1922 Great Fire of Izmir

The Great Fire of Izmir was one of the crises that greatly affected the Ottoman Empire that reigned at that time. First of all, the fact that the construction materials of the houses in the Ottomans were made of wood caused the fire to be large and continuous. In addition, the Ottoman people did not encounter such a big fire at that time. It shows that the measure was also very limited. At the time, the Ottoman people, Greeks, Armenians and Jews lived together in Izmir, so we can say that Izmir hosted quite a variety of cultures at that time.

As a result of this fire, which started in 1922, 14000 houses were burned and more than 2000 people died.This negative result of the crisis caused the government to re-plan the city. The most important feature of the plans proposed in the reconstruction of Izmir is the focus on squares and an attempt to create an integrity from the squares. It is similar to the integrities of the plans proposed after the London fire. Only, as a result of this crisis, one of the important differences between these two cities is to preserve the historical texture of London, while in Izmir, such a thought. Unadopted, so to speak, it is aimed to recreate Izmir because the buildings burned after the crisis. As a result of the people who lost their lives and people who lost their lives, it could not be determined who will be the land or the house, so it was easier to regenerate your city with an inheritance shortage. In the London fire in 1666, with the idea of ​​creating a city from the squares focused on Izmir starch, Robert Hooke’s determination of the city according to the squares. The idea is similar, but one of the important differences between this idea is that the roads determining the squares in Izmir progress in a triangle, while in Robert Hooke’s plan, the roads progress in a middle general way and each square has its own church and this church, squares around it. While the size of the squares in Izmir varies, the squares are repeated in the same way in Robert Hooke’s plan proposed for London.

1922 Great Fire of Izmir Plan

1666 Great Fire of London | Robert Hooke’s Plan

1919 – 1934 Red Vienna

Vienna is one of the important cities of Austria, and this city was exposed to the effects of both World War I and the Spanish flu at the same time. These two major crises affected the fabric of the city, as a result of these crises, approximately one third of the world’s population died. The city showed the need for open space among its proposals. In addition, the economic difficulties brought by the War accelerated the reconstruction of Vienna.The idea of ​​separation of people according to their social status was unnecessary in Vienna, so the idea of ​​equality of the people was advocated.

Since the differences in status between people in Paris and Lisbon are replaced by the idea of ​​equality of the people in Vienna, the emergence of these housing blocks is also linked to the socialist ideas adopted by the new party, and it is clear that people can also coexist. These open areas have been adopted as green areas and these green areas served as courtyards for the blocks It is possible to say that Vienna is the first city to step into mass housing projects.In addition, with this reference, it is possible to compare Herman Jansen’s plan for Bahçelievler. These common green spaces were intended to be built green spaces, and it was wanted to increase the interaction of people with each other. In other words, the idea of ​​going from part to whole in Bahçelievler City plan is more dominant.

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Bahçelievler City Plan / Red Vienna’s Hofs Plan

1848 French Revolution

One of the important events of the 18th century is the French Revolution. Throught this Revolution, France was replaced by the Republic system instead of absolute monarchy and the influence of the church on the people decreased. When we look at the general structure of Paris in this period, it is possible to encounter social problems such as a rather irregular urbanization and excessive human discrimination.

The French Revolution didn’t just happen. In the 19th century, riots continued in Paris from time to time. One of the most important obstacles to suppressing these rebellions was that Paris had a really irregular structuring. Because the measures taken to stop the rebels could not be controlled. The reason for this was that Paris had irregular and narrow streets. After these riots, the first of the measures that the government could take against future riots was to re-plan the city. In this planning, Galignani focused especially on the streets and wanted to diversify the narrow and width of the streets. In addition to this, the high population of Paris at that time was wanted to be reduced and the poor in the region were removed from the city center and the city center was made where the bourgeois could live. In fact, we see that discrimination in this way also affects the planning of the city. The Streets built are divided into three parts. The first of these are wide roads, the second is small roads, and the third is the connection roads that provide transportation. In addition, due to the fact that the city is rearranged according to the status difference of the people, Paris has thus become one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Organize according to social status Galignani Plan

It is possible to say that the Hausmann plan embellished some of the different cities that were covered in the previous weeks. The Valentine Knight’s plan, one of the plans proposed after the great London fire of 1666, is quite similar to the Hausmann plan. Both wanted the city to be rebuilt on a grid system, and the connection of the main roads facilitated and diversified transportation within the city. This diversity has emerged as a result of the canals and roads designed in harmony with each other. In addition, the blocks designed in the Haussmann plan serve different social statuses, similar to the city plan proposed by Pompal for the redesign of Lisbon. Finally, the point I want to draw attention to is that although there was a century of difference between them, the idea of ​​social status difference still continued in Paris and Lisbon, and I can say that the reconstruction of the city was based on this idea.

