The Geometry of The Ideal City

The Ideal City and Utopia are well written and artistically depicted throughout time. Writings have described utopia as a place with fertile soil, fortified walls, fair trade and a peaceful quality of life. Utopia stemmed from the verses in the Bible describing Heaven and Eden. These religious ideals were consistently integrated into the perception of the ideal city in which two geometric typologies emerged: the circle and the square.

In the readings the Ideal City originated from two great cities Babylon and Jerusalem. In these cities the geometric order plays a important role in the societies structure. The circle and the square were used with the use of a grid that either followed a orthogonal or a radial pattern. The creation of the ideal city was influenced by these two geometric forms. The circle came from the divine and heavenly world where as the square was cemented as the earth.  A societies goals would be integrated into the layout of the city by the use of a circle having a connection to the divine and the square giving a foundation and order to the system.

It is interesting how the architecture of a city is influence by geometric forms. When creating the ideal-city it seems to lend its self toward an organizational system like the circle or rectangle grid. Looking at Paris, for instance, when certain areas were redesigned the radial grid pattern was widely used to organize the city. For the Israelites the Tabernacle was laid out in a rectangular grid which has influenced future city planning. Thompsen states, “The layout and measurements of the camp and particularly the Tabernacle have exercised a profound and enduring influence over ideal urban design.” (Thompsen, 25). The Tabernacle represented a transitional place that was built upon the Earth yet held the divine presence of God. It was an endeavor to unite the Earthly and Heavenly realms therefore creating a Utopia.

So for the utopias of the future, will they follow the traditions of the past to be organized within the geometry of the circle or rectangle or follow a different pattern? It seems like there is something within the human mind that gravitates toward the idea of a circle representing purity and wholeness and a rectangle representing logic and order. I believe these two forms will continue to influence the Ideal City planning of the future, but be reconfigured. These geometric designs were meant to advance a society towards political and spiritual goals. Thomsen writes, “Certain early examples of cities created, or imagined to be so, by humankind were to influence future ideal-city planning from a complex intertwining of formal and social viewpoints. Throughout the history of utopian design, geometrical patterns appear and reappear and the legacy of the two basic forms – the circle and the square.” (26).

Are these geometric forms pertinent to the architectural layout of future ideal cities if our future goals no longer align with political and spiritual goals? For example, being from Alaska one of our states long lasting debates is the issue of the relocation of our state capitol, Juneau. Established in 1900, it is located in the South East panhandle, has no vehicle access and is perched along a fiord. There always has been an issue over land and access. Some people wanted the capitol moved to allow for easier vehicular access, so a planning committee was instigated.

My boss, CB, I worked for this spring was on the committee and described how the committee ended up choosing 10 sites around Alaska to build the new capitol. CB told me how some of their guiding parameters for these sites were for the site to have road access and a piece of land that measured 10 miles by 10 miles. The ideal capitol site was chosen by the geometry of a square, 10 miles by 10 miles! I asked why the 10×10, and he said it lent best towards efficient layout for a grid system and movement of vehicle traffic. In the end there was not sufficient funding to relocate the capitol, so it still resides in Juneau. What is interesting is that having the capitol located in a compressed area made pedestrian access better. Juneau works well now because all the buildings are stacked along the mountain sides and the departments have easy pedestrian access via walkways and elevators rather than vehicular access. It works better to guide a design than force a design form upon a society. In the future I see the ideal-city geometric form switch from the traditional square and circle horizontal pattern to a vertical pattern as the area of build able land diminishes.

compressed city planning

vertical city planning