World Architecture
World Architecture is a art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.
181. Temple of the Inscriptions
Palenque, Mexico
The modern town of Palenque is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Villahermosa and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the Gulf of Mexico in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. The ruins of the ancient Maya city are a little to the south, perched in dense forests on a shelf carved from the Sierra Oriental de Chiapas and overlooking the basin of the Usamacinta River. The Spanish conquistadors named it Palenque because of the surrounding wooden palisade, but its Mayan appellation remains unknown. The city reached its greatest glory between a.d. 600 and 800, and Mayan stone architecture found its highest expression there in such imposing buildings as the several pyramidal temples, the palace, and of course the towering Temple of the Inscriptions. In December 1784 the mayor of Palenque, Jose Antonio Calderon, accompanied by an Italian architect named Antonio Bernaconi, found the ruins of the rumored lost city. The first serious investigation of the ancient site was made eighteen months later by Don Antonio del Rio, whose Mayan laborers cleared the jungle around the palace. Having demolished its interiors in search of gold, he found none. But his accurate report, published in 1822, motivated further study of Mayan civilization. Meanwhile, in 1807 the Spanish commissioned, one Guillermo Dupaix to investigate ancient Mexican sites, and his draftsman, Jose Luciano Castaneda, made drawings of Palenque that remained unpublished until 1834. The Mayan civilization dates from 700 b.c.; within a millennium it extended from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador through the lowlands south of Oaxaca into the Yucatan Peninsula. Architecture and all the arts flourished between a.d. 300 and 800. In this Classic Period their great cities were built upon the remains of earlier settlements. Their civilization began to collapse around 750, and after about 830 construction and development had come to a halt. In another 120 years the cities south of Oaxaca were suddenly abandoned. Many reasons have been given: climatic change, food shortages caused by overpopulation, epidemic disease, invasion, or a peasant revolution. In 1542 the Spanish conquest completed its demise. Because of the Mayas highly developed agricultural technology and the fertility of the region, an estimated five months a year were free from farm-work. The ruling classes shrewdly used this social surplus to build cities, pyramids, and temples, without resort to draft animals or the wheel. They could also support a separate class of specialist artists and craftsmen. The architecture of Palenque epitomizes the Classic Periods Western regional variant. The city became an important population center under Pacal (reigned 615 683). In 647 he built the so-called Forgotten Temple,
The modern town of Palenque is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Villahermosa and 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the Gulf of Mexico in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. The ruins of the ancient Maya city are a little to the south, perched in dense forests on a shelf carved from the Sierra Oriental de Chiapas and overlooking the basin of the Usamacinta River. The Spanish conquistadors named it Palenque because of the surrounding wooden palisade, but its Mayan appellation remains unknown. The city reached its greatest glory between a.d. 600 and 800, and Mayan stone architecture found its highest expression there in such imposing buildings as the several pyramidal temples, the palace, and of course the towering Temple of the Inscriptions. In December 1784 the mayor of Palenque, Jose Antonio Calderon, accompanied by an Italian architect named Antonio Bernaconi, found the ruins of the rumored lost city. The first serious investigation of the ancient site was made eighteen months later by Don Antonio del Rio, whose Mayan laborers cleared the jungle around the palace. Having demolished its interiors in search of gold, he found none. But his accurate report, published in 1822, motivated further study of Mayan civilization. Meanwhile, in 1807 the Spanish commissioned, one Guillermo Dupaix to investigate ancient Mexican sites, and his draftsman, Jose Luciano Castaneda, made drawings of Palenque that remained unpublished until 1834. The Mayan civilization dates from 700 b.c.; within a millennium it extended from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador through the lowlands south of Oaxaca into the Yucatan Peninsula. Architecture and all the arts flourished between a.d. 300 and 800. In this Classic Period their great cities were built upon the remains of earlier settlements. Their civilization began to collapse around 750, and after about 830 construction and development had come to a halt. In another 120 years the cities south of Oaxaca were suddenly abandoned. Many reasons have been given: climatic change, food shortages caused by overpopulation, epidemic disease, invasion, or a peasant revolution. In 1542 the Spanish conquest completed its demise. Because of the Mayas highly developed agricultural technology and the fertility of the region, an estimated five months a year were free from farm-work. The ruling classes shrewdly used this social surplus to build cities, pyramids, and temples, without resort to draft animals or the wheel. They could also support a separate class of specialist artists and craftsmen. The architecture of Palenque epitomizes the Classic Periods Western regional variant. The city became an important population center under Pacal (reigned 615 683). In 647 he built the so-called Forgotten Temple,
182. Tension and suspension buildings
Historically, post-and-beam construction and the arch (with its three-dimensional extensions) were regarded as the only ways to build. Both were constrained by a belief in the necessary permanence of architecture. Because the only available durable materials masonry of various kinds were strong in compression, structural systems exploited that property. A third way of building, the structure that used stretched filaments and membranes, was limited to short-life buildings like Arab tents because it was made from nondurable materials wood and animal or vegetable fibers. Two events would change that: the advent of structural steel and reinforced concrete after 1865, and synthetic membranes, after about 1950, combined to create architectural opportunities. Together, these new means to support and enclose provided architects with extensive esthetic possibilities; at last they were able to use the long-span systems that had long been available to bridge builders.
