CITY PLANNING ACCORDING TO ARTISTIC PRINCIPLES-Camillo Sitte

INTRODUCTION

The book CITY PLANNING According to Artistic Principles is written by CAMILLO

SITTE. The book was originally published in German and was first published in United States, 1965. The
book was written in 1889 taking into reference Medieval and Renaissance period. CITY PLANNING
according to Artistic Principles is not purely an attack on the modem planning systems of the time, but an
attempt to define a unity between modern and artistic methods through the creation of suitable public
space.

CAMILLO SITTE travelled extensively throughout Europe visiting cities in Italy, France and
Germany as well as his native Austria. Through his travels, he observed how these cities had developed
and established a set of principles by which he believed cities should be planned. These ideas were based
primarily on the plaza and associated public space . There are places like public squares, beautiful vistas,
town views etc. in whose presence we feel very happy and lively. We would like to hang on to such places
more often whose beauties do not fade away with time because then and then only we would be able to
endure it for longer span The uncontrollable liveliness of the place is primarily a gift of nature but it also
depends on the temperament of people.

A city mad be designed to make is people secure and happy and lively. should not be takes
as technical subject simply, ln mathematical century subject of city planning became almost purely
technical which reminds us that his solves or caters to just one aspect while artistic aspects are not
considered here at all in this book ancient and modern cities will be analyzed in purely artistic manner
which aims at finding escapism from modern block system in order to save the beautiful old parts of the
towns from being demolished and to bring forth something in spirit of old masterpiece.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS, AND THEIR

PLAZAS

In this chapter Sitte has magnificently explained the relationship between the buildings,
monuments and their plazas. In Renaissance and Middle ages period the plazas used to remain trafficked
with people, public celebrations took place, plays were put on also they were used for various legal and
practical purposes. Also the public squares were emancipated according to the different communities,
various legal and practical purposes and hence we can clearly see the distinction between the
ecclesiastical and secular authority. Here he also suggests that it is not necessary to investigate
picturesque beauty of the old towns for modern purposes but this should not prevent us from studying all
the features of planning cities. In this way we can determine what might still be salvageable and retainable
as a heritage or as the beauties of the old towns.

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 CITY PLANNING ACCORDING TO ARTISTIC PRINCIPLES-Camillo Sitte

THAT THE CENTRE OF PLAZAS BE KEPT FREE

Sitte emphasized that the centre of plazas must remain permanently vacant, simply
because of the desire to leave the line of vision free and not blocked by monuments. Otherwise, in his
opinion, not only would such monuments interfere with the view of buildings but the buildings would present
the worst type of background for the monuments. He also criticized the way of building churches or public
buildings in the centre of the plazas, because they spoiled the view of the plaza and there would be no
adequate space distance to see the facade of the building very well. Simply he called this as representing a
lack of judgment.

THAT PUBLIC SQUARES SHOULD BE ENCLOSED ENTITIES

During olden times ancient forums were rigorously closed off from the outside. This
tradition persisted for a long time during Medieval and Renaissance period and it is largely this feature
which makes for a harmonious effect of plazas. In the old plazas we see the streets opening up on to the
plaza in those times only one street would open up of each point while second one would branch off further
back on this street out of the sight of the plaza, Each of the three or four corners of the streets enters the
plaza at a different angle and this occurred so frequently with different variation of its own that consciously
or sub-consciously it became the principle of old city planning.

THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE PLAZAS

According to Sitte's classification there are two
categories of city squares, the deep type and wide type,
and to know whether a plaza is deep or wide the observer
needs to stand opposite the major building that dominates
the whole lay out. So the classification is not about
dimensions but is dependent on the relationship between
the plaza and its surroundings.
deep type wide type

THE IRREGULARITIES OF OLD PLAZAS

As we see in old time there were quite typical irregularity of these old plaza in lies in their
gradual historical development. These irregularities do not have an unpleasant effect at all . The really
widely irregular plazas of old towns often do not look bad at all. While an irregular corner in modern layout

invariably appear very unattractive. Old planning was not conceived on the paper but instead developed
gradually in nature.

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SREETS

Old city streets have grown by degree through the gradual development of the main routes
of communication leading from the countryside to its natural center. A village , The village , a market town
or city . As in Middle ages most of these groups of houses had to be surrounded with walls. Medieval cities
across little by little n the sites of Roman campus , so the pattern of their streets was in no way arbitrary .
The ideal street form the complete enclosed unit. The narrowness and infrequency of side
streets prevented its continuity from being interrupted too often. When a street approached another at an
oblique angle, they curved it slightly towards its opening in order to facilitate circulation and form a good
house plot.

MODERN SYSTEMS

According to Sitte's classification there are Three major methods of city planning and
several subsidiary types. The major ones are the gridiron system, the redial system, and the triangular
system . The sub types ae mostly hybrids of these three. Artistically speaking, not one of them is of any
interest, for in their veins pulses not a single amount of artistic blood.
A network of streets always serves only the purpose of communication. The grid planning is
one of the most frequently applied. It was carried out early. Sitte’s examine the traffic pattern where merely
one street opens into another.

Thus a vehicle driving from A to C may pass another

from C to A or from C to B, as well as from B to A and B
to C. These make four encounters. Avoiding duplications,
then, the following twelve situations are possible. one can
easily see that those designated with an asterisk are
such that their two trajectories intersect. The little circles
represent these three bad traffic situations wherein a traffic delay may result since one vehicle has to pass
by before the other can proceed. However, three such awkward situations are still allowable, because in
light traffic a congestion would rarely result.

For pedestrians the situation is even worse. Every hundred steps they have to leave the sidewalk
in order to cross another street, and they
cannot be careful enough in looking to the
right and left for vehicles which may be
coming along every which way.

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For pedestrians such a places truly hazardous, and in order to eliminate the worst dangers, a
round piece of sidewalk is raised in the middle.

These occur even more frequently in the application of the radial system or in mixed systems.
They become the greatest glory indeed of new layouts when they are completely regular: in circular form or
octagonal as in the Piazza Emmanuele in Turin.

ARTISRTIC LIMITATION OF MORDEN CITY PLANNING

Sitte’s analysis development in response to the following contextual factors.

Commercial activity had increasingly abandoned public open space. Public affairs were discussed in the
daily paper instated of plaza. Economic growth led to the regular parceling of lots based on purely
economic consideration. Works of art were straying increasing from streets and plazas into the art cages of
the museums. And above all the enormous size to which the large cities grew led to the a consequents
inflation in the size of streets and squares.

CONCLUSION
“Camillo Sitte’s book, ‘City Planning According To Artistic Principles’, lead a new thinking of
urban planning in the 19th century which is still contributing in modern age. The nature of the city: the living
environment is a social and artistically dedicated being, referring from Sitte. He focus on the problems of
modern cities and the essence of the old planning technics , it’s characteristic and impact on the public. He
gives more importance to the position of monuments within public spaces. After his book had been
published, planners changed their views in a new city section, which not only worked out with a flat survey,
Sitte draws attention to several examples of modern development from Germany and Austria which he
sees as more suitable as well as highlighting several of his own exemplar projects which try to unite artistic
methods into a modern city planning system. Sitte’s main concern is that of space. Sitte is also concerned
about the increasing use of grid layouts for streets in the development of cities.”

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