Who is the most glorious big city on the European continent? Not Paris, not Berlin, not Rome, but Barcelona.
The capital of Catalonia has all the ingredients to mesmerize urban mankind - vibrant street life, grotesque urban architecture, *** overflowing sports, and, of course, *** Spanish women - and it's not a city of gentlemen, it's a city of men, it's a city of women. -It's not a city of gentlemen, it's a city of singers and dancers, where even the most curmudgeonly Germans take off their tuxedos and join in the city's most urbane hot dances and wild parties.
Barcelona is a marvel of urbanism.
Anyone who studies cities will marvel at his maps: what a city! Urban researchers who analyze the urban fabric will not be able to leave Barcelona behind, alongside him are usually Washington, Chicago, New York, Paris and Rome.
Every great city has a great era and a great story that belongs to him, the Roman Renovation Plan, the Paris Renovation Plan or the Washington Plan, and all of them, can not overshadow the glory of Barcelona's city building - the Roman Renovation Plan was nothing more than an aesthetic movement that belonged to the city's power elite; the Housman in What did Housman do in Paris? Tearing down the old houses, widening the roads, a transformation of the old city, only he transformed Paris; Washington, New York, Chicago, these American cities, but only in a blank sheet of paper, quickly drew their grid system, which is what they have always been good at; and Barcelona, such a city, appeared in the continent of Europe, is really a miracle, the city of the birth story, not a planning, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona, the city of Barcelona. The story of its birth is not one of planning, but of an uprising: Barcelona, the cry and counterattack of all the merchants, architects and citizens of a city, to the capital, Madrid, to the European continent.
Only one Barcelona could have been born on the European continent, not as a collage, but as a cascade.
The unique atmosphere and style of this city led me to unravel its history and to be shocked again and again.
He is like a stratum of fossils, accumulated layer by layer, each layer records the story of an era, and intact, you can read the different fault lines of the city, to understand the story of what happened in different eras, you can easily divide Barcelona into three layers - belongs to the medieval Old Town You can easily divide Barcelona into three layers - the Old City of the Middle Ages, the mid-19th-century extension of the Cerda, and the waterfront revitalized by the Barcelona Olympics of '92 - and you can easily see the different fault lines of the city stacked so directly on top of each other.
The Old Town preserved the city's most traditional memories, the Extension demonstrated the city's former strength and ambition, and the Barcelona '92 Olympics changed the city's status and image in Europe forever.
This clear fault line is difficult to be found in any other city on the European continent, a special historical opportunity that has given the city a unique style, Barcelona on the continent, is unique.
Of these three epochal fault lines in Barcelona, the mid-19th century planning of the Cerda's extension is undoubtedly the most brilliant, the most luminous, the most distinctive.
This history, however, has been passed over in Chinese-language planning textbooks.
What follows is a dramatic piece of urban history that has never been mentioned in the Chinese world.
(1) Barcelona in the 18th century was a dystopian city.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Spain was embroiled in a civil war between the Bourbons and the Hapsburgs for power in Spain. The Bourbons were ultra-conservative and centralized, while the Catalan regime, of which Barcelona is a part, was a very self-confident and cohesive cultural region - even today, Catalan is the language of choice for the city of Barcelona. today, Catalan is the most popular language in the Barcelona region, not Spanish.
In the political struggle of the 18th century, the Catalan regime chose to be loyal to the Hapsburg crown and provided military support, but sadly, the Catalan regime was on the wrong side of the struggle, and the war was ultimately lost, with the Bourbons winning most heavily.
Once again, history shows us that the price of being on the wrong side of the fence is a terrible one.
In 1714, after thirteen months of continuous and courageous resistance, Catalonia surrendered to the Bourbon crown, followed by a century of political and cultural oppression.
In 1716, the new central *** enacted the Decree of Novo Planta, which politically abolished the existing political system in Catalonia and subordinated it directly to the central *** of Madrid; economically, it imposed heavy taxes and brutal cultural repression on Catalonia - - closed down all the territories in Catalonia, and imposed the following measures.
In this history, the city of Barcelona, in a very monstrous development, a long period of political oppression of the urban form of the monstrous, which in the history of the world's cities, are very rare.
Monstrous urban construction and public *** life - Madrid *** brutal repression of Catalonia in exchange for the Barcelona people's constant resistance, all the military installations, the new regime's office facilities, have become the object of national hatred and anger, Madrid's central *** had to carry out the urban Tighter repression and control, in the east of the harbor side of the high ground, an octagonal military fortress was built in order to always supervise the whole city, powerful artillery fire can be directly bombarded to any corner of the old city of Barcelona, a large number of military facilities in the city to build up, the army, the police station, prisons, in the 18th century in Barcelona, the scale of these violent machines and military facilities used to be on a par with the city's size.
