grand Duchy from Turku to Helsinki in 1812.
The design of new residential districts was begun at the same time. The
planning and supervision of construction were put in the hands of a body known
as the Helsinki Reconstruction Committee. Johan Albert Ehrenstrom, a former
army officer, returned from Sweden to his native country and took charge of
the work. The basic plan for the reconstruction was Eh-renstrom's own work, and
it was adopted as a plan for the whole city in 1817. However, further design
work went on for a protracted period, only ending with yet another master plan
dated 1875, which was never in fact approved. It was to be the last attempt to
make an authoritative master plan for the whole city in the spirit of the new
Tsarist Helsinki.
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Construction of the city as a capital began in the 1820s but ceased in the mid19th century, when the low-interest loans essential for private enterprise
building were withdrawn. The rise in the city's population levelled off at around
the same time.
Ehrenstrom's master plan gave priority to the public sector's requirements, and
the various functions of the city were clearly separated from one another in
different districts. The administrative district, built of stone and traversed by
broad boulevards, was segregated from the new residential, warehouse and
garrisons districts. A new, more regular shoreline was created by infilling of the
deep inlets. The Helsinki of Tsarist times was to become not only an
administrative centre, but also a "wealthy and populous commercial city".
Mercantile principles at the time favoured centring foreign trade on the capital,
and for that reason the harbour was transferred to its present site and the
approaches deepened. The result was the Kauppatori (Market Square), spacious
even by present-day standards, and the plentiful docks and wharves. Although
the concept of a fortified city had been abandoned, Helsinki remained a garrison
city with four big barrack complexes. Taken as a whole, Ehrenstrem's master plan
was of generous proportions. The centre he created for a city of 10,000 inhabitants
today serves the needs of a city of 500,000.
Some of the public buildings around which Ehrenstrom's plan revolved were
never built, but for the buildings in the Senate Square vicinity his guidelines
were followed. Several different architects have left their mark upon the centre of
Helsinki. Architects Bassi and Desprez had brought the influence of
Neoclassicism to Finland, but otherwise there had been few architectural
resources. The German-born Carl Ludwig Engel, who during the Napoleonic wars
had found his way into the service of the Tsar and become the city architect of
Tallinn, was the father of a new school. On one of his visits to Turku he passed
through Helsinki and met Ehrenstrom. In 1816 the Tsar appointed Engel as
architect to the Reconstruction Committee. Later, he was made head of the
Intendant's Office (Clerk of the Works), where he handled all public building
projects and became responsible for the design of public buildings throughout the
country.
Engel's appointment marked the dawn of a development era on a scale
unparalleled in the history of Nordic architecture. Monumental buildings were
erected with great speed in swift succession. Engel's colonnaded facades bore
the unmistakable stamp of Neoclassicism. On the south side of Senate Square
rose a homogeneous row of three-storeyed buildings, and the Guards
Headquarters built on the north side was Engel's work as well. (Later this was
transferred to another site.) The Senate House, now part of.the Council of State
Building, was constructed between 1818 and 1821, and later extended to fill the
entire block. Further out, beyond the limits of the centre, several important
buildings designed by Engel were erected, among them the Governor-General's
Residence (now the Banqueting Hall of the Council of State), the Guards
Barracks in Kasarmitori Square, the Naval Garrison on Katajanokka and a
number of private houses in various parts of the city.
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The Reconstruction Committee had completed its work by 1825, but Engel's
activities continued unabated. The great fire in Turku in 1827 led to the transfer of
the 200-year-old university to Helsinki, where Engel designed a new university
building on the side of the square opposite the Senate House. Its noble and restful
facade, spacious entrance lobby and crescent-shaped assembly hall with its
Corinthian columns make it one of Engel's best works, although his University
Library on Unioninkatu is considered the finest of all. The Russian military hospital
(now the Hospital for Internal Diseases), built in 1826-1832 and also designed by
Engel, consists of three Empire style buildings which with the University and
University Library form a harmonious whole with a street frontage of altogether
300 metres. The Botanical Institute, the Observatory, the City Hall and the President's Palace (formerly the Helsinki residence of the Tsars) were all built by
Engel in this period.
Engel's church buildings form a category of their own. They include the
wooden Vanha Kirkko (Old Church) in the Kamppi district, the Greek
Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in Kruunuhaka and his most impressive piece of
ecclesiastical architecture: the Nikolai Church in Senate Square, nowadays
known as the Cathedral (1832-52, Engel and
Lohrmann). The original
simplicity of the Cathedral, with its nave intersected by the transepr in the shape
of a Greek cross, was compromised by the addition against Engel's wishes of
four small towers.
Carl Ludwig Engel's work in Helsinki spanned a quarter of a century, during
which he designed more than 20 public buildings which today dominate the city
centre.
The architects responsible for the reconstruction of Helsinki, Engel and his
best-known pupils A. F. Granstedt and Jean Wiik, were exponents of the
Neoclassical style that had become popular in Europe at the close of the 18th
century. The style reached Finland by way of Russia, where it flourished for
some time as the Tsarist or Empire style. Warm yellow and brilliant white were
the preferred colours. As was the case in St Petersburg, in Helsinki Engel was
wont to incorporate columns and pilasters on his buildings, which were usually of
three storeys, treating the ground floor as plinth for the columns. He broke up
his facades into rhythmically spaced main and ancillary bays. Only in the
Cathedral did he use a portico entrance after the manner of German
Neoclassicism. A more refined style is already discernible in the facades of the
University, the City Hall and some private residences. The Empire style gradually
gave way to the influence of Biedermeier, and Neoclassicism declined in new
Helsinki buildings after 1840, to be superseded by various styles of historical
revival. After 1880 leading architects were attracted to Gothic or Neo-Renaissance
style. Of their works mention should be made of the Vasa Bank, St John's Church,
the State Archives, the National Gallery (Athenaeum), the houses numbered 2535 on thе Pohjoinen Esplanadikatu (North Esplanade), and the Bank of
Finland.
But it was the Neoclassical period in the 19th century that had a decisive effect
upon the later development of the city. The present layout of the centre of
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Helsinki is still based on Ehrenstrom's projects and fundamental concepts.
After a certain time gradual industrialization and the diversification of the
economy brought a growth in the population and required a reorganization of
Helsinki's administration. The powers exercised since the foundation of the city by
the mayor and the city magistrates were taken over by a City Council. The new
body held its first meeting in 1875. The administrative reform also brought
planning and construction under the control of the local authorities. As a result
of industrial expansion and Russia's liberal economic policy, the Tsars ceased to
show interest in the city's development plans, but the government of Finland, the
Senate, reserved for itself the right to give final approval for all building projects.
The new planning organizations were slow to adapt themselves to the changed
circumstances, and from a historical point of view, decisions appear often to
have been born out of compromise.
In the wake of industrialization, planning inevitably acquired new aspects. In
1870 the population of Helsinki amounted to 29,000, not including the garrison,
and by 1910 it had grown to 130,000. The fact that Helsinki was becoming an
industrial city could be felt in every field. Country-wide trading organizations,
banks, insurance companies and joint-stock companies were set up, and the times
demanded monumental buildings of a new type to house the headquarters of these
economic institutions in the city's business centre.
Helsinki's growth started at the beginning of the 1860s but its final
development into a metropolis began after 1880. In the course of time the changes
in social structure affected also the outward appearance of the city. Industrial
development involved the building of new factories, while the increase in
population called for the construction of more and more housing.
Earlier agreements made it difficult to increase the areas that could be
covered by the development and improvement plans. Although the city owned
considerable areas of land, it had not retained its rights to develop them, since
long-term leases had been sold to private individuals. Consequently there was no
other solution to the problem of a rising population than to channel new settlers
to the very outskirts of the city. Sites were leased specifically for the building of
single-family-houses. Industry was directed towards zones in the north and south
of the city. The first public utilities-gas, electricity and drainage-were set up. At
first they were run privately, but in the early 19th century control gradually
passed to the city. Around the same time the first specifically working-class
district, Kallio-Sornainen, developed. Several small settlements were formed along
the railway lines built in 1862, 1870 and T907; their success relied on the
development of the capital and opportunities for employment. Initially the new
communities hindered the city's expansion, but they later formed the basis for its
territorial growth. Some became part of Helsinki as early as 1906 and 1926, but
most were only incorporated in 1946, when the city's territory was greatly
expanded and a new approach to suburban planning and city development as a
whole was taken.
The 1906 plan for the Toolo district was the first concrete result of the
attempt to incorporate complete suburban areas into the planning sphere.
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Modern development methods gradually gained ground. Helsinki came to be seen
as a geographic whole, and the zones for its various functions were delineated.
The first master plan in the modern sense was drawn up in 1911. In 1918 soon
after Finland became independent (December 6, 1917) with Helsinki as its
capital, the well-known Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen proposed a daring
solution for Greater Helsinki, in which he sharply defined the city's different
functions; the districts already developed were to be regarded as fait accompli,
and careful consideration was given to planning residential districts that would
meet the requirements of the various social classes.
Today Helsinki has a long-term master plan, an improvement plan and a
detailed building plan. The drawing up and co-ordination of plans for land usage
are subject to approval by the City Council, the City Board, the City Planning
Committee and the City Planning Department. The Economic Planning Section is
the body responsible for medium and long-range planning and costing of
projects, while the Architectural Planning Commission governs the planning of
housing. Local authority departments supervise house building and costing by
owner-occupiers.
Helsinki co-ordinates its activities with the surrounding communities. The
government takes part in regional planning either directly or through various
organizations such as the Helsinki Regional Planning Corporation and the Joint
Co-operative Council of the Helsinki Area.
The control of building activities was traditionally the province of the city.
In the mid-18th century it became the custom in Helsinki to distribute
responsibilities among the magistrates on an annual basis, so that any one of them
might take charge of building in rotation. Later in the same century a specially
qualified magistrate was given permanent responsibility. In 1777 the city
administration of Helsinki decreed that notification of intent to build was to be
given in advance to the magistrate concerned. The plans for every public building
had to be sent to Stockholm for approval by the building authorities there, and
very often it was the Stockholm officials who themselves designed the buildings.
After Finland's annexation to Russia, the laws of the Swedish period, including
those applying to building activity, still remained in force. Offices were
established in Finland to replace the central offices based in Stockholm. Supreme
control of public building was exercised by the Intendant's Office, set up in 1810,
which also had to approve the elevations of new buildings. (The successor to the
Intendant's Office is the Rakennushallitus or National Board of Building.) When
Helsinki became the capital of the Grand Duchy in 1812, control over building
and improvement was delegated to the Helsinki Reconstruction Committee. After
the dissolution of this body in 1825, building became the responsibility of local
authorities, particularly of city architects working under the supervision of the
magistrates. In 1878 infilling, embankments and other civil engineering work
came under the authority of the Building Office (today the Rakennusvirasto),
which was also responsible for the building the city itself undertook.
The first building regulations in Finland were drafted at the beginning of the
19th century. Earlier directives had referred to the whole country and mainly
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stressed fire precautions. The first building regulations for Helsinki came into
force in 1825. They laid down the legal powers and responsibilities of both
officials and private builders with regard to the town plan, even down to the
painting of houses. The building regulations were generally divided into three
sections: the first applied to the town plan, the second to the plots and how they
were to be built, and the third to the methods of construction to be employed.
Drawings were to be submitted for all buildings. The Senate's approval was
required for the plans of public buildings, while those of private houses were to
be approved first by the local administration, and then by the provincial governor.
