The Vertical Dimension of a City. May 13, 2008

Transcription

1 The Vertical Dimension of a City May 13, 2008 Courtesy of Witold Rybczynski

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5 Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of Good Government,

6 Léon Krier, Architecture: Choice or Fate (1998)

7 London, 1770

8 New York, 1849

9 Wall Street, New York, 1878

10 Wall Street, New York, 1878 Wabash Ave. Chicago, 1907

11 Apartment house plumbing, (Industrial Chicago, 1891)

12 Elisha G. Otis

13 Monadnock Building, Chicago Burnham & Root, architects. Flatiron Building, New York Daniel Burnham, architect.

14 Reliance Building, Chicago, Burnham & Root, architects. Flatiron Building, New York, Daniel Burnham, architect.

15 Metropolitan Life, New York, Napoleon Le Brun, Architect. Woolworth Building, New York, Cass Gilbert, Architect.

16 Fairchild Aerial Surveys New York, 1931 No height limit

17 Philadelphia, 1935 No height limit

18 Philadelphia, 1935 No height limit

19 491 ft Philadelphia, 1935 No limit

20 Houston, 1947 No height limit

21 Chicago, 1931

22 Chicago, 1931 North Michigan Avenue height limits: 85 ft (1909); 120 ft (1913); 200 ft (1914); 400 ft (1919); no limit (1923)

23 Los Angeles, 1936 Height limit 150 ft ( )

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26 Ought there to be any wood houses in the town? What sort of Brick or Stone Houses should be built; and what height; especially on the principal Streets or Avenues? George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, August 29, 1791

27 Ought there to be any wood houses in the town? What sort of Brick or Stone Houses should be built; and what height; especially on the principal Streets or Avenues? George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, August 29, 1791 In Paris it is forbidden to build a house beyond a given height, & it is admitted to be a good restriction, it keeps the houses low and convenient, & the streets light and airy, fires are much more manageable where houses are low. This however is an object of Legislation. Thomas Jefferson, notebook, November 29, 1790

28 President George Washington s Proclamation of October 17, d. The wall of no house to be higher than forty feet to the roof, in any part of the city; nor shall any be lower than thirty-five feet on any of the avenues.

29 President George Washington s Proclamation of October 17, d. The wall of no house to be higher than forty feet to the roof, in any part of the city; nor shall any be lower than thirty-five feet on any of the avenues. (Suspended in 1796, 1801, 1802, )

30 E. Sachse, lithograph, 1856.

31 Currier & Ives, 1892.

32 Cairo Apartments, 1894, 12 stories, 160 feet tall

33 1894: Board of Commissioners of District passes height regulations: Height cannot exceed width of street Cairo Apartments, 1894, 12 stories, 160 feet tall

34 1894: Board of Commissioners of District passes height regulations: Height cannot exceed width of street Maximum height ht of 90 feet on residential streets. Maximum height of 110 feet on commercial streets. Cairo Apartments, 1894, 12 stories, 160 feet tall

35 1894: Board of Commissioners of District passes height regulations: Height cannot exceed width of street Maximum height ht of 90 feet on residential streets. Maximum height of 110 feet on commercial streets. Building Heights Act of 1899 Cairo Apartments, 1894, 12 stories, 160 feet tall Building cannot exceed width of street Maximum height of 90 feet on residential streets. Maximum height of 110 feet on commercial streets. Maximum height 130 feet on avenues 160 feet wide. Does not apply to Federal or municipal buildings

36 Raymond Unwin, Town Planning in Practice (1909)

37 Typical Building Height Limits in 1900 Paris, Vienna, Berlin 64 feet London 80 feet Boston 125 feet & 80 feet Chicago 130 feet Washington, D.C 130 feet & 90 feet St. Louis 150 feet New York City, Philadelphia no limits

38 Senate Park Commission model, 1901.

39 North Michigan Avenue Plan of Chicago, Daniel H. Burnham & Edward H. Bennett, 1909

40 North Michigan Avenue Boulevard Champs-Elysée Plan of Chicago, Daniel H. Burnham & Edward H. Bennett, 1909

41 Building Height Act of 1910 (Raises height limits approx 20 feet) Width of street t + 20 feet Maximum height on avenue = 130 feet Maximum on parts of Pennsylvania Ave = 160 feet Residential street = 80 feet (raised to 90 feet) Only five exemptions granted ( )

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49 LOW URBANISM

50 LOW URBANISM

51 LOW URBANISM

52 LOW URBANISM

53 LOW URBANISM

54 LOW URBANISM

55 But what is most discouraging is to find that London, the most decentralized and individualized of all great cities, the one most capable of maintaining the human scale, is flinging away both experience and common sense in a spate of ill-sighted high- rise building. Lewis Mumford, 1961

56 But what is most discouraging is to find that London, the most decentralized and individualized of all great cities, the one most capable of maintaining the human scale, is flinging away both experience and common sense in a spate of ill-sighted high- rise building. Lewis Mumford, 1961

57 But the fact is that the present investment in tall buildings is primarily a financial phenomenon; architecture is secondary and civic design noticeably absent. Lewis Mumford, 1961

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