The monstrous construction of the walls - I think the walls of Barcelona in the 18th century were the most unusual on the European continent.
European cities have a long history of building walls, and they have always had a special significance for the city, not only as a symbol of the birth of power, but also as a symbol of the rights of the citizens of the city, and those inside the walls and those outside the walls were in a completely different social position - in some ways similar to the way that we have a system of civil registration today.
The European Union was the first country in the world to have a city of its own.
Almost every city on the European continent has had its own city walls, but all of them were for the defense and protection of the city, except for Barcelona's in the 18th century, which was not external but internal, and was designed to closely supervise and control the city's inhabitants.
Madrid's central *** The zigzagging walls were built along the city's periphery, and these stone walls had a considerable defensive capacity, with turrets, moats, and star-shaped protruding watchtowers, and the walls enclosed the old city, the military installations, the port, and the fortresses on the high ground, forming a strong defense system, which was inward-looking.
All these constructions were hated by the people of Barcelona, and this hatred was so strong and so deep that, after 150 years of struggle, the walls were finally abolished, and when the *** headache of how to tear down this behemoth, the inhabitants of Barcelona, like an orgy, took up shovels and hoes and rushed to the walls, so much so, that, at that time, the city was sold out of iron, and these cities, which had a lot of iron, were sold out of iron.
The monstrous development of the city - apart from the walls, the city was surrounded by a 1.25-kilometer wide *** zone, in which any urban construction was strictly forbidden, a wide *** zone that was a complete vacuum for urban construction.
In the century and a half that followed, urban construction never crossed the threshold, so why 1.25 kilometers? Why 1.25 kilometers? It was the effective range of artillery fire from the city walls.
Barcelona, in the eighteenth century, became a city in a vacuum.
Although the condition of the walls gradually deteriorated, with frequent collapses, the interior of the city became more and more crowded, and the urban environment became more and more hostile, so much so that Madrid *** every year earmarked its coffers for the repair and maintenance of the walls, which were enshrined in the city's ordinances, not a single building or plan was repaired outside the walls, on the vast, deserted land, since any Any building project beyond the walls was not just a building project, but represented a political declaration of war against the central *** of Madrid.
Growth in a bottle - Although the boundaries were tightly controlled, the city never stopped growing rapidly under the watchful eye of Madrid Central ***, in an era when Barcelona was once the textile center of continental Europe, and the growth of industry brought new people to the city.
In 1717, when the construction of the walled city of Barcelona was completed, there were only 37,000 people living in low-rise dwellings, while around 1800, 130,000 people were living in the exact same built-up area of the city, and in 1860, the population reached 190,000, with a population of nearly 900 people per hectare, making Barcelona Europe's most densely populated city in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Barcelona was the most densely populated city in Europe, twice the density of the urban area of Paris at that time, and the city's living conditions and sanitary conditions were extremely poor.
This vicious development overwhelmed the city of Barcelona and began to lead to a rapid decline in the city's industrial status.
The inward growth of the city, confined in a bottle, had reached an extreme and was finally beginning to squeeze the walls of the bottle that limited the city's growth.
(2) Breaking down, then building up: the new city after a century and a half of repression
By the 1840s, Barcelona was already full of over-dense slums within its walls, with industrial and residential buildings mixed together in the old city, where the streets were narrow and the living conditions were extremely poor.
There was a growing call to tear down the city walls, a symbol of the past and the need to meet the new demands of the city's development.
This revolt of Barcelona against the capital, Madrid, was not carried out within the administrative system, but by the merchant class of the city of Barcelona, led by the poor workers of the city, in the name of restoring the light of Catalonia, not only to solve the problem of social justice for a century and a half, but also by speculative merchants who saw the huge possibilities of asset appreciation in the belt of the city's sprawl. possibilities.
In 1854, the central *** of Madrid finally made a royal decision to dismantle the city walls, which was largely completed in 1865, and the stones from the dismantled walls were basically used to pave the roads; at that time, Barcelona was in a complete vacuum of urban construction surrounded by only five scattered villages in the distance, Barcelona positioned the new urban development area in the old city. Barcelona has positioned its new urban development area in the vacuum between the old city and the villages, and has embarked on an ambitious new plan.
The wheels of history continue to roll slowly forward as Barcelona wrestles with the central *** of Madrid.
In 1859, Barcelona organized a competition for the development of the city after the demolition of the city walls, which resulted in two alternatives, Antoni Rovira I Trias and Lldenfons Cerda.