Drawings were to show the size of the building, its outward appearance and
internal layout. A site plan, a section and an elevation drawing were required for
official purposes. Before building could start planning permission had to be
obtained from a committee including the chairman of the magistrates, the mayor,
two or three other magistrates and two experts. To ensure more efficient control
over building use was made from 1850 of a land register in which the boundaries
of the plots and the position of the buildings were recorded. Building inspections
were entered in a survey book of minutes, and a separate book was kept for reports
on buildings considered by the city administration. At the close of the 19th
century, the regulations on the submission of plans were tightened. They had to
be drawn to certain fixed scales and bear a signature. Reports on inspections
had to contain a statement on the structural soundness of the buildings. In special
cases the city administration had recourse to the provincial building office for
assistance.
The competence of the city administration was mainly limited to adjudication.
The city architects and the inspectors of the National Board of Building did not
have time to examine every individual case. Efficient control of the increasing
building activity would have required the setting up of more local bodies. In 1895
the City Council appointed a special architect as inspector of buildings, initially
on a part-time basis. In addition, a representative from the City Council and a
medical officer from the Board of Health took part in inspections. In 1908 the post
of building inspector with statutory powers was created in Helsinki. His duties
comprised the supervision of building projects in Helsinki and its environs with
the exception of building work by the state. In 1912 an Office for Building
Inspection was organized to discharge the same duties.
In 1924 a special commission was set up for the inspection of facades. It
consisted of the building inspector, the city architect, the planning officer and two
members of the City Council, the latter elected for a period of one year. In
this way responsibility for inspection of facades passed from a state official to the
City Office for Building Inspection.
Although numerous local bodies have been set up to control building since the
beginning of the century, the city administration has retained the final word on
building work in the city, including the right to grant or withhold planning
permission.
In a constantly changing city one of the main concerns of planners is to
preserve historic buildings. Nearly 900 buildings have had to be pulled down
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in the centre of Helsinki during the past ten years, a fairly high proportion of
the around 7,000 buildings in this district. The governing principles for the
protection of historic-buildings are as follows: to preserve the historic continuity
of the city by restoring the environment of various social groups in various
centuries; to protect squares valuable for aesthetic reasons; to protect integral
sectors and individual buildings of cultural and historic value.
Careful consideration is given in monument preservation plans to historic
buildings and interiors to be placed under preservation orders. A list of about 800
buildings and interiors in the city centre has been compiled. The supplementary
map to the city's development plans contains proposals for the preservation of the
buildings listed. There are no time-limits fixed for their implementation, but they
determine at design level the main principles of the restoration operations envisaged, and have a bearing upon the city development plans as well. City plans are to
be prepared, or if necessary modified, in such a way that the restoration of a
building under preservation order becomes the only obvious solution, even from
the economic point of view. Helsinki is responsible for the conservation of the old
stone-built architecture of Finland. There are 190 two- or many-storeyed
buildings in the whole country, which are over 75 years old; of these 81 are in
the centre of the city. Art Nouveau style buildings in Finland number 350, of
which 200 are in central Helsinki.
In 1970 the City Commission for Historic Buildings placed 183 buildings
under preservation order. According to the building regulations in force, the
demolition of protected buildings is subject to the consent of the Commission.
Eighteen blocks in the vicinity of Senate Square have had a demolition ban
imposed on them since 1952. Eight of the historic buildings in the city centre
have been fully restored, three of which had been damaged during the war. The
interior of these buildings was partly restored and partly rebuilt, but no changes
were made to their facades.
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London
London, the capital of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, lies on the banks of the River Thames, 80 km from the North Sea. Its
geographical position is latitude 510 30' north and longitude 0°. The administrative
area of Greater London is 1,600 t. sq.km., its population was 7,393,800 in 2003.
London conurbation covers an area of 9,900 sq.km., with a population about
11,000,000. The present chapter deals particularly with the historic nucleus, the
City of London, which covers 274 ha. A quarter of Britain's industrial production
is concentrated in the London area.
A wide estuary facing the North Sea, a deep river leading into the heart of
southern England, and rising riverside ground, free from flood and marsh, provided
the environment for early settlement. The site of London, with its fertile hinterland,
would have attracted marauders and traders from the Continent, but its history
cannot be traced with any certainty before the Roman colonization of AD 45.
News of its mercantile activity may have drawn the Romans to London, but signs
of earlier habitation have been obliterated by constant occupation.
While the Thames has been termed the father of the City, it was the Romans
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who nurtured its growth. They provided it with protective walls, fragments of
which may still be seen, a bridge that has become a legend, a fort only recently
rediscovered, and a forum and public buildings. Their road plans, radiating from
London, were not unlike a railway plan of 1850. The administrative genius of the
Romans helped to develop London as the medieval capital of England.
Foundations, many recently excavated and preserved in measured drawings and
photographs, sculptures from the temple of Mithras and elsewhere, fragments of
monuments and building stones, and earth burnt, disturbed, or virgin, suggest the
layout of the town and the architecture of the period.
Over the centuries London grew from a Roman city of 131 ha, secure within its
walls and ditch, to the present Greater London of 157,950 ha, the boundaries of
which may be marked on a map, but are otherwise indistinct, as city and suburb
merge. In common parlance London is still an amorphous area of habitation and
business that has developed around the ancient city. It grew by the gradual exercise
of powers and functions over a succession of suburbs, and as a result could be said
to have differing areas according to the functions in question. Several London and
metropolitan authorities exercised those functions, most of which have now been
united under Greater London Council. No particular London area has ever been
designated as the capital. Historically, all the absorbed suburbs and superseded
authorities have combined to create the London of today.
The departure of the Romans soon after AD 400 was followed by the invasions
of the Anglo-Saxons, and led to control of London being in dispute between the
adjoining kingdoms of the Angles, Saxons and Danes, and subject to invasion from
the Continent. Though its prestige and independence may have been weakened for
a while, it preserved its identity as a cosmopolitan town. London became the
diocese of Bishop Mellitus in AD 604 and the Church of St Paul was built on a
dominant site. In the next century London was described as "a mart of many
peoples", and subsequent wars and invasions served to emphasize its importance.
When the English kingdoms became united under King Alfred and his successors,
tension in London eased, trade prospered and the citizens were better able to
defend themselves or buy off invaders. Prosperity is confirmed by the number of
churches which had been founded by the nth century, some with a Viking
dedication to St Olaf or St Nicholas Haakon. Meanwhile the City had annexed a
girdle of land outside its walls, the first suburbs, which more than doubled its
jurisdiction from 131 ha to some 280 ha subsequently reduced to 274 ha by the
building of the Tower of London. This boundary has remained for a thousand years
and still defines the local government area of the Corporation of the City of
London. Beyond these suburbs the great church of St Peter's at Westminster and
the Royal Palace were rising on the Isle of Thorney. At that time Westminster was
in no sense London and when Edward the Confessor moved the Royal Court there
he established a geographical distance between commerce and government that has
persisted to the present day. The Bayeux tapestry depicts the architecture of
Westminster, imaginary or true; archaeological evidence of Saxon habitation is
corroborated by chronicles and deeds.
Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, the Bishop of Amiens
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recorded that the leading men of the realm gathered in London, which he described
as overflowing with inhabitants and richer in treasures than the rest of the
kingdom. When London and the whole kingdom submitted to William the
Conqueror, the new king granted a charter to the citizens, written in their native
language and confirming the laws and customs they had enjoyed in the time of
Edward the Confessor; the charter is still preserved in the Guildhall. The new king
expropriated only enough land to build the fortresses of the Tower in the east,
which may still be admired, and Baynard's Castle and Montfichet in the west,
which have disappeared. They were meant to afford protection against invaders
and to impress and, if necessary, control the citizens themselves. The French
conquerors were eventually absorbed into London's population, as the Danes and
Saxons had been before them. More churches were built, and priories and hospitals
founded around the city walls and on the south bank of the Thames. The citizens
also felt their way towards local self-government. A jigsaw of more than 100
parishes was overlaid by another of 24 wards, and sandwiched between were a
number of sokes and liberties, all seeking to exercise some authority. The fashion
of community groups attracted craftsmen and merchants who established guilds
with jurisdiction over trade and traders. They grew in stature and multiplied in
number until they became, as they still are, a vital element in the City constitution.
Their Halls, large or small, are still a feature of the City, some like the
Apothecaries' and Drapers' almost hidden in lanes and courts, others such as the
Fishmongers' and Goldsmiths' boldly facing a main street and containing the
accumulated treasures of centuries.
By the end of the 12th century a Mayor had joined the old hierarchy of
Aldermen and a Council of commoners had been conceived, London Bridge was
being rebuilt of stone, and the town hall, the Guildhall, close by the more ancient
Aldermanbury, was shortly to be built. The present Guildhall, commenced in 1411,
stands partly on the crypt of its predecessor, but its roof has been replaced on
several occasions, having been destroyed by fire and war. Here the archive
evidence of the City's development has accumulated continuously in the form of
royal charters, books of customs, deeds, legal records, council minutes and
deposited manuscripts.
When the City acquired the right in the 12th century to appoint the Sheriff of
Middlesex and in later centuries wide jurisdiction in Southwark and over many
miles of the Thames waterway, it did appear to be contemplating an expansion of
its boundaries. In the same way the charters of many of the guilds gave them craft
powers beyond the City. It soon became obvious that the medieval characteristics
of the City's constitution, its citizenship, and its trade controls, could not be applied
to the suburbs. The inner suburbs were inhabited largely by poor and lawless
people whom the City was less and less inclined to absorb. Building surveyors,
called Viewers, and Bridgemasters, often master masons, were officers of the City
in the 14th century, and in the next century the first of a long line of clerks of the
works was appointed, to join the even older offices of Common Clerk and
Chamberlain.
Modern place-names around the City still bear witness to the growth of London
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- St Martin in the Fields, Lincoln Inn Fields, Clerkenwell Green, Covent Garden
and many more rural titles survive, although the fields and gardens have long since
disappeared. Surrounding villages were linked to the City by ribbon development
along the roads. The conception of a wider London seems to have arisen
incidentally from health legislation in the 16th century, requiring returns of
christenings and causes of death in and around the City. The area from which
returns were required was extended early in the 17th century until it included the
whole of Westminster and several parishes south of the Thames. The Bills of
Mortality became a synonym for London. Seven separate Commissions of Sewers
were established for parts of Kent, Surrey and Middlesex, including Westminster,
confirming the expansion of London. Views of London from 1550, by Wyngarde,
Agas, Hoefnagel, Norden and Visscher, show the congestion inevitable in an
international market place. A house in or near the City was essential for court and
church dignitaries, lawyers, merchants, and government officials. Tenements and
divided houses jostled mansion houses, and trade required more warehouses,
counting houses and offices. The Royal Exchange built in 1566 occupied the site
of 80 habitations, and was the herald of future developments.
From 1570 efforts were made locally and nationally to limit congestion in
London by orders prohibiting the building of houses within three miles of the gates
of the City on sites not formerly built upon and against the dividing of houses into
lodgings. Waste and common land was to be preserved for the recreation and
health of the people, but in 1592 the restriction on building was lifted in respect of
houses of the better sort. In so far as the orders were effective they encouraged an
even wider London, where local controls were still negligible. Some attempts were
made at the end of the i6th century to provide Westminster with an effective
council of burgesses, later to incorporate the suburbs with the City, and eventually
to establish a separate corporation of Westminster and the suburbs, but to no avail.
Building Surveyors were appointed from 1763 to regulate building works within
the area of the Bills of Mortality, but they contributed little to local government or
architectural appearance, being concerned mainly with structural safety.
The Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of the following year stimulated
suburban development and encouraged the more prosperous to maintain a mansion
in the country as well as a house in town. Almost three quarters of the houses in
the City were destroyed. Rebuilding was regulated by statute as to the number of
storeys, thickness of walls, and scantlings of timber, which transformed the
architectural appearance of the City. Many streets were widened, realigned and
levelled, projecting upper storeys were prohibited, ornament became minimal and
street markets were removed. The City had a new shape, plainer but healthier.
Architecture relief was provided by Christopher Wren, who rebuilt St Paul's
Cathedral and the towers and spires of some 50 churches. These were paid for out
of a tax on coal entering an area within a radius of about twelve miles around the
City. Remarkably, this tax continued to finance street improvements and public
utilities in Greater London until 1889. From the 17th century, archives, descriptive
surveys, views and plans of London, its suburbs and individual buildings are so
numerous and in such diverse custody as to defy composite description.
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The City became more commercial and less domestic. Although the banks were
the town houses of bankers, and some remained so until modern times, the
residential area moved progressively westward from Covent Garden to Soho,
Cavendish, Berkeley, Grosvenor and other squares that were being laid out in what
was to become known as the West End. Streets of elegant terraced houses joined
the squares and acted as a foil to the mansions of the aristocracy designed for
public life and festivities by architects such as Ware, Hawksmoor, Gibbs, Dance
and Adams. London's architecture owed much to royal patronage, from
Westminster Hall to Regent Street, from St James's Palace to Kensington Palace
and from Hampton Court to Greenwich. Prince Albert, George IV and other
monarchs encouraged and initiated building operations. Even so the development
of the Capital was piecemeal over long periods. The house built in a mulberry
garden for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 eventually became the Royal
residence of Buckingham Palace. The outline plan of that part of London was
already settled; it was dictated by the large estates of the Crown, the church and
noble lords, which inevitably were developed for gentlemen's houses.
The growing labouring class, so vital to London's commercial prosperity,
massed within walking distance of their work, in houses vacated by tradesmen and
in the poorer areas by the river. A belt of cheap labour encircled the City, absorbed
the Huguenots, Irish and other immigrants and provided bases for numerous small
manufactories. Some of the houses of the Spitalfields weavers have been
preserved.
Ever widening overseas trade required river accommodation beyond the ancient
legal quays and sufferance wharves adjacent to London Bridge. The size of ships
was increasing and tonnage entering London doubled between 1750 and 1800. The
West India Dock and its warehouses, covering some 125 ha down river on the Isle
of Dogs, opened in 1802, to be quickly followed by the London Docks at Wapping,
the East India Docks at Blackwall and the Surrey Commercial Docks of some 130
ha at Rotherhithe; later the Royal Docks and St Katharine's Dock were added.
Inevitably the east London suburbs were soon closely built up with terraced houses
for the workers, and Dockland remained a hive of activity- until the intensive
bombing of the area during the Second World War. After the war a decline in
trade, a change in transport methods, industrial unrest in the docks, and even larger
ships, accelerated the closure of nearly all the London docks and the establishment
of Tilbury, some 35 km from the City, as the port for London. Large derelict areas
await modern development. London as a port encouraged shipping and insurance
companies to establish headquarters in the City, and the world-wide services of
such institutions have been in demand ever since.
The population of London increased from some 575,000 in 1700 to 900,000 in
1800, all massed within some 5 km of St Paul's. Pressure was released soon after
1800 by a transport revolution. Short-stage coaches began daily services from the
suburbs, and were followed by larger horse-drawn omnibuses. The modern
commuter was born. London Bridge became a railway terminus in 1836 and soon
the City and West End were encircled by stations, some of architectural merit.
These termini were linked from 1863 onwards by underground railways. The
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enormous railway works (there are 16 large stations in inner London alone), the
villa and terrace developments throughout the suburbs, and improvements to
Westminster, with new streets and squares, theatres, clubs, parks, palace and
parliament, created a building boom, attracted more workmen and brought
commercial prosperity. The census of 1851 still considered London as the area
covered by the Bills of Mortality and found there a population of 2,236,000.
Clearly such a large mass of people required comprehensive local government.
The Metropolitan Police Force was established in 1829 and was given
jurisdiction ten years later over a district within a radius of some 24 km of Charing
Cross, roughly the area in which the London coal duties were collected. From 1834
parishes combined for poor relief and each union established a Board of Guardians.
In 1855 the local vestries were reformed and a Metropolitan Board of Works was
established to construct sewers, make new streets, control buildings and carry out
other general functions,, but only in an area of some 30,000 ha, one fifth of the
police district. The Board executed a distinguished array of metropolitan
improvements, including embankments north and south of the river, which greatly
improved the vistas around Westminster. Meanwhile the central area, somewhat
relieved of housing, was being transformed by more imposing buildings with wider
frontages, which were favoured by banks, insurance companies and commercial
firms who used their premises to emphasize prestige and stability. Architecture
also relieved the impact of new asylums, pumping stations, markets, viaducts and
even dwellings for the labouring classes.
Administration continued to lag behind physical development even when
London was constituted a county in 1889. The new county, carved out of the
counties of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent, was still confined to the former area of
the Board of Works. Its population exceeded 4,000,000, but a further 1,400,000
lived in the Metropolitan Police area but still outside the county. The powers of
London County Council were limited by the two-tier system, which reserved local
powers to constituent districts. In 1899 these districts were elevated to
Metropolitan Boroughs and thereafter the historian must be prepared for delegation
and consultation between authorities and an increasing participation by
government departments. Within its area the London County Council gradually
increased its functions, absorbing such bodies as the London School Board and the
London Asylums Board. Its building works, functional and dignified, were rarely
ornamental, but County Hall, with its embankment, must surely be the Council's
monument, for it gave rise to a South Bank complex. The Council preserved at
County Hall a complete archive of its own activities and of its several
predecessors, and sponsored the publication of a Survey of London, parish by
parish.
Meanwhile the ancient City Corporation made new-approaches to London
Bridge, built Tower Bridge, widened its other bridges, rebuilt the central markets
and the Central Criminal Court, and established, far beyond its boundaries, an
isolation hospital, an asylum and a school, while acquiring ownership of nearly
2,900 ha to preserve as open spaces. City, borough and county councils all
contributed to, and in some degree controlled, London's development.
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The 20th century is the era of town planning and has produced in London an
abundance of reports and plans of general schemes, actual developments and
particular buildings, of which records are often duplicated, with local comment, in
ministry, county and borough. Progress in planning following the tentative Act of
1909 was disrupted by the two World Wars. A Greater London Planning
Committee was set up in 1927, long before Greater London was itself constituted a
local authority. The report of the Royal Commission on Local Government in
Greater London, 1957-60, emphasized the need for an authority with wider
jurisdiction. Greater London Council was set up by the London Government Act of
1963 and began to operate in 1965. Whereas the old County Council controlled an
area of 30,141 ha. Greater London Council has jurisdiction over 157,950 ha and
includes within its boundaries 32 London boroughs and the City, with 12,654 km
of roads. The population of Greater London, 6,586,000 in 1901, had continued to
increase until 1939, when it stood at 8,615,000. Destruction by war, post-war
government policy of decentralization and more spacious layout in reconstruction
had reduced the population of Greater London by 1976 to 7,027,600. This was
enhanced by the so-called Abercrombie Plan. Inner London is defined as a circular
area with a radius of roughly 8 km. It includes the City, which is today the
controlling centre of British economic life. The City's resident population is just
around 5,000, but a million people work there.
A strategic Greater London Development Plan was produced by Greater
London Council in 1969 and modified by the government in 1976. Meanwhile,
much London rebuilding had proceeded by agreement of the borough councils,
with the help of declaratory orders and compulsory purchase. Conservation areas
and precinct units were attempts to preserve local characteristics. Tall office
buildings and tower blocks of fiats pierce the skyline as church spires used to do,
but Thamesmead, with 14,800 homes, traffic-free areas and a yacht marine, the
Barbican with its elevated walkways, arts centre, museum and schools, and the
Royal Festival Hall complex on the South Bank are interesting experiments in
planning and architecture. The development of the capital is further illustrated by
the rebuilding of London Bridge, the construction of a Thames tidal flood barrier at
Woolwich and a National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.
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Moscow
Moscow is the capital of Russia. The city lies in the northern part of the Central
Russian heights between the river Volga and the river Oka at a height of 120 metres
above sea level, its geographical position being 55°45' N and 37°37' E. By virtue of
its favourable geographical situation and the construction of waterways, the city has
access to the sea.
Moscow is built on a radial, circular system, which has taken shape in the course
of history and has been further expanded by new ring roads. The Moscow outer ring
road, which marks the limits of the city, is 109 kilometres long. The administrative
area of the city was 878 square kilometres and its population on 2003, was
10,101,500.
The historical and archaeological evidence of early settlements on the site of the
future city and in its environs date back to the end of the first millennium AD, when
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the future Moscow area was settled by Slavs, the Via-tichi, who originally formed
the ethnic core of Moscow's population. It is believed that the most ancient site of
their settlement is the hill at the confluence of the Ne-glinnaya and Moskva rivers.
The thick pine and mixed forests, and the broken terrain cut by ravines and riverbeds, created suitable conditions for settlement and protection from enemy attacks.
Numerous archaeological research works have shown that in the tenth and eleventh
centuries, long before Moscow was mentioned in the chronicles, a fortified towntype settlement existed on the site of the future city. It was situated in the southwestern part of the present Kremlin.
Moscow was first mentioned in the Ipatiev chronicles in 1147, and at that time
the town covered an area of one hectare. A few years later one of Moscow's first
fortresses, the Kremlin, was erected.
A considerable part was played in Moscow's development by its advantageous
geographical location at the crossroads of two extremely important land routes from Novgorod through Volokolamsk to Ryazan and from Kiev and Smolensk to
Rostov Veliki, Suzdal and Vladimir - and also by the waterways of the rivers Moskva,
Yauza and Klyazma. The Moscow Kremlin occupied a commanding position on
the high Borovitsky hill overlooking the spot where the Neglinnaya flows into the
river Moskva. The Kremlin was enclosed by an eight-metre-thick earthen rampart
with sturdy wooden supports at the base. In the thirteenth century Moscow
increasingly became a trade and handicrafts centre, with tradespeople settling
around the Kremlin. Gradually the Moscow artisans began to make their homes in
the district which is today known as Zaryadie. Among the artisans of ancient
Moscow, the potters, blacksmiths, founders, shoemakers, tanners, armourers and
jewellers were particularly noted for their skill.
In 1237, the huge hordes of the Mongols (commonly called the Tatars) seized
most of the principalities in north-eastern Rus, taking advantage of the internecine
strife between the Russian princes. The armies of Batu Khan burst into Moscow and
left it in ashes and ruins. But the fact that Moscow was so far away from the
Golden Horde allowed the town to develop again both politically and economically.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the area of the Moscow principality was
expanded.
In 1339-40, the Moscow Kremlin was rebuilt and further enlarged. By order of
Prince Ivan Kalita, the Kremlin area was enclosed by sturdy oaken walls. In those
years Moscow received its "yarlyk" (seal of investiture) from the khans of the
Golden Horde, as "the great principality", that is, it was given a dominating
position among the Russian principalities.
The town itself was also growing. Roads stretched from the Kremlin, the
political, economic and religious centre of Moscow, to various parts of Russia:
Smolensk, Novgorod, Tver, Dmitrov, Yaroslavl and Vladimir. Gradually these
roads became lined with the houses of artisans and tradesmen, forming radial
streets which created the basic pattern of the future city. Many of them long
retained the names of the old roads.
