Urban Planning:

MEDIEVAL AGES

ProponentGULAPA, CARLO P.

2012458331 – AR1242

ARCH. ALVAROPLANNING 2 Professor

Historical Background• The Middle Ages is a period in European history which, along

with its adjective ‘Medieval’, was first referred to by Italian scholars and academics of the late fifteenth century. They were basically stating that the society in which they now lived was significantly more civilized and advanced in many ways, than that which had existed during the previous thousand years. This may have been true within certain elite sections of Italian society which had begun to emulate the art and philosophy of ancient Greece, but generally in Italy and Europe overall no all-pervading change had occurred.

• Historians since that time have, however, used the terms 'middle ages' and medieval as a convenient way to refer to that general period in European history.

• It has been regarded as extending approximately from the end of the fifth century AD, when the control of the Roman Empire had ended, until the end of the fifteenth century AD, when the modern world was considered to have begun.

OTHER FACTS:• Europeans established the world's first universities in the 1100s. Like the world

outside then, the university could be a violent place: Oxford University in England had rules that specifically forbid students from bringing bows and arrows to class.

• A feudal society very much like that of Europe's developed in Japan in the 1100's. The Japanese called their knights "samurai," and, like the knights of Europe, they fought on horseback. As in Europe, Japanese feudalism developed at a time of anarchy.

• In the 1200s, northern Europe's largest towns--London, Paris and Ghent--contained no more than 30,000 or 40.000 residents. Southern European cities like Venice and Florence had over 100,000. The world s largest cities--Constantinople and Baghdad--each had about a million people.

• The Middle Ages period is divided into three ages, which are known as Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Late Middle Ages.

MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

The Latin cross plan, common in medieval ecclesiastical architecture, takes the Roman basilica as its primary model with subsequent

developments. It consists of a nave, transepts, and the altar stands at the east end (see Cathedral diagram). Also, cathedrals influenced

or commissioned by Justinian employed the Byzantine style of domes and a Greek cross (resembling a plus sign), with the altar

located in the sanctuary on the east side of the church.

RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

MILITARY ARCHITECTURE

Surviving examples of medieval secular architecture mainly served for defense. Castles and fortified walls provide the most notable

remaining non-religious examples of medieval architecture. Windows gained a cross-shape for more than decorative purposes,

they provided a perfect fit for a crossbowman to safely shoot at invaders from inside. Crenellated walls (battlements) provided

shelters for archers on the roofs to hide behind when not shooting invaders

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

The name of this style of Middle Ages architecture leads to the immediate association with this style of architecture is with the Roman Empire. The

reason for this association are the similarities between Roman Architecture especially the Roman 'barrel vault' and the Roman arch. The Middle Ages Romanesque Architecture was the first major style of architecture to be

developed after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Romanesque

GOTHICThe later Middle Ages saw the emergence of Gothic style

architecture. Gothic or Perpendicular Architecture is the term which is used to describe the building styles which were used between 1200 - 1500AD. Middle Ages Gothic architecture and decoration originally emerged in France. It was initially called "The French Style". The name Gothic which is used to describe this style of Middle Ages architecture was a derisive term alluding to the Barbaric Goths who sacked Rome in 410AD. The name Gothic architecture was coined by people who were appalled at the abandonment of classical Romanesque lines and proportions.

MEDIEVAL PLANNINGUrban development in the early Middle Ages, characteristically focused on a fortress, a fortified abbey, or a (sometimes abandoned) Roman nucleus, occurred "like the annular rings of a tree", whether in an extended village or the centre of a larger city. Since the new centre was often on

high, defensible ground, the city plan took on an organic character, following the irregularities of elevation contours like the shapes that result from agricultural terracing.

Characteristics:•streets are often straight and laid out at right angles•house lots are rectangular, and originally largely of the same size

Plan of Elburg in The Netherlands, based on the cadastral plan of 1830.

ELEMENTS OF A MEDIEVAL CITY

• Individual House• Street Markets• Town Hall• Guild Hall• Hospital• City Gates, Walls, Towers• Churches• Streets

of primary considerations were:

1 self protection ;2 tilling of enough soil to support human life at a low level (meanwhile, forces of nature reforestedthe once cultivated areas of Europe).

1 . Church element- church, cathedral, cloisters, monastery.

2 . Secular element- castle or fortress

- especially dominant in England and Germany3 . Civic element

- Walls and gates, town houses, town hall, guild hall, market place.

Orientation

Medieval Cities of Europe were orientated in relation to their topography. Intentional orientation is not noticeable; layouts of towns and cities do not observe the four cardinal points as in Antiquity. Shape

The shape or outline of town plans was delineated by the wall which would best protect the city. A wall had to have the shortest circumference possible and take advantage of topographical features. Obviously, this often limited the use of geometric shapes; yet simple, geometric plans were adopted whenever possible, especially in flat country. However, the layout of medieval cities was not based on any symbolic geometric figure. The choice of form or outline of a town was left to the engineer responsible for its fortifications (as in Classical Greece)

Street Development

TYPES OF PLAN

EMERGENCE OF BASTIDESBASTIDES ‘Bastide’ is a French term and means literally ‘small fortress’. German examples.

Functions -to populate and open-up new frontiers -- to resettle population displaced by wars -- to control conquered regions -- to control and weaken a nearby older town by diverting commerce from it to the new Bastide (e.g. Carcasonne)

Planning Principles -1 . Bastides are new foundations and have pre-determined plan forms 2- . The Grid-iron system and rectilinear plot sub-division form the basis of their layout -3 . The main inducement to settle in Bastides provided by house plot and some farming grants together with other economic privileges

REFERENCEShttp://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/townint5.htmlhttps://www.google.com.ph/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=aAGxVZu0FezH8Aec_bbwCw&gws_rd=ssl#q=nucleushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandriahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria#/media/File:Alexandria_-_Egypt.jpghttp://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/bycountry/italy/rome/popolo/melbourne.planning/Part4-Medieval_Cities.pdfhttp://www.castellscatalans.cat/documents/The_medieval_city.pdf