PATTERNS

My research for “The grids of the world” reveals the methods used by the people to form their grid. In many all cases orientation was a main focus that guided the grids layout. In some cases, such as China, they would have  specific layout for each type of building.

In my analysis of the “grids by architecture” I studied the much more carefully and architecturally designed grids by artists/architects. Density was a key component of their grid system. It was all about reshaping the blocks that existed to make a more fit scheme of site, shaping it to be what they wanted it to become.    

Grids by Architects

America:

The New York City master plan of Manhattan, or as we call it “the greatest grid”, was the result of the commissioners plan of 1811. The grid planning went back to ancient Greece and Rome. The proposed grid was to extend from Houston street to 155th street, a process that was estimated to take 60 years. A commercially minded plan containing no parks or plazas. The idea of making the grid was “deeply subversive” because New York was still undeveloped  unusually shaped, and composed of privately owned properties. Property lines were redrawn and streets repaved. Landowners were unwelcoming to this idea until they discovered that the subdivided lots came to be worth fortunes; property values boomed. The grid gave New York a sense of monumentality and order. No two blocks the same, proving to be flexible enough to adapt when city’s orientation shift North to South. It promoted sociability and allowed higher density.


France:

George Haussman’s urban modernization scheme for Paris in 1853-1870 followed a Baroque Style. Paris was the capital of the 19th century. There was a mass change in scale and the new streets built came with new “spaces”. Which led to people wondering the streets and hanging out; Flanders. I big part of the new grid design that made it work was the railroad system. Congestion became a big issue during this time. Haussman’s response to this was to eliminate buildings. His plan was to clear the streets t make the new monuments more visible. all of the poor people that once populated this area was pushed to the suburbs, making the new center city for the elite. Along with the improved site plan came improved circulation, sanitation, security, and society.

Spain:

The grid seen in Barcelona, Spain was created by Ildefrons Cerda. His approach the design of the grid was guided by elements such as traffic, transportation  sunlight, and ventilation. The blocks came to be octagonal where the streets broadened at every intersection. All together giving Barcelona more visibility and ventilation as well as providing more space for functions such as parking. His overall idea was to create inner garden spaces within each block. 

Meso-america

Teotihuacan is located near modern day Mexico City. It is the largest ancient grid-plan site in the Americas., covering a total of eight square miles. The meaning of Teotihuacan is “where man met the gods”. It is a great representation of mesoamerican traditional planning of cities, where settlements and buildings served as a representation of the views of the universe. The Urban grid aligned precisely 15.5 degrees east of north. Some rumors say this was because the sun rose at that exact angle during summer days. Others say its based on surrounding sites in mesoamerica. The peaked-cross circles seen throughout the grid represent how people managed to maintain the urban grid over long distances. They also oriented the pyramid to a distant mountain that was out of sight.

Chine, Japan, Korea

The rule of thumb for the Chinese Grid was that capital city design should be laid in a square grid measuring 9 by 9 li (about 4.5 km) per side with three gates on each of the city walls. Along with these regulations there should be 9 streets and 9 avenues. The layout corresponded as follows: The palace is placed in the center of the city. The Ancestral temple to the left of it and the temple to the deities to the right. Office buildings are to be placed in front and the markets to the back. Koreans and the Japanese were influenced by Chinese urban form and adopted the grid around 700 AD.

Egypt

The Greeks and the Romans weren't the first of the ancient people to use a gridded urban plan. A worker’s village at Giza in Egypt was laid out in a gridded pattern around 2500 BC.  The "workers village" housed the labor force of Egypt. The city is laid out in blocks of long galleries separated by streets. The common orientation of the grid  was north-south axis from the royal palace and east-west axis from the temple. When Hammurabi rebuilt Babylon around 1750 BC the plan was generally at right angles and gridded.

Rome

Romans were inspired by the Greek gridded plans. The north/south and east/west axial roads known as the decumanus maximus and cardo maximus respectively is where you”ll notice new added dimensions to the idea of the grid.  The Romans also developed a standardized plan for military settlements. Features of these grids, established by the ancient Roman settlement, are still visible in the urban plan today.

Greece

Hippodamus is known for inventing formal city planning, “Father of City Planning”. He traditionally designed orthogonally planned towns such as, Olynthus, Priene, Miletus, and Piraeus. This planning system was inspired by shape and the improvement of urban environment. His grid arranged private dwellings in a more pleasant and convenient manner for the lifestyles of greek’s. The grid is set to work with the topography so that water runs down the streets. Although if the grid were being planned according to war, it would be the opposit of planned and convenient, being that it would be too easy for the enemy to navigate around. Greeks were the first to use solar architecture in which they oriented their houses to make use of the sun during the winter. (early 400 B.C.)

Intro

I'm interested in studying the patterns of architectural grid layouts (worldwide) and how they have led to the development of grids in modern time. There is a great variety in grid types guided by elements such as block size to road width, and by pure right angles to circular arrays.  The grid is known to be logical and ordered but can also be restrictive and monotonous.  Good urban design practices all of these issues and use them accordingly to match the corresponding task.  There are so many different types of grids because, as with most design challenges, there will never be one right answer. Most commonly seen is the the urban form, as it was part of the colonization and settlement process. (When you arrived wherever you were going, you needed to know how to set up shop.)