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The wooden Kremlin was burnt down in the great fire of 1365, and a Kremlin of
white stone was built on the site. The length of its walls, which had their six towers
with gates, reached two versts.
The rapid growth of the town itself and its population (from 30,000 to 40,000 in
the fourteenth century) created a need for fortifications at the more distant
approaches to the Kremlin as well. At the very beginning of the fourteenth century
the Danilov Monastery, the first such outpost, was built on the southern outskirts of
Moscow. The Petrovsky Monastery and the Convent of the Nativity
(Rozhdestvensky), the Andronnikov and Simonov, Sretensky and Novinsky, and
Donskoi monasteries, and the New Maiden's Convent (Novodevichy) were all
erected during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. Settlements of working people
sprang up around the monasteries, and new streets appeared such as Rozhdestvenka, Petrovka, Yauzskaya, Vorontsovskaya, and so on.
On September 8, 1380, the united armies of the Russian principalities led by
Prince Dmitry of Moscow defeated the Mongol armies of Mamai Khan on the field
of Kulikovo. This was the splendid beginning of the victorious struggle of the
Russian people for independence.
The creation of a single government in Moscow brought an end to feudal
internecine strife, by concentrating power in the hands of the Prince of Moscow, so
that the country's independence could be successfully defended. By the end of the
fifteenth century Moscow had become the most important trading centre in the
state of Rus, and was generally recognized as the national capital of the Russian
people.
In 1480, a great victory finally put an end to Tatar power in Rus and freed
Europe from the Mongol threat.
Moscow's rapidly growing economic and political significance in the first half of
the fourteenth century was the main reason for moving the metropolitan's residence
to Moscow, which from then on became the ecclesiastical centre of all of Russia.
At the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries a single, centralized Russian
state was formed.
The growth of the state's political might was reflected in the way the town was
developed, built up and planned.
In 1475-79, the new Cathedral of the Assumption, designed by the Italian
architect Aristotele Fioravante, was erected. This cathedral was built according to
the canons of Russian architecture and became the state's main cathedral. The
second to be built was the Cathedral of the Annunciation (1484-89), followed by
the Cathedral of the Archangel (1505-09). The Faceted Hall had been built
somewhat earlier, and by the end of 1600 the construction of the Belfry of Ivan the
Great had been completed. Thus, the Cathedral Square in the Kremlin took shape
and came to symbolize the complete formation of a unified Russian state.
At the same time, new brick walls were built around the Kremlin, and these have
in the main been preserved to the present day. Red Square (in Old Russian
"krasny" -red-also meant "beautiful") was created along the east wall of the
Kremlin. In the middle of the sixteenth century, on the south side of Red Square
overlooking the river Moskva, the Cathedral of the Intercession was erected to
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commemorate the conquest of Kazan. This cathedral is one of the masterpieces of
Russian architecture. On the western side of the square stood rows of market stalls,
as many as two hundred of them. Each row of stalls bore the name of the goods
that were sold there, for instance harness row, saddle row, needle row.
In the sixteenth century Moscow was one of the largest towns in Europe,
occupying an area of 533 hectares, with a population of about 200,000. As the
population was so large, the working people were turned out of the Kremlin area,
and some of the merchants and artisans settled separately in Zamoskvorechie
(beyond the Moskva river) and in Zaryadie. The areas of Moscow beyond the river
Neglinnaya (Zaneglimenie) and beyond the river Yauza (Zayauza) were also
extensively settled.
Moscow gained in importance as an economic centre. Settlements of craftsmen
mushroomed and expanded in Moscow, and subsequently many squares and streets
in the town were named after them: the "Kuznechnaya sloboda" (the blacksmiths'
settlement-Kuznetsky Most [Blacksmiths' Road]), the Goncharnaya sloboda (the
potters' settlement-embankment, passage and lanes), the Kozhevennaya sloboda
(tanners' settlements-embankment, street, lanes), and the Taganskaya, Kotelnicheskaya (boilers'), Kadashi and Khamovniki (linen weavers) settlements. Special
settlements for those who served the court were called Povarskaya (cooks'), Khlebnaya (bakers'), Stolovaya (stewards'), Konyushennaya (Grooms') and so on. All in
all, the settlements of the court officials, the military, the monasteries and the
"taxed", i.e., bearing the main burden of the city's taxes, numbered up to one
hundred and fifty.
In the interests of Moscow's defences, the stone Kitai Gorod wall and gate
towers were erected in 1535 (architect: Petrok Maly). This wall divided the trading
centre
from the rest of the city, joining it to the Kremlin on the eastern side.
The remains of this wall and some of the gates (Tretyakovsky Proezd) can still be
seen in the centre of Moscow today. The Kitai Gorod wall formed a second ring of
fortifications around the Kremlin. Half a century later two more rings of
fortifications were built: the Bely Gorod (White Town-1585-91; architect: Feodor
Kon), and the Zemlyanoi Gorod or Skorodom 1591) which further consolidated the
radial ring-shaped plan of Moscow. The wall of the Bely Gorod was erected along
the line of the present Boulevard ring road. It was built of brick with many "blind"
towers and dozens of gated towers opening onto Moscow's radial streets. The
fortifications of the Zemlyanoi Gorod ran along the line of the present Sadovoye
Koltso (Garden Ring Road) and were about sixteen kilometres in length. A wooden
wall with 34 gates was built on the high Zemlyanoi rampart, and about one
hundred blind towers.
A new, national style of architecture began to emerge in sixteenth-century
Moscow, drawing upon the folk wooden architecture. The creation and
development of stone churches of the "pillar" and "tent-roof" type is the most
remarkable phenomenon in sixteenth century church building. Among such
churches are the Cathedral of the Intercession on the moat (the church of St Basil
the Blessed—Vasili Blazhenny-built by the Russian architects Postnik, Yakovlev
and Barma), the church of St Antipy, the Cathedral of the Convent of the Nativity
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(Rozhdestvensky), and the Church of St Nicetas (Nikita chto za Yauzoi).
The Russian architecture flourished anew in the seventeenth century. The style
known as Moscow Baroque (the Naryshkin style) appeared. The soaring
movement of these stone churches, with their multiple pillars and intricate detail
gave them a quite new look of lightness and airiness. The most outstanding
monuments in the Naryshkin style are the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin
in Fili and the Upper Petrovsky Monastery, which was rebuilt.
Most of the buildings in seventeenth-century Moscow were built of wood.
However, the boyars' mansions, the courtiers' homes, and the churches were more
and more frequently of stone: the Church of the Nativity in Putinki (1652, on
Chekhov Street), the ensemble of the Upper Petrovsky Monastery (end of the
seventeenth century, on Petrovka Street), the Trinity Church in Nikitniki (end of
the seventeenth century, near Old Square-Staraya PJoshchad), the mansion of
Boyar Vol-kov (seventeenth century, in Kharitoniev Lane) and others.
Most of the road surfaces in Moscow were made of wood; only those leading up
to the Kremlin gates were cobbled. The Moscovites obtained drinking water from
the rivers and streams, of which there were many in old Moscow.
Political upheavals and wars left their mark on the town. It was many times
burnt down and rebuilt, each time gaining outstanding new buildings. After the fire
of 1626 the Tsar issued an edict providing for the widening of the streets and lanes
in the Kremlin and the adjacent districts to 12-13 metres.
The Kremlin towers were decorated with peaked roofs, and a new clock
appeared on the Barbican of St Frol (Spassky Gate). The moat running along the
Kremlin wall was spanned by stone bridges across to Red Square.
The growth of Moscow and its population-resulted at the beginning of the
seventeenth century in the setting up of two special establishments, the Zemskii
Prikaz (the chief police and judicial office for the city of Moscow) and the
Pushkarskii Prikaz (gunners' office), to take charge of improving the city and
ensuring public order.
The planning of Moscow was mainly determined by the radial, circular system
of building that had been formed. However, between the city's main arteries, the
radial streets, infilling was haphazard.
Government construction work in Moscow was supervised by an office that was
specially created in the seventeenth century, the Prikaz Kamennikh Del (the Stone
Work Office).
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the capital of the state was moved to
St Petersburg. However, Moscow continued to be regarded as Russia's second
capital and remained an extremely important political, economic and cultural
centre. By that time the city had 16,357 households.
In the first quarter of the eighteenth century a number of planning edicts were
issued by the government. Only the building of stone structures was permitted in
the Kremlin, the Kitai Gorod and the Bely Gorod. Paving of the streets with
cobblestones began.
Though no overall replanning of the city took place between 1700 and 1725,
whole sections were replanned. In 1722, to ensure constant supervision of building
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work, the special post of Chief of Police was instituted, to take charge of an office
which received detailed instructions on all the previous planning edicts applying to
the city.
From 1742 onwards an "architectural class" operated at the Chief of Police's
office, issuing plans and building permits. The "architectural class" continued to
function until 1780, when the Kamenny Prikaz (Stone Work Office) was put hi
charge of supervising architecture for two years. After that was abolished in 1782,
the job passed to the Uprava Blagochiniya (Police Office).
In 1739, the architect Ivan Michurin worked out the first master plan for the city,
based on a geodesic survey. The plan reflected the actual state of building in the
city and provided for improved planning of Moscow's streets. In the plan the new
boundary of Moscow was indicated for the first time. It ran along the Kompaneisky (subsequently Kamer-Kollezhsky) Wall, which enclosed the settlements and
the outlying houses beyond the old Moscow limits, the Zemlyanoi Wall.
The Kamer-Kollezhsky Wall was built in 1742 as a means of controlling the
goods brought into the city and levying duty on them. There were gates all along
the wall. Even now, some Moscow streets still bear the names of sections of this
wall-Sushchevsky Wall, Butyrsky Wall, Tryokhgorny Wall, and so on.
In the eighteenth century the appearance of Moscow was enhanced by the many
private residences of the gentry and by public buildings in Classical Style, often
designed by outstanding architects, like V. I. Bazhenov, K. I. Blank, M. F.
Kazakov, G. Quarenghi, I. Korobov, V. V. Rastrelli, and D. V. Ukhtomsky.
Among the most significant buildings of the period are: the Pashkov House on
Prospekt Marxa (architect V. I. Bazhenov, 1786), the palace of Catherine the Great
on the river Yauza (architect G. Quarenghi, end of the eighteenth century), the
Dom Dvoryanskogo Sobraniya (Court Assembly House) on Prospekt Marxa
(architect M. F. Kazakov, 1784), Moscow University (architect M. F. Kazakov,
1793), and many others.
In the eighteenth century considerable changes took place in the administration
of Moscow. The urban reforms of Peter the Great led to the foundation of elected
organizations of posadskie (people making their living by the retail trade,
handicrafts, or by hiring labour), of ratushi (organs of municipal administration)
and of the magistracy that took over from them. Under the zhalovannaia gramota
(the charter granting properties, rights, privileges and immunities), new municipal
institutions (such as the six-member executive known as the shestiglasnaia duma)
were founded.
By that time, a system of institutions had been formed to deal, among other
things, with building work, the improvement of public services and amenities in
the city, and the running of them: the Office of the Governor-General of Moscow,
the Office of the Governor of Moscow, the Moscow Provincial Board, and others.