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Valentine Knight’s Plan (1666 Great Fire of London) / Hausmann Plan (1848 Paris)

1755 Lisbon Earthquake

The economic development of Lisbon in the 18th century was very high. This economic development made the city one of the important commercial centers. In parallel with economic development, class differences among people have become widespread.

The fact that the mother religion is Christianity has greatly affected the city. For example, the formation of the structure of the city according to churches, especially the use of the underground parts as religious service units, clearly shows Lisbon’s proximity to religion. In addition, due to the topographical situation of Lisbon, the rate of irregular urbanization is high and the number of open spaces in the city is almost non-existent. In addition, the fact that the buildings in Lisbon show Baroque architectural inspiration can show how strong their ties with religion are.

The Lisbon earthquake that took place on 1 November greatly affected the city, the earthquake of approximately 9 magnitude destroyed the whole city in a period of 10 minutes. The fires and tsunamis seen with the earthquake quickly brought the end of the city. The people’s confrontation with such a great calamity caused them to interpret this situation as a punishment from God. After this disaster, King Jose, the ruler of the period, left his throne to deal with religious affairs, and King Pompal, who ascended the throne after him, started to deal with the reorganization of the city. He tried to provide the city’s planning plan by enacting some laws at first. King Pompal’s goal was actually to transform Lisbon into a modern renaissance city. For this, the King asked for proposals for a new Lisbon plan from the team he founded, consisting of architects and engineers. In fact, after the recent London fire of 1666, King Pompal wanted to follow the same idea in Lisbon, but while the new city was being built in London, the structure of the old was wanted to be preserved, but in Lisbon, such a goal was not seen. Dos Santos’s plan was selected among the 5 proposed plans and the grid plan layout was used. For the structures that were previously built according to the church, different areas are now specified, the location of the churches has been considered, the typologies of the buildings have been determined, and the number of open spaces where people can move freely is desired to be increased.

In addition, some suggestions have been made for the underground structures of Lisbon. The earthquake resistance of the buildings has been increased and the structures have been differentiated in level, just like the status differences between people. For example, the ground floors of the buildings were reserved for commercial areas, the common floors for the middle classes, and the penthouses for employees. If we want to associate this situation with the recent London fire, it is possible to say that there are similarities and differences. After the London fire, a part of the city was plundered and the ruler of the period asked the architects and engineers for plan proposals for the new London, but none of the incoming plan proposals were implemented, and the historical structure of London was asked to be preserved. In Lisbon, on the other hand, we see the opposite. The government of the period aimed the formation of a large and new Renaissance city instead of protecting Lisbon’s historical structure, and the architectural development of the city was considered important. We also notice similarities between Dos Santos’s plan and Christopher Wren’s plan, one of the plans produced in the London fire. Both used a grid plan system, and the city’s plan was created according to the ideal Renaissance city plan.

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Dos Santos’s plan / Christopher Wren’s plan

It took some precautions after the earthquake, just like after the London fire. Different materials were used to increase the durability of the buildings and the public was made aware of the earthquake.

1666 Great Fire of London

This week’s subject of reading and presentation was the Great London Fire that broke out in 1666. Since I and my friend made the presentation together, I will try to explain this subject as dominantly as I can.

After the plague epidemic that affected the whole world in the 17th century, the great London fire that affected London on a large scale and helped to clear itself from the plague caused a great change in both the fabric and the social structure of the city. In this review article, it will be mentioned how the urban fabric is affected physically and socially.

First, let’s examine the characteristics of the urban fabric before the fire. In general, the southern part of the city was close to the river bank, surrounded by walls, with a lot of public areas, the use of wood was common in the houses, and its streets established different relations with all four sides of the city. The first plan of the city before the fire was made by designer John Leake.

John Leake’s plan before the fire

As a result of the fire that started in a bakery and lasted for four days, a certain part of the city was destroyed and the government of the period aimed to find a solution to this. They found this solution by organizing a competition. As a result of this competition, five city plans with different structural and perspective stand out. However, none of these plans were implemented, because the form of the city was not suitable for the proposed new designs, and London wanted to preserve its own structure. I will talk about the designers of these five plans respectively and what kind of vision they adopted in their plans.

Robert Hooke: Orthogonal gridal plan system, preserve the structure of Medieval London.

Valentine Knight: Grid information canals and main roads.

John Evelyn: Reconstruction Italian style radial plan.

Christopher Wren: Similar to John Evelyn’s, potential of public buildings.

Richard Newcourts: Hierarchical order.

Secondly, if we evaluate the social development of the city after the fire, it is possible to say that the people and the government became quite conscious. For example, the first insurance service was established after the fire, the public who had not been informed about major fires until then was informed and the first fire brigade was established. In addition, architectural innovation has been made. While the use of wooden structures was common before the fire, there was a variety of materials.