The German architect-engineer Frei Otto advocated tensile-stress construction in a 1954 book Das hangende Dach (The Hung Roof). The following year the Australian architects Barry Patten and Angel Dimitroff of the firm Yuncken Freeman began design work for the Sidney Myer Music Bowl (completed 1959), an open-air theater in the city of Melbourne. Its structure comprises a network of steel cables supporting a roof of aluminum-plywood sandwich panels. The main cable is anchored on each side of the open end to large reinforced concrete blocks and draped between two 75-foot-high (22.8-meter) steel masts, 110 feet (33.5 meters) apart. Secondary cables span about 195 feet (60 meters) from the primary cable to converge on a reinforced concrete ground anchor, and the transverse tertiary cables that carry the roof cladding are draped over them and fixed to individual ground anchors. This early experiment in suspended roof construction is presently (2001) undergoing extensive restoration.
Another early and important innovator was the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen (1910 1961). In 1958 he designed, in conjunction with structural engineer Fred Severud, the 3,300-seat David S. Ingalls Ice Hockey Rink at Yale University. Saarinen used a 300-foot (92-meter) concrete arch that undulates (supposedly with the grace of a skater) on the long axis, crossing the arena and the entrance. From this structural backbone, which reaches 76 feet (23 meters) at its highest point, steel cables stretch to the building perimeter and carry a wood slat and an aluminum roof. Saarinens second essay in tensile construction, hailed as the third most significant building in U.S. history, was the dramatic main terminal at Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia, built in 1962. Assisted by the structural engineer Joseph Vellozzi, Saarinen covered the 50-foot-high (15-meter) glass-walled space with a curved roof of insulated precast concrete panels covered with a ply membrane, high at the front, lower in the middle, slightly higher at the back.
183. Thames Tunnel
London, England
The Thames Tunnel was designed by the French-born engineer Marc Isambard Brunel and supervised by his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1825 and 1843. The approximately 1,200-foot-long (365-meter) structure runs under the River Thames between Wapping on the north bank and Rotherhithe on the south in east London. Originally used for foot traffic, it now forms part of the London Underground system. The first tunnel ever built through the soft ground under a river, and the forerunner of modern tunneling techniques (including that used for the Channel Tunnel), it is widely recognized as a landmark feat of civil engineering. In 1798 one Ralph Todd had tried to build a tunnel under the Thames, further downstream between Gravesend and Tilbury, but the venture failed for financial and other reasons. In 1807, Robert Vazie and Richard Trevithick also attempted to construct a timbered tunnel. In January 1808 the river broke through. The hole was plugged with clay, the tunnel cleared, and work restarted, but a similar accident occurred a month later, when excavation was almost complete. Fearing that more clay dumping would endanger shipping, the authorities called a halt to the project. By about 1815 most of Londons docks were near Rotherhithe, while industry was springing up around Wapping. The nearest fixed crossing was London Bridge, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) upstream, and by about 1815 nearly 4,000 people a day were ferried in small boats; goods had to be taken on a costly, time-wasting detour over the bridge. In 1818 Marc Brunel patented his tunneling shield, enabling tunnels to be excavated by a technique commonly employed in coal mines, that is, by sinking vertical shafts and digging from within the shield. The 88-ton (80-tonne) cast-iron structure, built by Henry Maudley, consisted of twelve 3-foot-wide (0.9-meter) sections, each with, three compartments in which a man could work. It had a closed face, and at the front, angled jacks held horizontal timber boards in place. The tunneler removed the boards one by one and dug out 4.5 inches (11 centimeters) of soil, replacing the jacks against the board in a forward position. When the entire face had been excavated, the shield assembly was edged forward by the use of screw jacks, and brickwork lining was built behind it. Most contemporary tunnels were built using the cut and cover
The Thames Tunnel was designed by the French-born engineer Marc Isambard Brunel and supervised by his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1825 and 1843. The approximately 1,200-foot-long (365-meter) structure runs under the River Thames between Wapping on the north bank and Rotherhithe on the south in east London. Originally used for foot traffic, it now forms part of the London Underground system. The first tunnel ever built through the soft ground under a river, and the forerunner of modern tunneling techniques (including that used for the Channel Tunnel), it is widely recognized as a landmark feat of civil engineering. In 1798 one Ralph Todd had tried to build a tunnel under the Thames, further downstream between Gravesend and Tilbury, but the venture failed for financial and other reasons. In 1807, Robert Vazie and Richard Trevithick also attempted to construct a timbered tunnel. In January 1808 the river broke through. The hole was plugged with clay, the tunnel cleared, and work restarted, but a similar accident occurred a month later, when excavation was almost complete. Fearing that more clay dumping would endanger shipping, the authorities called a halt to the project. By about 1815 most of Londons