In the second half of the eighteenth century control of planning and building in
the two capitals was carried out by the Planning Commission of St Petersburg and
Moscow. A special department to control building and improve the layout of the
city was set up in Moscow in 1774. The department worked out a master plan for
the city, for which approval was granted by Catherine the Great. But the plan was
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never carried out, since it conflicted with the interests of private landholders in the
city. In 1786, the Vodootvodny Canal was built, some embankments were put in
order and a number of inner-city streets were paved. An extremely important event
for Moscow was the beginning of the construction of the first gravity-feed water
main from the Mytishchi springs in 1779. The pipeline was completed in 1804. In
five Moscow squares fountains were erected from which water could be taken to
the houses in barrels. At the end of the eighteenth century demolition of the
delapidated wall of the Bely Gorod began and boulevards laid out in its place.
Moscow's first boulevard, Tverskoi Boulevard, dates from 1796.
By the end of the eighteenth century the population of Moscow had grown to
300,000. The area within the Zemlyanoi Wall was approximately 9,000 hectares.
Moscow gradually extended its limits by incorporating the settlements around
the city.
Napoleon's invasion of Moscow in 1812 was disastrous. During the French
occupation almost three-quarters of the city were destroyed by fire. According to
official data 7,632 of the 9,151 houses were listed as having been burnt down. In
1813, a Building Commission was set up to rebuild Moscow. A leading role on it
was played by the architect O. I. Beauvais; the architects V. Balashov, D. Borisov,
D. Grigoriev, and I. Zhu-kov were also involved in the Commission's work.
The Commission issued strict architectural regulations for the reconstruction of
old buildings and the construction of new ones, and supervised the replanning of
the city to see that this was done, keeping in mind the best examples of Russian
architecture.
An important part in this process was played by the Institute of Architecture,
founded by M. F. Kazakov. The five million roubles allocated by the government
were insufficient to rebuild the city, and so the expense of reconstruction was
mostly borne by the inhabitants. Some buildings in the centre of the city were
rebuilt according to the Commission's plan, in particular, the Petrovsky (now the
Bolshoi) Theatre (architects O. I. Beauvais and A. Kavos), Moscow University
(architect D. Gilliardi) and others. In the 18205 and 18305 Teat-ralnaya Square and
the squares at the Triumfalny, Krasny and Arbatsky gates were laid out. During rebuilding of the houses, some streets were straightened, and the Zemlyanoi Wall
(Zemlyanoi Gorod) was pulled down and replaced by a wide circular thoroughfare,
the Sadovoye Koltso (the Garden Ring Road). The river Neglinnaya, which flowed
through the very centre of the city, was channelled underground (1823).
In the first half of the nineteenth century there appeared several splendid
creations by outstanding architects : the Manege (riding-school-architect O. I.
Beauvais, 1817), the town house of tibe Khrushchevs on Kropotkin Street
(architect A. Grigoriev, 1814), the building of the Opekunsky Soviet (Board of
Guardians) on Solyanka (architect D. Gilliardi, 1826), the Nieskuchnoye house on
Leninsky Prospekt (architect E. Tyurin, 1830s), ani many others.
From the middle of the nineteenth century Moscow's industry grew rapidly.
Textiles and tanning industries had long existed in the city; now they were joined
by the metalworking, food and chemical industries, which became increasingly
important. The enterprises in the city grew both in number and size to become the
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greatest in the country. At the same time, the transport network further developed
and Moscow became an important junction often railway lines.
The growth of capitalist Moscow naturally left its mark on the city's appearance
and on the organization of public services and amenities. By the second half of the
nineteenth century the south and south-eastern districts of the city, including
Zamoskvorechie, Taganka and Zemlyanka, were clearly becoming mercantile
areas. As industrial enterprises appeared, the workers' districts which sprang up
near them frequently lacked amenities: the streets were poorly lit and unpaved; the
houses and bairack-like hostels for the workers were built of wood.
In that period a considerable number of detached houses and five to six-storey
houses were built in the central part of the city. As a rule they had few architectural
merits. The principal distinguishing mark of architecture in this period was an
eclectic approach. This holds true for the Polytechnical Museum, the Town
Council building, the History Museum, the Upper Rows of Market Stalls (GUM),
and several other buildings erected at this time. The cobble stones of some of the
city's streets were replaced by asphalt and wooden blocks, metal bridges replaced
wooden ones, and street lighting was improved. In 1872, the first horsedrawn trams
(konka) appeared in the streets of Moscow, only to be ousted by electric trams at
the turn of the century.
The administration of the city was concentrated in the hands of the Town
Council, which was elected only by representatives of the propertied strata of the
population. But the Town Council had little say in town planning and the
organization of public services and amenities, for the main questions affecting life
in the city were decided by the governor.
By the beginning of the twentieth century no more than three per cent of
Moscow's houses had three or more floors, and public services and amenities were
very poor. Only about twenty kilometres of the street network were lit by
electricity. Any attempt to improve the streets was opposed by the house-owners,
who pursued their own mercenary ends.
The Great October Socialist Revolution opened up a new stage in the history of
Moscow. In March 1918, Moscow became the capital of the young Soviet Republic.
The economic dislocation in the country also applied to Moscow: many
enterprises had ceased to operate; transport was extremely erratic, and the water
supply completely disrupted. Housing had fallen into neglect. At that time, the
population of Moscow numbered 1,854,000. All the measures to revive the city's
industry and economy were taken by the Town Council. The water supply was
restored and the tramlines repaired, and in 1924 bus services began. Housing,
schools and hospitalsTwere rapidly repaired. By 1925 the city's economy had
reached its prewar level. A number of districts in Moscow were provided with
water supplies and a sewage system for the first time. In 1926 the building of new
living accommodation began in the capital. Five-storied blocks of flats were built
primarily in the workers' districts, like Dangauerovka, Rogozhsky settlement,
Usachevka, the 1905 Settlement, Shabolovka.
An important event for Soviet Moscow was the approval on July 10,1935, by the
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Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party and the Soviet government,
of a master plan for the reconstruction of Moscow. According to this plan, the
city's area was to increase from 28,500 to 60,000 hectares. All the city's main
thoroughfares were to undergo drastic reconstruction. The demolition of old,
dilapidated buildings of little value began, and in their place multistorey blocks of
flats and offices were erected. It was first and foremost the centre of Moscow that
was subjected to radical changes. New buildings mushroomed on Okhotny Ryad
(now Prospekt Marxa) and on Tverskaya Street (Gorky Street), which were
widened from 18 to 60 metres and lined with modern, multistorey blocks of flats.
The appearance of the radial thoroughfares - the Kaluga, Leningrad and Mozhaisk
highways, the Chaussee Entuzias-tov, and Novoslobodskaya Street - was
considerably changed. The reconstruction of the Sadovoye Koltso (the Garden
Ring Road), one of the city's most important arteries, began. In accordance with
the master plan, there was a small amount of housing construction in the central
part of the city and on the reconstructed streets.
A special feature of the 1935 master plan was that it sought to satisfy the city's
needs in the most rational way. At the same time as housing construction was
under way, schools, clubs, hospitals and child-care establishments were being
built. In the 1935 plan great attention was paid to solving the transport problems.
The first trolley-bus appeared in Moscow in 1938, and the first line of the Moscow
metropolitan (underground) from Sokolniki to the Gorky Park of Culture and
Recreation was opened in 1935. At present, the Moscow Metro has 164.5
kilometres of lines and 103 stations, many of which are 'of architectural interest
(Ploshchad Sverdlova, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya Lermon-tovskaya,
Kropotkinskaya and others). To solve the acute problem of water supplies for the
vastly growing city, the 128-kilometre-long Moskva Canal was built in the shortest
possible time, just four years and three months. The Canal linked the river Moskva
with the Volga and also solved the problem of water transport on the river Moskva.
In 1937-38, new bridges were built across the river Moskva and the Vodootvodny
Canal.
After the Great Patriotic War (1941-45), the construction of housing, and
cultural, welfare and service premises developed on a new scale. To begin with, it
was continued in those areas where building had been interrupted by the war, and
then it was concentrated in the former suburbs of the city.
In 1960, five towns which formerly lay in the Moscow region became part of
Moscow city: Babushkin, Tushino, Lyublino, Perovo and Kuntsevo.
The intensive housing construction is still continuing. Every year about 100,000110,000 new flats are built for the inhabitants of Moscow. Many new districts have
emerged in the city with five, nine, 12,16, and 25-storied blocks of flats, for
instance Khoroshevo-Mnevniki, Fili-Mazilovo, Izmailovo, Tekstilshchiki,
Kuzminki, Medvedkovo, Sviblovo, Pechatniki, Tyoply Stan, Bir-yulovo and
others.
A number of buildings that have made Moscow more attractive in the post-war
period should be mentioned. These include the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the
Sports Complex in Luzhniki, the CMEA building, and the office buildings on
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Kalinin Prospekt. At the same time, the reconstruction of the old part of Moscow,
within the Sadovoye Koltso, has continued. Dilapidated buildings of little
architectural value from former epochs have been pulled down, and in most cases
new boulevards and public gardens have replaced them.
From 1960 to 1970 new bridges were built across the river Moskva. These are
the Kalinin bridge, the Avto-zavodsky bridge and the two-tiered bridges in
Luzhniki and Nagatino, which carry both road transport and the Metro.
In the Decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU and of the Council of
Ministers of the U.S.S.R. on the "Master Plan for the Development of Moscow"
(1971) it states that the reconstruction and development of the town centre within
the Sadovoye Koltso is planned. The Kremlin is to continue to hold the most
important place in the architectural ensemble of the centre of the city, and the
development of the centrarpartfof the city and part of the banks of the river
Moskva is also planned. Cultural, educational, public and political premises will be
retained in the centre, and the remaining part of Greater Moscow is to be divided
up into seven individual planning zones.
The planning of the old part of the town is to remain the same as it was in the
past. By a decision of Moscow Council in 1976, new building in this area of
Moscow is to be restricted and nine zones are to be created where the buildings are
to be preserved, including Kirov Street, B. Khmelnitsky Street, Chernyshevsky
Street, Kropotkin Street, and Bolshaya Ordynka Street.
Much is being done to preserve and restore many monuments of architecture,
history and culture. Five hundred and seventy-three monuments of architecture
(1,673 individual buildings) are protected by the state. A special inspectorate for
the preservation of architectural monuments of the Central Architecture and
Planning Administration of Moscow, and the Central Cultural Administration of
the Executive Committee of Moscow City Council are in charge of the registration,
preservation, restoration and use of architectural monuments. Hundreds of different
architectural monuments have been restored in the capital in the past 20-25 years.
The Kremlin buildings are under constant observation, and restoration of the walls
and towers of the Kremlin was completed not long ago. Numerous monuments
from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries have been restored. Attention is
constantly given to memorial monuments of outstanding Russian writers, poets,
composep ajid artists.
The Russia takes an active part in preserving and using architectural monuments
to the best advantage.
139
Wien Vienna
Vienna, the capital of Austria, lies near the north-eastern spur of the Alps, at the
foot of the Vienna Woods, 151-542 metres above sea level, on the banks of the
River Danube. Its geographic position is latitude 48°12' north and longitude 16°22'
east. The area is 414 sq.km. and the population 1,543,100 (2003) excluding the
satellite towns.
The history of Vienna begins in the ist century AD, when the Romans founded a
military camp called Vin-dobona, one of a chain of fortified positions. The camp
was bounded to the north-east by a steep slope descending towards the Danube, to
the north-west by the Ottak-ring brook (now Tiefer Graben), to the south-east by
ramparts along the line of the present-day Rotgasse and Kramergasse, and on the
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south-west by the Graben and Naglergasse. About the same time a civilian Roman
town grew up in the area of today's 3rd District, which became a free city
(municipium) in 213 AD. In the 4th century Tabula Peutingeriana still figured on a
Roman map. It is mentioned for the last time in the Notitia dignitatum of 400 AD,
after which the Romans abandoned the camp and the town was destroyed by fire.
