AXES

 

 

 

"Human Axes": 

1- Urban axes and axes on the geographical scale,

but always on the human scale.

2- The fake axes.

3- The Linear City and the Vectors.

 

Note also the different north-south orientations,

and the different dimensions between the axes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 - THE URBAN AND

 

TERRITORIAL AXES:

 
 

The Karnak Temple Complex, 19th Century B.C.

 

 

The Hadrian's Villa near Rome, Tivoli, II C. A.D.

The imperial little town (improperly called "Villa") of Hadrian was incredibly innovative and modern: separation of paths (the pedestrian paths were separated from those of the logistics, the carts and on horseback, and these last paths were at a lower level, partly underground); asymmetric and polycentric architectural axes; an axis network based on the movements of people from one destination to another into the little town. An urban deconstructivism of two millennia ago, but not formalistic.

 

 

The Avenue of the Dead,  Teotihuacan, 150-450 A.D.

 

 

The Angkor Wat Complex, 12th Century A.D.

The giant axes of Angkor Wat are structured according to big and smaller axes, and temples on a human scale.  In other simplistic words: a forest can be immense, like the Amazon Forest, but the trees that make up a forest are always on the human scale.

 

 

The Forbidden City, Pechino, 1406-1420 A.D.

 

 

The Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, 1598-1629

 

 

The "Tridente" in Rome, 15th Century

 

 

The "Château de Chambord" near Orléans,

16th Century

 

 

The "Château de Chenonceaux" near Tours,

15th Century

 

 

The Palace of Versailles near Paris, 1623-1683

 

 

The "Avenue des Champs-Élysées" in Paris, 1670

 

 

The Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kyoto, 17th Century

 

 

The "Palazzina di caccia" of Stupinigi, near Turin, 1733

 

 

The Royal Palace of Caserta by Luigi Vanvitelli, 1774

 

 

The "La Rambla" in Barcelona, 15th-19th Century

 

 

The Karlsruhe Palace in Karlshruhe, 18th Century

 

 

The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, 1791

 

 

Urban axis:

from the Trocadéro to Champ de Mars Gardens:

The Eiffel Tower complex in Paris, 1889;

but Paris is full of axes, due to Baron Haussmann, etc.

 

 

Urban axes:

The "L'Enfant Plan" for Washington, 18th C.

 

 

Local axis:

"Via della Conciliazione" in Rome, 1936

 

 

Florida Southern College Complex in Lakeland,

Frank Lloyd Wright, 1938-1946

 

 

An urban and territorial axis:

"E.U.R. '42", Rome, Marcello Piacentini, 1942-1960

As in the case of Washington, here the axis and secondary counter-axes are monumental and sometimes rhetorical, but are still on the human scale, though vaguely metaphysical. Here there is still space for human beings.

It is also one of the last examples of serious urban planning around the world.

In fact, the modern urban planning has produced only: zoning, that is "jams of buildings", "minestrone of buildings", etc.

 

 

An urban and territorial axis:

"E.U.R. '42", Rome, Marcello Piacentini, 1942

From Rome to the sea: the triple transport axis of  "Via Cristoforo Colombo" Road;  two mechanized transport side lines were planned, in addition to the central two directions of travel for cars.

 

 

Local axes:

The Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael,

Frank Lloyd Wright Architect, 1960

 

 

An example of  "Linear City" urban planning:

the "Sectorul Ciocana" in Chişinău, 21th Century.

The "Ciudad Lineal" (the "Linear City") as teorized by Arturo Soria y Mata (1844-1920) in 1882.

 

 

Another example of  "Linear City" urban planning:

"Bulevardul Dacia" in Chişinău, 21th Century.

 

 

"Av. Sete de Setembro" and others axes in Curitiba: something more than a simple road axis.

In the 80s the administration of Curitiba decided to create a metropolitan transport system based on 3 different types of public buses, etc., etc. This system was much cheaper and more efficient than an ordinary underground subway system.

T  H  E     M  A  R  I  N  D  U  C  T

THE MARINE WATER AQUEDUCT

 

D  E  E  P     B  L  U  E

SEAWATER  FOR  OVER  200,000 POOLS OF

L  O  S     A  N  G  E  L  E  S

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D    U    N    E    S

THE MARINDUCT OASIS SYSTEM

 

T H E   P E N S I L E   P O O L S

BY BRIDGE-POOLS

WATERFUN & SPORTING BATHS

 

THE ROLLER COASTER OF STAIRS

A  LABYRINTH OF STAIRS

FOR SEAWATER FUN PARKS

 

 

 

F O R   H U M A N   B E I N G S

N O T   F O R   C L O N E S

 

 

 

S T A I R S   I N   T H E   W A T E R

A SEAWATER SPORTING & FUN PARK

 

T H E   N A U T I L U S

A VILLAGE IN THE DESERT

 

T H E   B L U E   S H E L L

A HOME WITH A THERMAL 

SHIELD OF SAND

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T H E   Z E B R A S

CHAIRS & TABLES BY POLYCARBONATE

ALUMINIUM TUBES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Even the longest journey begins with a first step! Systemic Habitats is on line since the 18th of May 2012. This website was created to publish online my ebook "Towards a different habitat" on the contemporary architecture and urbanism. Later many other contents were added. For their direct or indirect contribution to its realisation strarting from 2012, we would like to thank: Roberto Vacca, Marco Pizzuti, Fiorenzo and Raffaella Zampieri, Antonella Todeschini, All the Amici di Marco Todeschini, Ecaterina Bagrin, Stefania Ciocchetti, Marcello Leonardi, Joseph Davidovits, Frédéric Davidovits, Rossella Sinisi, Pasquale Cascella, Carlo Cesana, Filippo Schiavetti Arcangeli, Laura Pane, Antonio Montemiglio, Patrizia Piras, Bruno Nicola Rapisarda, Ruberto Ruberti, Marco Cicconcelli, Ezio Prato, Sveva Labriola, Rosario Francalanza, Giacinto Sabellotti, All the Amici di Gigi, Ruth and Ricky Meghiddo, Natalie Edwards, Rafael Schmitd, Nicola Romano, Sergio Bianchi, Cesare Rocchi, Henri Bertand, Philippe Salgarolo, Paolo Piva detto il Pivapao, Norbert Trenkle, Antonietta Toscano, Gaetano Giuseppe Magro, Carlo Blangiforti, Mario Ludovico, Riccardo Viola, Giulio Peruzzi, Ahmed Elgazzar, Warren Teitz, and last but not least Lena Kudryavtseva.  M.L.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 L ' I N G E G N E R

M A R C O   T O D E S C H I N I

c .   1 9 5 6 .

 

 

 

 Links to external cultural websites :

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f o r   h u m a n   b e i n g s

 

 

 

 

 

A   N E W   B O O K :

TOWARD A DIFFERENT HABITAT, Voll. 1 & 2

625 pages, Print Edition, Lulu Press, Inc., 2024:

 

R e a d   i t   n o w  !

 

 

A N O T H E R   N E W   B O O K :

DESIGNS FOR SYSTEMIC HABITATS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Number  of  visits  from  2012:

      Thanks for your kind visit !

 

M.L.