Six Piazze /
Public Spaces
Urban Design Analysis
Kent State: Florence
Spring 2014
Professor:
Andrea Ponsi
I was free for the night. Many of us were a bit tired from the day we had walking all around the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Some of my friends took some time just to relax at the hotel. I felt like making use of the opportunity to be in the city of Rome. I decided I would explore on my own. My first stop was at the nearby pantheon. That structure, with its monumental scale and age, was quite impressive. But I continued on my way up Via dei Pastini, eventually arriving to Piazza di Pietra, with its ancient Roman facade, standing strong in front of the newer buildings layered around it. Continuing on, I crossed Via del Corso, able to glance down each side of the road that runs through the entire city, from monument to monument. A short walk forward, and I arrived at the Trevi Fountain.
The Trevi Fountain is a chaotic place. Yet it is tranquil at the same time. People flock there in the hundreds to take in the sight. On the upper level is the street, which wraps around the perimeter on three sides. Even at eleven at night, the crowd is the same on the steps leading down to the fountain. People will sit down on the steps and watch. People will try to squeeze through the crowd down to the bottom, where they can be right next to the basin, and possibly toss a coin over their shoulder into the fountain behind them.
I took my seat off to the side, where the crowd was less. It was a marble seat, though cut as if a cliff side, functioning as a barrier between the lower level where the basin is located and the upper street. From this spot, I was able to relax and observe the chaos of this tranquil urban space. I noticed so many people throwing coins behind their shoulder into the fountain. That tradition of the place is quite visible. There were many couples there on a date. Great cheering in the crowd far from where I sat probably indicated an engagement proposal.
One method of success for this urban space is its monumentality. The fountain itself is quite impressive in both scale and detail. That alone attracts people to the space. The next important piece to the fountains' success is the way it is able to hold people. It is not a space which is easy to move in and out of. Movement can be easy on the outside of the space, but for the most part, it takes some effort to make ones way up to the front. And once people are at the fountain, they stop and take it all in. Many sit on the steps and just look at the massive fountain, or at the crowd, which can be equally as interesting.
Innsbruck is a valley city located in the Austrian Alps. The traditional architecture of the city is an Austrian take of baroque. But unlike city centers like Florence, Innsbruck has accepted modern architecture along with their traditional style. The two styles actually mix with eachother very well. That is one aspect that is on display on a street called Maria Theresien Strasse.
Although the street does not technically start until it is outside of the walking-only historical center, the progression starts at one of Innsbruck's more famous monuments, the 'Golden Roof”. The linear southbound progression continues to the south, outside of the historical center. However, this broad avenue still retains a similar feel. The walking only characteristic is preserved, allowing for free pedestrian movement without the hassle of worrying about cars. There are an abundance of shops, banks, churches, and recreational opportunities available on this street. All of the buildings in the area were given good care in their design, (young and old), making the space visually pleasing. The progression actually feels more like an elongated piazza, than an actual street. After several blocks, a triumphal arch from the 1700s marks the old entrance to the city, and an end to this pedestrian street. (Cars are re-integrated at this point.)
On a sunny day, a new element of beauty would be added, which are the alps, which would tower over the cities skyline. Unfortunately, there was an abundance of fog and clouds when I experienced this space.
Among the Piazza's that stand before monumental churches in Florence, Santa Maria Novella's is unique. Instead of a vast field of stones, Santa Maria Novella's piazza incorporates grass and gardens into the scheme. The design itself is contemporary, something not commonly seen associated with an older monument. Stone paths cut through the way, creating access points to different parts of the Piazza, and the several rows of benches located in the center.
The location of Santa Maria Novella has evolved over time into something much different than its original existence. The most important newer building in the area that most affects site dynamics, is the train station, which bears the church’s name as well. Most travelers to Florence arrive at this station. Santa Maria Novella is the first monument to be encountered in the city. Although its back is to the road, a white and green marble wall around the cloister draws us into the Piazza. This redirects people from the main road to the Duomo into this piazza.