Only fragments remain from Roman times, but the main outlines of the legionary
camp are still clearly discernible.
Chronicles and documents that refer to the area seldom mention the Great
Migrations and few archaeological funds have been made from that period. In his
Getica (550 AD) Jordanes refers to a civitas Vindomina; a 6th century cemetery
and some 7th century coins were found in Salvatorgasse; the Salzburg Annals of
881 contain the first documentary evidence of a battle against the Hungarians
(Primwn bellwn cum Ungaris ad Weniam). This documentary evidence and
archaeological discoveries in the Berghof area of the ist District would lead one to
assume that these were only remaining settlements on the site of the former
military camp, whose walls were still standing in parts. In the middle of the 11th
century, when the mixed Slavic-Avar and Hungarian population of the area
between the Vienna Woods and the River Leitha were being absorbed into the
German kingdom, Vienna must have had considerable importance as a defence
position and a centre of legislation and trade. Within the central area of today's
Vienna three phases of development can be discerned: 1. Within the walls of the
Roman camp settlement nuclei were formed and systematically developed in the
7th-9th centuries; 2. Outside the Roman camp, at road junctions and along main
highways further settlements developed independently of the old town in the loth11th centuries; 3. Again outside the Roman camp, but in direct contact with the old
town, suburbs outside the city walls came into being in the 11th-12th centuries.
The communities that arose on the site of the Roman camp greatly influenced the
way the city centre developed. The oldest nucleus was the Berghof, the stronghold
of the town, in the north-east. Before the age of the Babenbergs it must have been
the seat of the lords of the city and probably of the Formbach family. Till the
beginning of the 9th century the stronghold, along with Ruprechtsldrche (St
Rupert's Church), the market called Kienmarkt and a row of houses formed an
easily defensible settlement which by its economic importance became the germ of
the early medieval city. Two further settlements, one in the south-east around
Peterskirche (St Peter's Church), belonging to the same ecclesiastical organization,
and one around the Maria am Gestade Church in the northwest, developed and
remain to this day.
The Niederaltaich Annals of 1030 mention that at Vienni (or near it) the armies
of Emperor Conrad were defeated by the Hungarians. In 1042 the Kaiserchronik
(Imperial Chronicle) stated that Emperor Henry II held a court day in Vienna;
about a third of the way through the i ith century the settlement around the
Peterskirche expanded in the direction of Tuchlauben, where houses clustered
around the Witmarkt, a triangular place characteristic of the age, of which remains
exist to this day. The various settlements grew together and were surrounded by
new ramparts. The area between the ramparts (west of Tuchlauben) and the old
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camp wall (Tiefer Graben) were left vacant and only acquired significance in the
middle of the 12th century.
Initially the development of the settlement outside the former Roman camp was
linked with the old road network around Vienna. Some of the population found the
areas along the roads leading from the ancient camp boundaries (today's Wahringer
Strafie, Herrengasse and Augustinerstrafie) to the city gates particularly suitable
sites. In this way the Schaufellucke came into being, directly beside the first
Michaelerkirche (St Michael's Church, built in 1100), where Schauflergasse runs
today. To the east, beyond Karntner Strasse, which leads south, a fortified
mercantile settlement called Wihpurc (Weih-burg) was established as the protected
terminal of the trade route to Venice, while to the north-east the suburb of
Kumpflucke sprang up.
The first suburb to grow up directly under the walls was amalgamated with the
old town in the early part of the 11th century. It was a mercantile settlement called
Lugeck, which stood in front of the Ungarisches Tor (Hungarian Gate) at the
starting point of the other important trade route, which led to Hungary. Lugeck
formed, in certain respects, a counterpart to Weihburg. To the north it was bounded
by the Fleischmarkt (Meat Market), and to the south by Wollzeile.
In the 1130s, probably still in the time of Margrave Leopold III, in whose reign
the Austrian Duchy was formed, Vienna came into the hands of the House of
Babenberg. It is first referred to as a civitas in the Treaty of Mautem, which
brought about territorial exchanges between Margrave Leopold IV and Reginmar,
Bishop of Passau. The original Stephanskirche (St Stephen's Church) was built in
Romanesque style between 1137 and 1147, and its positioning influenced the
further development of the surrounding area. Around 1155 Henry II established his
seat in Vienna. The Privilegium minus granted a whole series of privileges to the
House of Babenberg and gave rise to the extraordinarily rapid development of
Austria as a duchy. From the architectural and town-planning points of view the
ducal court (Am Hot, or Herzogshof, c. 1155) were essential elements in the
projects of Duke Leopold V, especially since the Herzogshof and the adjacent
Jewish quarter to the north occupied the last stretch of open space within the walls
of the former Roman camp. It meant that the development of the civilian town
became obstructed and the growing population could find no more sites for
building. The expansion of the city had probably been started by Leopold V in
1180, and was more or less completed by the beginning of the reign of Leopold VI
(1198). The old town walls lost their significance as defences as early as 1170, so
that in 1190 the moat on the south-western side was levelled to form a square (the
present Graben). The new city-wall was 3.5 km long. However, the building of it
made little progress and was only finished after the ransom extorted for the release
of Richard Coeur-de-Lion was obtained. The expanded medieval city was a trade
centre, a border defence position and a ducal seat. By the beginning of the 13th
century it was already a highly developed community with municipal rights
(1221), its own administration (city magistrate and council) and economic
privileges (staple right). Some of the city's activities was taken over by the
Neustadt (New City). The Neuer Markt (New Market) became a trade centre
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around which numerous workshops and inns were set up and had important effects
on trade and transport. During the decades that followed, several monasteries were
built near the gates. The city soon grew beyond the new walls: records from 1200
to 1257 mention (in chronological order) the establishment of the Convent of the
Cistercian Order, the consecration of the Heilig-geistspital (Holy Spirit Hospital)
and the Ulrichskapelle (St Ulrich's Chapel), the settling of members of the
Magdalene Order and, from 1257, the existence of a civilian hospital.
In spite of the immense development of the city in the 19th century, the street
layout of the inner city still retains marks of the Romanesque Vienna of 10001250. The oldest building, the Ruprechtskirche (St Rupert's Church), was
originally founded in the 8th century, but in its present form it is predominantly
from the iith century. Of the Romanesque buildings that so influenced the later
growth of the city, only fragments have survived: behind the Neoclassical west
front of the Michaelerkirche (St Michael's Church), the'Dark Sacristy' of the
Schottenkirche (Scottish Church) and the 'Roman chapel'. The whole western part
of the second Romanesque Stephanskirche, built between 1230 and 1240, was
incorporated into the later Gothic church.
After the dying out of the House of Babenberg (Duke Frederick II was killed in
action near the River Leitha in 1246), Austria was ruled from 1251 to 1276-78 by
the Bohemian king Otakar Premysl. Vienna became the capital of the Holy Roman
Empire which at its maximum stretched from the Riesengebirge to the Adriatic
Sea. In the mid-1270s Otakar contributed to the development of the city by
building a well defensible -castle near Schweizertrakt (Widmer Gate), which was
later completed by the Habsburgs. The court dignitaries, employees and suppliers
who settled near the castle changed the social structure of the neighbourhood. The
nobility established quarters along both sides of Herrengasse; near the Kohlmarkt
(Coal Market) a servants' district grew up; between Wallner Strafie and
Naglergasse a craftsmen's district came into being. The castle district included the
early 12th century Michaeler-kirche, the early 13th century Minoritenkirche
(belonging to the Order of Minorite Friars who settled in Vienna in 1224) and the
Augusdnerkirche from the beginning of the 14th century.
Beside the aristocratic quarter around the castle, an ecclesiastical centre
developed in the neighbourhood of the Stephanskirche, while along the Graben a
new civic quarter came into being, which stretched as far as the rows of houses of
the patriciate, the guilds and the administrative centre at the Hoher Markt in the
north, while in the south, around the Neuer Markt, which was the terminal of the
Italian trade route, it extended to the craftsmen's quarter. Adjacent to these lay the
Jewish quarter and farther on the University quarter. The Jewish quarter was
destroyed during the massacre of 1421, after which the Jewish population was
banished from the whole empire. To further the development of the city, its
farmlands and gardens were gradually encroached upon, while buildings became
taller and were divided into increasingly large numbers of tenancies. At the
beginning of the 14th century the systematic building up of the area within the
city-walls had reached its peak.
The first great architectural creation of the early 14th century, a period of
143
transition between the high and the late Middle Ages, was the choir of the
Stephanskirche, known as the Albertinischer Chor (1304-40), and later the
rebuilding of the whole edifice as a cathedral (1359-1446). It was the first of a
whole series of ecclesiastical construction and reconstruction projects, most of
which have survived, though some only in altered forms. They include the
Deutschordenskirche (Church of the Teutonic Knights), the choir of the
Michaelerkirche, the Georgskapelle (St George's Chapel), the chancel of Maria am
Gestade, the Minoritenkirche, the Malteser-kirche (Church of the Knights of
Malta), etc.
The Stephanskirche is a magnificent example of Austrian late Gothic.
The first phase of the Hofburg was built in the Gothic period. The Schweizcrhof
was built in the i3th century with four strong towers at its comers; the chapel is the
only Gothic part to survive. The first mention of it comes in 1296; in 1447-1449 it
was enlarged. The House of the Estates was reconstructed in 1513-16, when
Gothic halls were added to the original buildings.
From the end of the 13th century there were constant struggles between the city
striving to expand its rights and its Habsburg princes, who tried to restrictthem.
After the unsuccessful rebellion of 1296, Albrecht I forced the citizens to accept
new icstricted; rights, but the staple right continued in force. In the middle of the
14th century Rudolf IV deprived the so-called 'hereditary citizens'- small leading
group in the city - of their main source of income which derived from ground rents.
However, through gaining fact privilege of electing their own' city council in 1396,
the political influence of the well-to-do craftsman families increased. The
hereditary citizens, craftsmen and merchants each elected a third of the 18 seats on
the council. At the beginning of the 15th century the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the Habsburgs became sharper, culminating in the execution of the
Mayor, Wolfgang Holzer, in 1463.
The relegation of Vienna from its position as a centre during the reign of
Frederick III and the city's occupation by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary from
1485 to 1490 led to a decline at the end of the Middle Ages. Although classical.
culture continued to flourish, the privileges that had been granted, to the German
merchants robbed the Viennese of their economic power and, as a consequence, of
their political significance as well. The most important constitutional and economic
institutions were disbanded.
The new regulations on the city, which superseded the medieval city rights in
1526, ended the last vestiges of civilian self-government. The mayor, was reduced
to a mere officer of the principality, subordinate to the Lower Austrian provincial
government.
For the Christians of the west, Vienna was the bulwark against the Turks, and
the city was consequently turned into a stronghold for neady two centuries. In
addition, it was the centre of the Counter-Reformation movement led by the Jesuits
and other orders and, from 1533 on, of increasing importance, as: the seat of the
Habsburg emperors. All these factors affected its development: new defences were
erected and a number of monasteries and churches, some in the Italian and Spanish
144
styles, were founded in the city centre. Buildings designed in Renaissance and later
in Baroque style appeared in increasing number beside the Gothic houses. The
middle classes were faring their place as the commissioners of building work a
favour of the military, the aristocracy and the ckqy. In addition to the prosperous
area around the castle, a growing number of houses were built by the nobility im
the citizens' districts, for example east of Kärntner Straβe.
