Modern cities : progress of the awakening for their betterment here and in Europe / by Horatio M. Pollock and William S. Morgan.

  • Horatio Milo Pollock
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Modern cities : progress of the awakening for their betterment here and in Europe / by Horatio M. Pollock and William S. Morgan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    37/476 (page 19)
    ness. Turin’s success forms a good illustration of the value to a town of a city plan of the right kind. The medieval cities of Europe grew up in a time of great insecurity and disorder. A city in the dark days following the downfall of the Roman Empire was a place of refuge, an ex- • tended fortress which' served more as a place of protection than as a home for its occupants. It is not to be wondered at that these towns of the middle ages were built exceedingly com- pact, with narrow streets and few open spaces. The town had to have a great wall about it and this wall had to be as short as possible. All other considerations had to give way to the necessity of securing proper protection. If we examine, however, towns like Nurem- berg, Rothenburg and Buttstedt, which still re- tain much of their medieval character, we find in spite of cramped conditions delightful pic- turesqueness and beauty. Whether these artis- tic effects are the result of foresight and plan- ning, or were produced unconsciously by builders endowed with a keen sense of the fitness and proportion of things, is not known. During the Renaissance period town plan- ning underwent a transition. Irregularity gave way to formality in the layout of streets and squares. The influence of the Greek architec- ture was clearly evident. The more hopeful [19]