Life in the piazza can be calm, but also lively. During early February, it held a chocolate festival. The benches located in the center of the Piazza allows people to sit in an area which works well for street musicians, who seek an audience.
The grass and flowers bring nature into a very compact urban city. This may be a theme inspired from the church itself, where trees can be seen ascending from behind the cloister wall.
This is the most important piazza in the town of Siena. The focus of the piazza is on Palazzo Pubblico, which is where Siena's government work out of. But this piazza in particular is unique due to its shape that follows topography, and also the way materials are used.
Arrival to the piazza is quite powerful. It is a transition from narrow winding streets into a wide open bowl. Nine rays of brick fan out from the lowest point in the piazza, creating a very good visual effect, one not really found anywhere else. From any point on the perimiter, the piazza has a panoramic quality, but all lines radiate toward the center, just in front of Palazzo Pubblico. Their town hall is divided into three main parts, each representing a branch of government.
While a beautiful site to visit and see, the piazza really belongs to the people of Siena. This is their main civic space of the city. People lay on the bricks and relax. Young children chase pigeons around. Across the way from Palazzo Pubblico is a water fountain, providing drinking water to anybody who needs it. Around the perimeter of the Piazza are various shops, that provide additional opportunities to the space. Twice during the summer, there would be a traditional horse race around the perimeter of the Piazza, and the inner bowl shape packs itself with spectators. This tradition is incredibly important to the people of Siena, and it adds to the richness of the space, when one imagines the huge bowl shape full of people, trying to get a glance of the galloping animals on the outside.
Functionally, Piazza della Signoria serves as an important space for both the civic and artistic needs of Florence. The two are integrated quite well together. Formally, the piazza is like an L shape, due to Palazzo Vecchio taking up the southeast corner. At the corner of Palazzo Vecchio is the Fountain of Neptune, which acts as a pivot piece between two halves of the piazza. To someone in the northeast corner, they can see the imposing town hall that is Palazzo Vecchio, look down and see the fountain, continue around to see the font of the fountain, where one would then be able to see all the other statues kept in front of the Palazzo and inside the Loggia dei Lanzi. The large concentration of sculptures leads to the Uffizi galleries, a space no longer considered part of Piazza Signoria, but still works very much so with the system of the Piazza.
On the north side of the piazza is one of the main streets that connects to the Florence Cathedral complex. On the east is a road that goes toward Santa Croce. The Piazza is also a block away from the Ponte Vecchio. These connections add to the piazza's characteristic of being a heart of the city. The civic importance of the Palazzo Vecchio and artistic importance of the sculptures in the Loggia di Lanzi, and the Uffizi galleries, make Piazza della Signoria one of the most functionally important urban spaces in Florence.
Constructed upon a mountain, the town of Assisi does not have a regular plan. The streets twist and turn in accordance with the natural topography. Piazza del Comune is located roughly in the center of the city, at a point where two main roads, Via Portica (Southern, running west to east) and Via San Paolo (Northern, running west to east) grow very close to each other. At this point, the piazza is formed by the absence of buildings constructed in what would have been a narrow space between the two roads. On the eastern side of the piazza, there is a fountain that serves as a focal point for the space. Beyond that, three main roads branch off on that side, and an adjacent street leads to another small Piazza for a church. Beyond the mentioned access points, there are many other smaller passages into the Piazza, making it one of the mote accessible spaces in the town.
The piazza has many things in it, from bars, to sandwich shops, a bank, other shops. It also includes one of Assisi's landmarks, the temple of Minerva. The facade is dated back to ancient Rome, and is the most classical piece of architecture in the town. However the inside is quite different. The interior is full of baroque ornament, feeling out of place compared to the very strongly ordered facade. Other loggias and passageways through buildings along the piazza exist. Since this piazza is well connected with many other parts of Assisi, the piazza is one of the most important places in the city.