docks were near Rotherhithe, while industry was springing up around Wapping. The nearest fixed crossing was London Bridge, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) upstream, and by about 1815 nearly 4,000 people a day were ferried in small boats; goods had to be taken on a costly, time-wasting detour over the bridge. In 1818 Marc Brunel patented his tunneling shield, enabling tunnels to be excavated by a technique commonly employed in coal mines, that is, by sinking vertical shafts and digging from within the shield. The 88-ton (80-tonne) cast-iron structure, built by Henry Maudley, consisted of twelve 3-foot-wide (0.9-meter) sections, each with, three compartments in which a man could work. It had a closed face, and at the front, angled jacks held horizontal timber boards in place. The tunneler removed the boards one by one and dug out 4.5 inches (11 centimeters) of soil, replacing the jacks against the board in a forward position. When the entire face had been excavated, the shield assembly was edged forward by the use of screw jacks, and brickwork lining was built behind it. Most contemporary tunnels were built using the cut and cover
184. Theater of the Asklepieion
Epidaurus, Greece
Every modem visitor to the fourth-century-b.c. Theater of the Asklepieion at Epidaurus marvels at its remarkable acoustics. The tearing of a slip of paper, a whisper, or the sound made by a struck match in the orchestra can be heard with perfect clarity everywhere in the theater, even at the very top, 250 feet (80 meters) distant. The theater epitomizes the skill of the ancient Greeks in the creation of a building type. That fact was already recognized in antiquity, when the traveler Pausanias praised its symmetry and beauty. The building is generally attributed to Polykleitos the Younger, and features of the design suggest an original date of around 300 b.c. For about eight centuries the Asklepieion was the preeminent healing center of the classical world. The cult of the god Asklepieos was active in the region as early as the sixth century b.c., and such was its success that the original sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas became too small for public worship. The fame of the place led to financial prosperity. In the fourth and third centuries b.c. an ambitious program to create monumental religious buildings was implemented: first the temple and altar of Asklepieos, the tholos, and the abaton, and a little later the Hestiatoreion, the baths, the palaestra, and the theater. The theater, whose overall diameter was 387 feet (118 meters), was built in two stages: the orchestra, the lower section of seating, and the stage building (skene, from which our word scenery
Every modem visitor to the fourth-century-b.c. Theater of the Asklepieion at Epidaurus marvels at its remarkable acoustics. The tearing of a slip of paper, a whisper, or the sound made by a struck match in the orchestra can be heard with perfect clarity everywhere in the theater, even at the very top, 250 feet (80 meters) distant. The theater epitomizes the skill of the ancient Greeks in the creation of a building type. That fact was already recognized in antiquity, when the traveler Pausanias praised its symmetry and beauty. The building is generally attributed to Polykleitos the Younger, and features of the design suggest an original date of around 300 b.c. For about eight centuries the Asklepieion was the preeminent healing center of the classical world. The cult of the god Asklepieos was active in the region as early as the sixth century b.c., and such was its success that the original sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas became too small for public worship. The fame of the place led to financial prosperity. In the fourth and third centuries b.c. an ambitious program to create monumental religious buildings was implemented: first the temple and altar of Asklepieos, the tholos, and the abaton, and a little later the Hestiatoreion, the baths, the palaestra, and the theater. The theater, whose overall diameter was 387 feet (118 meters), was built in two stages: the orchestra, the lower section of seating, and the stage building (skene, from which our word scenery
185. Three Gorges Dam Yangtze River
Peoples Republic of China
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Chongqing in Chinas central Hubei Province is the largest hydroelectric project in history, with twenty-six generators designed to deliver over 18,000 megawatts, 11 percent of the nations needs. Started in 1994 and scheduled for completion by 2014, it will provide electricity to rural provinces and facilitate flood management and improved navigation for the upper Yangtze. The controversial dam has been widely criticized within and outside China as a socially and environmentally harmful project. The 3,450-mile (5,500-kilometer) Yangtze is the worlds third-longest river. Midway on its journey from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea, it passes through a 120-mile-long (193-kilometer), exquisitely beautiful stretch known as the Three Gorges the precipitous Qutang, Wuxia, and Xiling one of Chinas most scenic regions. It will be submerged through the building of the dam. The huge dam five times wider than the U.S. Hoover Dam will create a 575-foot-deep (176-meter) reservoir nearly 400 miles (640 kilometers) long and an average of 3,600 feet (1,200 meters) wide. According to official Chinese sources, the lake will completely inundate 2 cities, 11 counties, 140 towns, 326 townships, and 1,351 villages; other figures are consistently and considerably higher. About 59,000 acres (23,800 hectares) of rich agricultural land and numerous some experts say nearly 1,300 important archeological sites will be lost, and an estimated 1.98 million people will be displaced and relocated. Other critics claim the project will increase the risk of earthquakes and landslides. It will also threaten fish stocks and such endangered species as the Yangtze dolphin, the giant panda, and others. As of 2001, the published estimated cost was U.S.