The first Turkish siege (1529) Aowed that the city-walls were obsolete and no
longer able to withstand a powerful assault. Archduke Ferdinand (later. Holy
Roman Emperor) therefore ordered the construction of a new defence system,
choosing as example the fortfications of the Italian Renaissance period and inviting
Italian engineers to help build them. The extensive new defences with their huge
bastions surrounded the whole of the old town and all building in front of them was
banned. So many citizens had lost their homes by the building of the fortifications,
and housing had to be systematically erected in the Unterer Werd (today's
Leopoldstadt) to replace them. The craftsmen's districts and the market gardeners'
dwellings which until the first Turkish siege had stood directly under the city-walls
in what was called the Lucken district afterwards disappeared, severing the last
physical point of contact between the city and its ever larger and more populous
suburbs. During the following decades the open space around the castle was
enlarged several times and hindered the amalgamation of the city with its suburbs
until the second half of the 19th century. Many tradesmen and craftsmen withdrew
to the outskirts. Within the city buildings were erected closer and closer together,
and the accommodation required by the court employees and officials (who, for set
rents, were billeted in the houses of the citizenry) caused an added strain that led to
a worsening of housing conditions in general. Gothic dwellings were gradually
replaced by Renaissance style ones on larger sites with a larger number of floors.
The bird's-eye view by Jakob Hoefnagel (1609) shows graphically how the Gothic
pattern of the dty was disintegrating.
During the 16th century Vienna's building energies were almost entirely taken
up by the construction of fortifications. The most significant Renaissance building
in the dty centre, the Stallburg, with its three-storeyed, arcaded court, was built for
the hereditary prince, Maximilian II (1558-1565). The Schweizertrakt was
embellished with a new facade and extended by the addition of the Schweizertor
(Swiss Gate 1552-1553). Emperor Rudolf II commissioned the Amelienburg
(1574-1611) to replace the old Cillierhof. Other notable buildings from the
Renaissance period are the Porcia Palais in Herrengasse, the facade of the
Franciscan Church (1603-14) and the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church in
Dorotheergasse. Of the few surviving 16th century town-houses. No. 7
Backerstrafie, with its fine arcaded courtyard, is the most interesting.
As a result of the "onslaught on the monasteries" mounted by Cardinal Melchior
Khiesi, early Baroque followed its conquest of Salzburg by triumphing in Vienna
in the first half of the 17th century. The work of Italian artist families made such an
impact that Roman Baroque became the dominant style. Of the ecclesiastical
buildings, the following are the most noteworthy: the Kapuzinerkirche (1622-32),
the Jesuitenkirche (1627-31), which in its present form is the work of Andrea
145
Pozzo (1703-1707), the Dominikanerkirche (1631-74), and the Schottenkirchc, of
which the reconstruction was carried out by Andrea d'Allio and Silvestro Carlone
(1643-1648).
The reconstruction of the University (1623-1627), the elongated wing of the
Hofburg built under Leopold in 1660-1668, the Bishop's Palace (after 1723 the
Erzbischof-liches-Archbishop's—Palais), the Starhemberg-Palais, the EsterhazyPalais and the Dietrichstein, later Lobko-witz-Palais, are regarded as outstanding
architectural creations of the age. Most of the other early Baroque palaces of the
nobility have been destroyed; only a very few commoners' houses survive.
Vienna's role as a border fortress ended with the repulsion of the second
Ottoman onslaught in 1683. In 1704, on the instructions of Prince Eugene of
Savoy, the suburbs which had grown up in front of the dty-walls were guarded
against further attacks by a so-called Linienwall built approximately along the lines
of the present Giirtel (outer ring road). This increased the area of the dty many
times over and large-scale building in the mature Baroque style could begin and
then extend also to the outskirts and suburbs. The shifting of the centre of interest
within the Habsburg domains back to the hereditary provinces of Austria gave
fresh momentum to building work in the Age of Baroque. Vienna became the
Baroque, imperial capital of a great central European power and developed
substantially during the following century. In the 18th century the upper nobility
built city palaces and the wealthy bourgeoisie set up summer residences outside the
confines of the city. By 1740 nearly 400 country houses, mansions and castles had
been built around Vienna. To this day the view between the Ring and the Giirtel is
dominated by the Belvedere that Prince Eugene of Savoy had built, and by the
Auersperg, Liechtenstein, Schonbom, Schwar-zenberg and Trautson palaces. The
Court also embarked upon large-scale building. In 1695 it commissioned the
architect Johann Bemhard Fischer von Eriach to build Schlofi Schonbrunn. The
building owes its present form to Nikolaus Pacassi, who reconstructed it between
1744 and 1749. Inside it is already characteristic of the transition to Rococo. The
many new buildings and reconstructions that went on in the 18th century gave the
dty centre an overall Baroque character, which the public buildings that survive
today still show, although the contemporary dwelling houses in the same style have
long disappeared. An idea of the Baroque dty and its suburbs can be had from the
plan made around 1770 by Folbert van Alten-Allen and Joseph Daniel Huber.
The roots of the unprecedented passion for building that characterized the Age
of Baroque were both material and intellectual. At the onset of late Baroque it were
the buildings of the then highly powerful Roman Catholic Church that dominated
the dty.
Four decades later, under Charles VI (1711-1740) Vienna's aspect had changed
into that of a city of stately mansions. It was the period of the great Austrian architects, sculptors and painters of the reign of Maria Theresa (1740-1780). Although
politically Vienna's significance increased, it was impossible to restore the
medieval conditions of feudal civil consciousness. By the end of the 18th century
public administration had become strongly centralized so that the political
ambitions of the citizenry were considerably dampened. The spread of late
146
Baroque architecture began with the work of Johann Bemhard Fischer von Eriach,
who in 1686 broke the monopoly of the Italian architects. Other names besides
Fischer's are Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (after 1696) and Fischer's son, Joseph
Emanuel. Characteristic creations of the period are the Harrach-Palais (1690), the
Liechtenstein-Palais (1694), the Strattmann-Palais (1692-1694), the Winterpalais
(1695-1702) and the Batthyany-Schonbom-Palais (1699-1706). The first official
commission received by Fischer was to design the Bohmische Hofkanzlei
(Bohemian Court Chancellery) in WipplingerstraBe (1708-1710). Hildebrandt
created the Belvedere and completed the Winterpalais. Like the elder Fischer, he
implemented important projects in the suburbs (1702). In the city centre he created
a new type of palace with his Palais Kinsky (1713-16). The Palais Bartolotd v.
Partenfeld in the Graben (1720), the last remnant of the once Baroque square, is
also attributed to Hildebrandt.
The two architects mentioned above were also commissioned to do large-scale
official building projects. Hildebrandt built the Geheime Hofkanzlei (1717-1719),
today the Federal Chancellor's Office; the same building was reconstructed in 1766
by Nicolaus Pacassi. Johann Bernhard Fischer altered the whole Hofburg
according to new conceptions, reconstructed the court stables in the suburbs, and
built the most important secular building of the time, the Hofbibliothek (Court
Library). The latter and the Karlskirche (1737) were completed by Fischer's son,
Joseph Emanuel. As his father's successor, Fischer junior also acted as court
architect, enjoying priority over Hildebrandt. He finished the Reichs-kanzldtrakt in
the Hofburg and his design for the Winterreitschule (Spanish Riding School)
pointed the way towards Neoclassicism. Of the great Neoclassical creations of the
Baroque period, only the Peterskirche (St Peter's Church, 1702-33, Hildebrandt)
stands in the city centre. In the suburbs, two artistically priceless churches can be
found: the Piaristenkirche, with fresco-paintings by Maulbertsch, and the Rococo
Gardekirche (Church of the Guards).
Models such as these were taken for the styles of bourgeois town houses,
although simplified.
Under Joseph II, Maria Theresa's absolutism turned into a characteristically
Austrian 'enlightened despotism'.
The Emperor decreed the modernization, of the country's administration and of
local government. He incorporated Vienna into the strictly centralized framework,
thus completing his mother's reforms, and by applying mercantilist principles he
turned subjects still living under the medieval guild system into modem citizens.
As manufacturing grew, the further, expansion of the city was affected first of
all by trade policy and the reorganization of industrial controls introduced in the
early 1760s. The establishment of factories, chiefly on the already densely
populated area between the Glacis and Linienwall, and to a lesser extent in the
north-eastern suburbs which later developed into summer resorts, was supported by
the state. The capital's increasing official, economic and cultural significance led to
a rapid rise in population, as large numbers of impoverished agricultural workers
from other parts of the empire came to the capital's factories. Tenements were built
147
in large numbers, the demand for offices for. the; centralized public administration
increased, and the: new branches of industry also required premises. All helped
change the architectural aspect of the city towards the end of the 18th century. The
first discussions about extending the city's borders started at the beginning of the
19th century. As Napoleon withdrew from Vienna in 1809 he blew up the bastions
of the city-walls, and it was decided that as they had become of little use they
should not be repaired. Instead they were replaced by a public park (the Volksgarten) in front of the Hofburg,-and by 1817.the city had ceased to be fortified in
any practical sense, although the army still kept control over the fortifications and
the area around them, thus thwarting up to 1820 any plans for expanding the city.
As far back as the 1790s the government had begun to keep the factory workers
away from the nucleus of the city. More and more factories were compelled to
operate in the outlying districts, but after 1809 new factories were again set up in
areas near the centre. As the overbuilt area within the defensive belt made further
development impossible, the settlements known today as Mddling, Penzing,
Rudolfsheim-Funfhaus, Ottakring and Hemals became popular locations for
industry because they offered relatively favourable infrastructural conditions and
labour was readily available. The working class tended to be concentrated in the
western parts of Vienna, if only because the former fortified zone, having lost its
military significance, became a customs frontier in 1829 where various
commodities and foodstuffs were taxed. Outside this line the cost of living was
therefore lower. By the early 1840s the suburbs had grown towards the dty centre
to such an extent that thdr official unification had to be considered. Gradually
the'overcrowd-cd surrounding settlements became organically connected with the
extended dty. The amalgamation was promoted by the construction of roads
leading to neighbouring smart summer resorts. As early as the 1830s the territorial
development of the city was being influenced by two factors: transport, particularly
the building of railway lines, and the construction of public utilities such as water
mains, roads and flood-control works. In the last third of the 19th century, as
economic prosperity grew, Vienna was the administrative, trading and financial
centre of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, with 34 densely populated suburbs
attached to its historic nucleus.
In the arts, the cultural influence of the French was still strong in the second half
of the 18th century. Several artists came to Vienna from Lorraine in the suite of
Franz Stefan, husband of Maria Theresa. The only significant secular Rococo
building is the Old University with its famous assembly hall, the work of Jean
Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey (1753-1755). The first outstanding exponent of
Neoclassical architecture, Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorfvon Hohenberg, and the
representative of the French variant of the Neoclassical, Isidor Canevale, also
appeared soon. The most important work of the latter, the Josephinum, was built in
1773-1775. Louis Montoyer rebuilt Taroucca Palace, today known as the Albertina
(1801-1804), and also the ceremonial hall of the Hofburg (1804-1807). His most
important work, however, was the Rasumofsky Palace (1806-1807). Other great
figures were . Pietro Nobile, Joseph Komhausel and Paul Sprenger. Komhausel
built the central synagogue, the Schottenhof (1826-1832), a prototype for later
148
large dwelling houses and the Josephstadter Theatre. Sprenger's most notable
works, the Mint, the Main Customs House and the Provincial Inland Revenue
Office, are in the suburbs. In the old city centre, squares and streets were regulated,
if rather unimaginatively. The suburbs developed steadily through the location of
industrial premises. Backyard factories were erected in the previously empty
courtyards of large buildings. During the period of industrial prosperity, public
buildings, banks, civilian apartments and tenements ousted the mansions of the
nobility. The characteristic style of bourgeois Vienna became Bieder-meier. In the
city centre the shortage of housing was alleviated by raising the height of new
buildings. Beyond the defensive line, factories, multi-storey tenements around
courtyards and buildings with separate wings for dwellings and workshops were
built in large numbers.
