Date

1978

Author

Alsaç , Üstün

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This article is about Utopian architecture and city planning. It consists of two parts. The first one deals with the Renaissance Utopias, giving some detailed information about the history of a design method which has its beginnings about 1460 A.D. in Italy. The so called 'ideal city' designs and other prospects of Filarete, Leon Battista Alberti, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Leonardo da Vinci, Francesco di Marchi, Andrea Palladio, Giorgio Vasari, Vincenzo Scamozzi and others are briefly described and discussed; some of this information to be published for the first time in Turkish. Ideal city designs of other countries apart from Italy are also included here. Germany is the next, because of its close contacts with Italy, and the names and designs of Albercht Dürer, Hans von Schille, Daniel Speckle, Joseph Furttenbach d.J., Christoph Sturm, Willem Dilich and others are mentioned in this context. There are also ideal city designs in other european countries, which are of less importance and influenced by Italian or German designs. References are made to the designs from France and Switzerland as well as Holland and Danemark. England, on the other hand, has a special place among these countries. During the Renaissance no trace of ideal city designs can be found in this country. But what lacks in form of designs, exists in form of written thought, so these may also be mentioned to round up this period. Names of Francis Becon, Eximenic, Caspar Stiblinus, James Harrington and John Evelyn are referred to, and also Thomas More, whose book 'Utopia' gives a name to the genre. The second part deals with Utopias in general, discussing their origins and functions. Renaissance Utopias, which are the subject of the first part, are serving here as examples for finding relationships between Utopias. Utopias were well known and used before the Renaissance in philosophy and literature. What is new in this period is that ideas begin to take the form of designs, in other words, design is used as a medium to express Utopian thoughts in the Renaissance for the first time. One of the reasons for this may be found in the use of perspective drawing, which received a scientific base at the beginning of this period and which is a great design aid. From the viewpoint of architectural history, use of design for Utopias makes Renaissance important as a reference period. Conclusions that suggest themselves by studying Utopias can be summarised as follows: - Utopias are seen more when a society is in a state of socio-economic change; that is, in the state of cultural changes the society tends to express itself more with ideal, Utopian thoughts and designs. - Utopias are influnenced greatly by technological improvements. - Utopias cannot be distinguished from theoretical works on architecture and city planning; they seem to be a natural extention of theories. - Utopias .have the chance to be realised in future when the conditions are suitable; in fact some of them have been realised. - Utopias find realisation more in new gained lands such as colonies, by new settlements; unbuilt environment seems to encourage the forming of an ideal society and its physical environment. - Utopias are used for experimenting with the new and the unknown; they seem to have a function to search the possibilities of the new by means of designs. - Utopias are used for criticising the present by exaggerating its problems. - Utopias are used as a means to foresee the future; and by forecasting the future developments they seem to have a function of confronting designers with the oncoming problems - Utopias use the tools of other arts for their expression such as drawings, models, photography; by doing this they seem to constitute an intermedia between arts and architecture, letting influinces flow both ways. These charecteristics are observed and derived from Renaissance Utopias, comparing them with the Utopias of other times, ancient and recent. Numerous examples taken from the history of architecture and city planning are given to illustrate these points.Utopias seem to attract the minds of designers, either architect, city planner or structural engineer; and they provide an interesting source for the historian.

URI

http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/1978/cilt04/sayi_1/31-52.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/51244

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Department of Architecture, Article