Rovia's proposal was respectful of the old city, and catered to the conservative aesthetics of the Catalan aristocracy of the time. Catalan aristocracy, with the idea of recreating the glory of the Middle Ages when Catalan culture was dominant, continuing the axes of the Old City with five radiating axes and a busy urban public **** space, in Rovia's scheme the New Barcelona is designed as a baroque city of the traditional power elite similar to Rome or Paris
Cerda's scheme contrasts stark contrast, in his program, which embodied early modernist pursuits and reflected an implied social transformation, the aesthetics of the urban aristocracy were relegated to the back burner, and he advocated a modern, egalitarian, enlightened city: poor workers, the powerful elite, merchants, and doctors should all enjoy the same high quality of urban space, with sunlight, clean air, and easy transportation as the city's all residents equally.
Unlike Rovia's notion of reviving medieval glory, Cerda wanted to achieve an egalitarian Catalan city, spatially reflected in the use of a large grid of undifferentiated urban blocks, "a catalan city with equal cell", which Cerda advocated, with 550 blocks. "The 550 blocks cover an area of 9 square kilometers.
His program has no connection to the old city, demonstrating his social ideals and desire for efficient urban development and investment.
In his ideal model, the blocks have an ideal scale of 113.3 meters, separated from each other by 20 meters of urban road.
The buildings on each corner are chamfered (called xamfrans) to provide better traffic space, public **** space and good light and ventilation.
Cerda's scheme is almost the other extreme of Rovia's, in every sense of the word
(Cerda's plan for the Barcelona Extension contrasts sharply with Rovia's)
Like Howard, the founder of the idyllic city, Cerda was not an urban planner in the traditional sense of the word.
Like Howard, the founder of the idyllic city, Cerda was not an urban planner in the traditional sense of the word, but rather a sociologist y influenced by the two French philosophers and statesmen, who had spent his early years studying engineering at Madrid, and had good relations with the central *** of Madrid, before returning to his native Barcelona.
Cerda, who was not on the initial official invitation list for the city bid organized by Barcelona, was the "spontaneous" designer who participated in the final design competition.
Cerda's proposal hung in a small room next to Rovia's during the final round of evaluations in 1859, but it was rarely applauded.
Because the city's ruling class was a conservative Catalan aristocracy, Rovia's proposal won the competition in 1959 without a doubt.
A year later, however, things took a dramatic turn when, in 1960, Madrid's central government *** completely reversed the results of the competition, proposing that Cerda's proposal be enforced as the final implementation.
It was quite a turn of events, with the central *** pressuring the local authorities to force a change of bid, and it was this unimaginable event that changed the future fate of the city of Barcelona.
Was this due to the brilliant maneuvering of Cerda's well-heeled friends in Madrid politics, or was it because the radical, new-age Barcelona that Cerda's program portrayed was gaining acceptance? But whatever the case, the city's trajectory has been shaped by the change of label to the way we see Barcelona today.
It was already a fascinating history, but it was only when I read it for the second time, on the central *** side of Madrid, that I finally pieced together the full picture.
The bidding change wasn't simply a big "dirty trick" in the history of Western cities, it was a political battle between Madrid Central *** and the Barcelona elite.
In fact, the planning of the new Barcelona by Madrid Central *** had already begun in 1854, when the decision was made to knock down the city walls, and Cerda had been involved in this planning in Madrid since 1854, and Madrid Central *** saw the construction of this new city as an important opportunity to replace the old, xenophobic culture of Barcelona, which was rooted in the Catalan traditions, with the new culture. The new plan was seen as an opportunity for "reconciliation", but reconciliation with the people of Barcelona, with the businessmen, the poor workers and the ordinary urban dwellers being the target of the central government's efforts to bring them together, while the entrenched power elite needed to be further weakened, and Madrid wanted to transform the previous social structure and gain access to the city's urban space through equalization. Madrid hopes to transform the previous social structure, gain the support and advocacy of the urban commoners, and divest the urban space of the privileges and interests of the local power elite.
In the face of Madrid's central ****, Barcelona's powerful elite naturally rebelled, organizing their own "official" urban planning competition and inviting a large number of planners and architects - the Cerda, which belongs to Madrid ****, naturally did not want to be a part of it. ** Cerda, which belonged to Madrid, was not invited.