Architecture changed radically in the 1830s, as small-scale industry gave way to
the larger units of the industrial revolution. An almost symbolic event of the period
was the establishment of the Austrian National Bank in 1816. Around the time of
the 1848 Revolution the social and political preconditions for capitalism in Vienna
were established through the introduction of the so-called communal law which did
away with the feudal forms of municipal government.
Within the dual system that prevailed after the Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich
(Compromise) in 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy grew into a European
great power, and Vienna as its capital developed alongside it. By 1850 it became
imperative to improve communications between the old city centre and the
surrounding districts. So too did the building of appropriate houses for the growing
upper middle classes and of suitably grand public buildings. After a while these
requirements overrode the misgivings of the military. With his famous letter dated
1857 to the Minister of the Interior, Alexander Freiherr von Bach, Emperor Francis
Joseph I ordered the demolition of the system of ramparts and the Glacis. With this
measure the extension of the city embarked upon in 1850 reached its optimal
completion.
Vienna's further development was decisively influenced by the competition for
the planning of the RingstraBen-zone (Boulevard area). It led to considerable
architectural activity in the years 1860-80, of which two outstanding results were
the building of the Ring and the architectural and sociological decentralization of
the old city.
By the outbreak of the First World War practically the whole city had been
rebuilt. The end of feudal rule led to changes both in social stratification and in the
function of the former palaces. Private building reflected the social position of the
new leading class, the ennobled bourgeoisie. In the second half of the 19th century
the "Ring period" and 'historicism' (style revivals) were inseparably entwined into
political, economic and cultural notions. The fortunate coincidence of optimal
conditions in every field of art and city development gave rise to important
individual creations. Practically every architect of renown in Europe took part in
the planning of the Ring and its surroundings, and the government authorities
concerned naturally also had their say in the matter. The effect of the Ring lies in
the development of its architectural complexes. The Imperial Forum, with the new
149
Hofburg and the museums opposite to it, was perhaps to be the peak creation under
the project.
The most important architects concerned in the building of the Ring, with their
main works, were as follows:Heinrich Ferstel (Votivkirche, 1856-79; the palace of
Prince Victor, 1863-1869; the Wertheim Palace, 1864-1868; the Museum of Arts
and Crafts, 1868-1869; the University, 1878-83); Edward van der Null and August
von Sicardsburg (the Opera House, 1861-1868; the Musikverein, 1867-1869;
theEpstein Palace, 1870-1873); Theophil Hansen (Parliament, 1873-83; the Borse,
1874-1877); F. Schmidt (Rathaus-City hall-1872-1883); C. Hasenauer and G.
Semper (Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum, 1872-81;
Burgtheater, 1874-88; the Neue Hofburg, 1882-1913, finished by F. Ohmann and
L. Baumann); F. Fellner, senior (Handelsakademie, 1860-1862); A. Weber
(Kunstler-haus, 1865-1868); A. Wielemans (the Justizpalast, 1875-81); J. Romano,
A. Schwendenwein, L. Forster, C. Tietz (the last four are known mainly for their
private houses). In this list the distinctions between the Romantic and the late
Eclectic (composite) styles have not been taken into account. Many of the abovementioned architects have left us important works also in the old town. The castle
complex was completed by Kirschner with the Michaelertrakt in 1889-93.
The development of the Ring also offered excellent opportunities for sculptors.
Several monuments and fountains were designed by A. D. Femkom, K. Zum-busch
and C. Kundmann.
The last revivalist phase, the Restoration period, came in the late i9th century.
Its outstanding representative, L. Baumann, completed the Hofburg (1907-13) and
built the Ministry of War (1909-13), today the seat of ministries. O. Wagner and
his contemporaries, the pioneers of Jugendstil also began to attract attention. In the
Stubenring, the last section to be built up, the two trends practically run into each
other. The Sezession (J. M. Olbrich, 1897-1898), the Wienflufiportal (F. Ohmann,
1903-1906), the Postsparkasse (Post Office Savings Bank, 0. Wagner, 1904-1906),
the church near the Steinhof (1904-7) and the spectacular Loos-Haus in
Michaelerplatz (1910-1911) are marked examples of the new trend, which
continued to influence architecture for decades.
After many centuries of separate development, the city centre and the suburbs
were finally joined by the Ring. The fact that both territories came under its powerful influence led to a lasting process of transformation. Houses and flats that fell
vacant in the city centre were usually converted into business premises, and several
large stores were built, which naturally meant a decline in the population of the
central districts.
In the suburbs, behind the dwelling houses of craftsmen, a second line of
'backyard' workshops developed with tenements attached to them. The price of
land and rent levels varied from district to district, strongly affecting the social
make-up of the population. Business, especially the retail trade, developed in the
suburban centres along the architecturally important axes. The larger industrial
enterprises which had no room to expand began to move to other districts. The
suburbs grew with unprecedented rapidity. The development of the Ring also
entailed infrastructural projects (water, sewage, roads, bridges, parks, etc.). To curb
150
the danger of flooding, work on the control of the Danube was started (1870-1875).
The construction of road and railway bridges over the river made it easier to reach
the settlements on the left bank of the Danube. With the incorporation of District X
in 1874, Vienna oufgrew ifs old defence system. The city's inhabitants began
moving outwards, and some suburbs were developed as summerresorts. The
urbanization of the suburbs led in turn to a second extension of the capital in 1892,
whereby, the city grew to three times its previous area and consisted of 19 districts.
The number of inhabitants increased to 1,341,897. The expansion made it possible
for the capital on the Danube to grow into a metropolis of European rank. The implementation of the resolution is linked with the name of Dr Karl Lueger.
Public utility projects included the city gasworks (1899), municipalization of the
horse-tram services (1897) and tram electrification (1902). The building of a
second spring-water conduit-system (1900-10) extended the mains water supply to
the suburbs. In 1904 the capital succeeded in annexing the village,of Floridsdorf on
the left bank of the Danube, despite a rival plan to make it the provincial capital of
Lower Austria. This. opened up further prospects for expansion on the far side of
the river. In 1905 a green belt was established around the city. Already in 1893
Vienna had been zoned according to land use (residential, industrial, etc.) under
powers accorded by an act in 1883. At the same time building heights had been set
for each area of the city. Now the regulations were also applied to the suburbs. A
competition was conducted for the implementation of a general development plan
based on the newly determined zones and the acts passed. In the course of this
procedure widespread disputes arose over the old city. One party demanded that it
should be radically reconstructed, as the centre of Paris had been. The other wished
it to be as a historic monument. In the end, the old city was saved by the absence of
an Expropriation Act, and only minor transformations were carried out in its area.
In 1892 a commission was formed to deal with transport problems, among them
with the building of a municipal electric railway. Implementation was put in the
hands of Otto Wagner, who fought for, and attained, the partial covering over of
the River Wien.
When the First World War ended in 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
collapsed. Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Republic and in 1922 an
independent federal province within it. Its extensive growth was arrested by the
loss of its role as imperial capital. With the introduction of universal suffrage for
the election of the city council in 1919 the Social Democrats obtained an absolute
majority which, with the exception of the years of Austrian fascism and national
socialism (1934-1945), they have retained to this day.
Perhaps no other city's public administration attracted the attention of the world
to such an extent as Vienna's during the 1920s. The most important changes in
architecture and town planning were brought about by the launching of a
communal housing project. The purchase of certain large areas of land brought
lasting changes to the city's structure. An example was the building of the huge
communal housing estate along the Margareten-glirtel, stretching as far as
Ebersdorf, in the 1920s. The most important project of the time, the Karl-MarxHof in Heiligenstadt, was built on vacant land and for a long time regarded as a
151
model for public housing. Between 1919 and 1934 a total of 337 housing estates
containing more than 63,000 flats were built. At first the pupils of Otto Wagner
had a decisive say in their planning. For several reasons they deliberately refrained
from adding new suburbs. Between 1934 and 1938 housing construction was
suspended, but important roads and bridges were built, among them the mountain
roads in the neighbourhood of the Vienna Woods. The national socialist city
development project of 1938, parts of which were reversed in 1946-54, was a
reaction to the further growth of the built-up area around the city.
Although after the Second World War housing construction continued with
unchanged intensity in a series of building, country planning and reconstruction
projects, the character of these activities and indeed of the whole period was
determined by the need to meet the new economic and transport demands, rather
than by housing problems. However, new housing estates, partly of a suburban
character, were built, mainly in the southern part of the city and in the areas
beyond the Danube, while around the perimeters large industrial and trading
estates were established. This led to a separation of the residential and industrial
zones, but at the same time improved the supply position. Local and inter-urban
communications were facilitated by the construction of transport means, express
lines and motorways. More recently the development of pedestrian zones has given
a new aspect to certain outer areas of the city, as traffic has been diverted from the
city centre. Since 1979 Vienna is the third headquarters of the United Nations
Organisation.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Библиографический список
О.Н. Мусихина, О.Г. Гисина, В.Л. Яськова, Английский язык для
строителей. Ростов-на-Дону, Феникс, 2004
Nicolaus Pevsner. A History of Building Types. The USA, Princeton
University Press. Thames & Hudson, 1997
Patrick Nuttgens. The Story of Architecture. London, Phaidon Press
Limited, 1997
Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture
The Oxford – Duden English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 1985
Encyclopedia Britannica. 2002 Deluxe Edition
Е.Н. Безручко. Английский для архитекторов. Пособие по английскому
языку для студентов архитектурных специальностей вузов. – Ростов
н/Д: Издательский центр «МарТ», 2002г.
англо-русский политехнический словарь. Под ред. А.Е. Чернухина. –
М., 1976г.
ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ
PART I
Unit 1 Civil Engineering
153
3
Unit 2 Construction Works
7
Unit 3 Some Building Professions
10
Unit 4 Modern Building Materials
13
Unit 5 Silicate Industry
18
Unit 6 Asbestos
21
Unit 7 Air-conditioning
23
Unit 8 Architecture: Its Forms and Functions
26
Unit 9 Bioclimatic Architecture
28
Unit 10 From the History of Building
31
PART II
Egyptian Architecture
34
Great Sphinx
37
Ancient Greek Architecture. The Athenian Acropolis
38
Roman Achitecture
41
Early Cristiane and Bysantine Architecture
44
Hagia Sophia or the Chirch of Holy Withdom
47
Romanesque Architecture
48
Lancet Architecture. Gothic Cathedrals
49
Neo-Gothics
52
The Rebirth of Clasical Art. The Renaissance
53
The Renaissance Style in England
55
Baroque and Rococo. Baroque
57
Baroque and Rococo. Rococo
59
Neoclassicism
61
The Architecture of the Turn of the Century. Art Noveau
63
The Arcitecture of the 20th Century. Charles Edouard (Jeanneret) Le
67
Corbusier
British Architecture
154
69
PART III
Amsterdam
72
Athen
79
Berlin
93
Bern
99
Budapest
105
Helsinki
114
London
124
Moscow
131
Wien
141
155