2005 Volume 9.1
Editorial comment
Overcoming anglophone squint
Articles
Mapping and analysing medieval built form using GPS and GIS
K. Lilley, C. Lloyd, S. Trick and C. Graham {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF]
ABSTRACT: Drawing upon recent research experiences of using a Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), this paper sets out how spatial technologies can be used in the study of medieval built form. The paper focuses particularly on the use of differential GPS and ArcGIS in mapping and analysing the plan of Winchelsea, an English medieval 'new town' established in the 1280s. The approach used to conduct this research is outlined here, with comments on the practicalities of using GPS and GIS in historical urban morphology. Although the research on which this paper is based is at a preliminary stage, the paper offers a working method for those interested in using spatial technologies to build upon existing methods of morphological study, namely town-plan analysis and metrological analysis. Some preliminary research findings relating to the planning of medieval Winchelsea are also presented.
Fire alleys in Finnish urban design
M. Kirjakka {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF]
ABSTRACT: Until the late-nineteenth century fire safety was considered the greatest problem in Finnish wooden towns. At first, masonry buildings were believed to be the solution and greater spaciousness was emphasized for aesthetic reasons. Later, spaciousness was recognized as improving fire safety. The practical goal was to extinguish fires; only later came fire protection through the creation of openings in the urban fabric that were wide enough to prevent fire from spreading. In the first phase streets were widened. In the late-eighteenth century there arose a need to diminish the likelihood of fires and also for experimentation with new methods of making urban structures more spacious. The first fire alleys were planned in the new town of Kuopio. They were an attempt to create in the street-block interior public or semi-public space. In old towns the only feasible solution was narrow fire alleys. They could not prevent fire from spreading, but they made it possible to penetrate into seats of fire in the street-block interior. A new street-block type emerged when the idea of fire alleys was combined with the awareness that deciduous trees could slow down or even stop a fire: one side of the plot was left without buildings to make it possible to plant deciduous trees. In its final form the street block was proposed by the inhabitants and can be regarded as a Finnish invention.
Urban morphology as a basis for urban design: the project for the Isola dei Cantieri in Chioggia
M. Maretto {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF]
ABSTRACT: Settlements can be considered as complex syntheses of their territory in which economic resources are translated into their structural equivalents. The organization of land usually follows the same criteria that guided the settlement process in which there is a typological correspondence between urban and rural fabric. It enables the formation of a homogeneous land structure on which all later anthropic transformations will be based. For this reason a typo-morphological interpretation of settlements in history can represent an important point of reference for urban design. Unlike the ideological component that characterized the typological debate in Italy during the last century, a return to empirical data can represent a sound basis for a new urban design strategy. It needs to interpret the complexities of the new urban phenomena, yet be fully aware of their historical role and their unique identity. This paper can be considered a first attempt in that direction. It concerns a project for the urban and building renewal of the Isola dei Cantieri in Chioggia. It takes as a starting point the typo-morphological interpretation of the historic centre of Chioggia as part of the wider lagoon human landscape. Using the tools of urban morphology, we set out to design a new urban district that was nevertheless deeply rooted in the building history of this part of the Venetian Lagoon.
Review article: Rebuilding patterns: four books on urban reconstruction
J. Nasr [Full paper, PDF]
Viewpoints
Urban sustainability and the ground rules that govern urban space T. Marat-Mendes and E. Scoffham
Dialectical pairs in urban research: some epistemological issues G. Cataldi
Typological analysis and hermeneutics in the Conzenian and Caniggian schools: overlaps and differences N. Marzot
New orientations in urban morphology A. Levy
Book reviews
G. Strappa, M. Ieva and M.A. Dimatteo (2003) La città come organismo B. Vecchio
C. Gates (2003) Ancient cities D. Favro
G. Jivèn (2003) Stadens morfologi som kulturarv E. Børrud
R. Krier (2003) Town spaces I. Samuels
A. Kelman (2003) A river and its city; P.F. Lewis (2003) New Orleans E. Sandweiss
N.S. Seasholes (2003) Gaining ground C. Maumi
J.R. Passonneau (2004) Washington through two centuries A.K. Knowles
M. Wehdorn (2004) Vienna: the historical centre M. Boeckl
B. Gauthiez (2003) Espace urbain vocabulaire et morphologie S. Olson
Book notes
Notes and notices
- Change of Book Review Editor
- ISUF Symposium 2005
- Urban morphology and urban design
- Built Environment
- Elections to the Council of ISUF
- Characterization