This is a good move, the progress of the planning activities of the bombardment, attracted a wide range of Barcelona society, the central * * * Madrid, forced by the pressure of the situation, had to explicitly order Cerda with the completed program to participate in this dramatic bidding activities - the result is naturally unsuccessful, but the powerful elite of Barcelona, and the city of Barcelona. Unfortunately, before Barcelona's powerful elite had a chance to cheer their victory, Madrid Central *** made a killer move, forcing a change in the bidding and making Cerda's proposal the one to be implemented.
The bidding process for the Barcelona Extension was a series of twists and turns.
A seemingly simple process of urban planning, but one that is constantly being squeezed by two very different political positions and interests.
The implementation of Cerda's program had a profound background of economic, political, and cultural change behind it. In the process of implementation, the new political forces were gradually formed, and the struggle for power between the emerging middle class and the traditional Catalan aristocracy became more and more intense, and it can be said that Cerda's program fulfilled the pursuit of the petit bourgeoisie's ideal life, and at the same time met the demands of the ordinary urban The demand for an improved urban living environment was also met by the ordinary residents of the city at the time.
Although the Barcelona elite lost the battle for the future of the city, the city was lucky to lose.
This opportunity not only brought about widespread political and economic change, but also set the framework for the future development of urban space in Barcelona, and it was the planning fiasco of 1859 and Cerda's program that made Barcelona what we know it to be today.
1. On the road network, Barcelona's extension plan is the only one on the European continent to use the grid + diagonal lines on such a large scale, and the subsequent development has proved that Barcelona has made the right choice, although the new extension in the scale of the old city in stark contrast to the scale of the extension area, but the scale of the extension area is still very comfortable.
2. Controlled planning.
The program establishes a very strong controlling framework for the future development of Barcelona's urban space, something that has never been seen before in urban aesthetic movements that were formerly part of the European power elite, be it Rome or Paris.
Perhaps because of Cerda's background as a sociologist, his program did not focus on the city's beautiful palaces, plazas, fountains, and grand axes, but rather sought a framework for the city's rapid, egalitarian, and efficient development of a modern city, and although the final program was far from Cerda's ideas, the controlling framework that Cerda's program formed provided the basis for Barcelona to form the unique ethos it has today.
3. The unity of the city in its wholeness and diversity.
Wholeness and equality were sought by the Cerda program and were its starting point, but the final implementation of the program created a richness and diversity within the city. In the central part of the extension, where the emerging bourgeoisie gathered, businessmen paid a lot of money to support talented architects to build their own homes, and although the overall shape of the neighborhood was limited, each house sought to be different in its architectural design. Although the overall shape of the neighborhood was limited, each house sought to differentiate itself from the others, especially at the corners of each street, which became the focal point of the design and exhibition space.
It was this process of seeking individuality within the context of overall unity that gave a large number of architects, such as Gaudi, the opportunity to make their mark, and it is in this context that a series of classics such as the Mira Residence were created, forming the unique atmosphere of Barcelona today.
The deviation between ideal planning and reality
Ever since the Cerda plan was proposed, the density of urban development in Barcelona's extended areas has gradually increased.
In Cerda's original vision, the entire city was elevated on the ground floor, with open gardens in the middle of courtyards, a low density of buildings, plenty of sunlight and fresh air, and streets filled with trees, so that there would never again be a crowded and dirty urban space like the old city of Barcelona.
Cerda's vision of a low-density space was gradually dashed by the actual construction, and the city's planning decree for controlled development was adjusted at regular intervals to allow for even higher density development in the neighborhoods.
Between 1859, when Cerda proposed the plan, and 1889, the city of Barcelona *** controlled the construction of the extension according to Cerda's original concept.
The density of buildings in the neighborhoods was limited to 50%, with the remaining open spaces reserved for gardens and buildings limited to five stories.
Between 1891 and 1932, with the influx of immigrants and the rapid growth of the city's population, the restrictions on the density of urban development were gradually relaxed to 73.6%, with 7-storey dwellings permitted, and mezzanine floors, semi-basement floors, and balconies to protrude over the red line allowed.
After 1933, building controls continued to be gradually relaxed, and the area of lighted patios and courtyards within neighborhoods was reduced even further.
And after 1976, as industry declined, the city began to re-clean up overcrowded housing and revitalize some of the decaying neighborhoods, which in turn led to a gradual rationalization of neighborhood density
Though in the course of its implementation, the density of the city's building stock continued to exceed the original plan, and in the twentieth century led to overcrowdedness and the decay of Barcelona's urban spaces. However, the controlling elements of Cerda's vision for Barcelona have survived, forming the unique character of the city today.
Walking through today's Barcelona Extension, one can still feel the struggle between the two cultures of the emerging class and the city's aristocracy, a history that is permanently cemented in Barcelona's urban space.