In summary, even though the Great Fire of London provided an innovation both physically and socially in the form of the city, the fact that London did not abandon its traditions did not allow any change in the urban fabric today. The presentation of the subject has been added below for those who want to get more information about this subject.

1666 Great Fire of London_pdfİndir

Black Death | Lucca and Bologna (1330)

Black Death was a disease that first started in Asia, then most likely spread to Europe by trade and affected the world population to a great extent. The fact that this disease affects about half of the world’s population has caused a great change in the affected areas, especially in the urban form.

The fact that the Black Death  focuses on the cities of Lucca and Bologna in Italy, in the readings and presentations given this week, helps us to understand that these cities are the cities most affected by this disease. This disease, which is very common in these cities, has affected the urban form of Europe as well as social issues such as art, economy and religion.

Lucca and Bologna developed from most European cities in terms of the application of medical science, so these cities have contributed to the urban form in terms of health as well as their approach to urban form. In terms of health, certain infrastructures have been established both in hospitals and public, and thanks to these infrastructures, it was desired to ensure that the city operates in a controlled manner in the form of unity and integrity. In addition, these infrastructures have affected the form of the city architecturally after a while, and the formation of infrastructure such as transportation and accommodation has been accelerated. These infrastructures were restructured according to human needs after the illness and facilitated the integration in the city both architecturally and socially. A thought system was seen in the city away from crowded settlements, aesthetics in buildings became the background of function. In addition to this, for the importance of clean air, the boundaries of the cities were expanded, the number of green areas was tried to be increased and a decrease in construction was made. The number of health institutions has been increased by the state and the public has been more conscious about this disease. However, since this disease mostly spread to the world by trade ships, the cities affected by the epidemic could not show a fast economic regulation policy.

The fact that this disease was seen intensely in Italy, the most important city of Europe and the Renaissance, affected the art and death was depicted more real with both painting and sculpture.

Premodern Chinese City Floods

Readings and lecture presentation of the third week were the findings of the floods affecting PreModern China in the fabric of the city. As usual, these findings will be evaluated both architecturally and socially in the article.

First of all, when we look at China in general, it is possible to say that floods are famous due to its geographical structure. Some legends indicate that these floods played an important role in the construction of China, especially the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are cited as the greatest examples of floods. It is natural that these rivers mentioned sometimes cause a natural disaster. Accordingly, they have taken measures according to the floods in their own urban fabric in China.

From the architectural point of view of city planning for China, solutions have been tried to increase the potential strength of buildings against possible floods. As an example, the formation of thresholds in buildings, reinforcement of building foundations, the use of high columns and platforms for this, and durability in material selection can be shown. In addition, high places were preferred in the topography for the construction of public buildings and palaces in the Premodern China City, because it was aimed to ensure that these places were less affected by flooding as much as possible. In addition, the walls surrounding the city have installed some systems around the city gates in order to protect them from flooding. For example, the drainage pipes were placed near the city walls and the city was not allowed to fill with water. This example can be diversified. In addition, it was aimed to control the water by creating a canal system in order to prevent the usual flooding of the rivers mentioned above.

In summary, it is possible to show the effects of flood disasters in China on the architectural design and urban planning of the city with various examples. In addition to the planning of the city, the Chinese demonstrated that water can also be used for conservation purposes with the measures they made around the walls of the city.

Evaluating an Article on the Historical Form of the City | Written by A.E.J Morris

The first reading of the “On Urban Forms Throughout History” course given to us by our instructor was a text called “The History of Urban Fabric” written by A.E.J Morris. When I read this article, it was something that caught my attention that the author clearly reflected the relationship between the problems I face today and the past. I came to the conclusion with this text that when we understand and know our past, it will be easier to identify the source of today’s problems.

Secondly, when we read the article, we understand that the most important point that the urban form is affected by is our residential area, because these residential areas have a lot of interaction with environmental factors, especially natural disasters, and therefore affect the existing topography, allowing people to offer different suggestions to their needs. From here, it is possible to say that climate and human needs are in a very close relationship.

Another important issue mentioned in the article was that factors such as religion, economy and politics were also important in shaping the urban form. After all, the form of a city is not only physically affected, but also the different ethnic elements it contains can diversify the city form. This diversification may be predominantly man-made elements (for example, different materials for house construction), as well as the development of the economy in the place, as a different structuring according to the needs of people in the form of the city. Of course, these are my own interpretations as a reader, and in addition to this, the author also categorized the building materials within themselves and revealed the influence of local architecture in the form of the city.

Finally, the author argued that urban regeneration may also depend on self-growth and development. I believe that as long as this development is planned, urban improvement will be more permanent and other factors affecting the urban form that I have given above, rather than architecture, will be settled in a certain order and shaped according to the needs of people.