$27 billion; the budget has soared from U.S.$10.57 billion in 1992 to a figure that unofficial sources place around U.S.$76 billion. The dam was proposed as early as 1919 by Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Sun Yi Xian), and it was revived when the Peoples Republic of China exploded into being in 1949. Chinese and international engineers and scientists were involved in planning and design. Despite public opposition, The Three Gorges Project Feasibility Study Report emerged in May 1989 and became a major issue in the Tiananmen Square incident in June, after which Premier Li Peng, mostly for political reasons, became the schemes principal sponsor. Following more feasibility studies, in April 1992 the National Peoples Congress approved construction, but about a third of the delegates either abstained or voted against it. The project remains the focus of a political tussle, the outcome of which will shift the balance of power in Chinas Communist Party. The main parts of the Three Gorges Project are the dam, the powerhouses, and the navigation facilities. The 7,550-foot-wide (2,310-meter) concrete gravity-type dam is over 600 feet (175 meters) high; its 1,580-foot-long (483-meter) spillway is located in the middle of the original river channel, flanked by intake dam and nonoverflow dam sections. If the dam is finished, two powerhouses will be built at the toe of the intake dams, one on each side; there will be fourteen generator units in the left powerhouse and twelve in the right, connected to fifteen transmission lines to Central China, East Sichuan, and East China. The completed ship lock on the left bank will consist of two-way, five-step flight locks, through which 10,000-ton (9,100-tonne) barges will be able to pass. The one-step vertical ship lift will be able to raise a 3,000-ton (2,700-tonne) vessel. Responsibility for all aspects of the construction and the eventual management of the project is vested in the state-owned China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, established in September 1993. Most of the cost is being met from within China, mainly through the Three Gorges Construction Fund, loans from the State Development Bank, and power revenues from the Gezhouba Hydropower Plant and (when Phase 1 is completed in 2003) from the Three Gorges project itself. Foreign financial institutions are conservative because of the dams ecological implications; for example, the U.S. Export-Import Bank opposed the dam in May 1996, responding to recommendations of the National Security Council. They refused to guarantee loans to U.S. companies tendering for work on the dam. Some finance comes from Canada and Germany. Excavation for the dams foundations were in progress by mid-1993, and the project was formally opened in December. The Yangtze was dammed in November 1997 and diverted through a channel to drain the building site on the riverbed. A new high-way and airport were built, as well as apartment buildings for the 18,000 workers employed on the project. In January 2000 official Chinese sources claimed that the Three Gorges Dam project was on schedule, and work was accelerating. As a last word, it must be added that some engineering experts have warned about the eventual success of the project. The promised power generation, flood control, and improved navigation all depend on the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation solving the potential problem of sedimentation in the reservoir. Because of the hugeness of the dam, there is no experience on which to draw to predict the rate of sedimentation, and it may seriously reduce the projects life and effectiveness.
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Chongqing in Chinas central Hubei Province is the largest hydroelectric project in history, with twenty-six generators designed to deliver over 18,000 megawatts, 11 percent of the nations needs. Started in 1994 and scheduled for completion by 2014, it will provide electricity to rural provinces and facilitate flood management and improved navigation for the upper Yangtze. The controversial dam has been widely criticized within and outside China as a socially and environmentally harmful project. The 3,450-mile (5,500-kilometer) Yangtze is the worlds third-longest river. Midway on its journey from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea, it passes through a 120-mile-long (193-kilometer), exquisitely beautiful stretch known as the Three Gorges the precipitous Qutang, Wuxia, and Xiling one of Chinas most scenic regions. It will be submerged through the building of the dam. The huge dam five times wider than the U.S. Hoover Dam will create a 575-foot-deep (176-meter) reservoir nearly 400 miles (640 kilometers) long and an average of 3,600 feet (1,200 meters) wide. According to official Chinese sources, the lake will completely inundate 2 cities, 11 counties, 140 towns, 326 townships, and 1,351 villages; other figures are consistently and considerably higher. About 59,000 acres (23,800 hectares) of rich agricultural land and numerous some experts say nearly 1,300 important archeological sites will be lost, and an estimated 1.98 million people will be displaced and relocated. Other critics claim the project will increase the risk of earthquakes and landslides. It will also threaten fish stocks and such endangered species as the Yangtze dolphin, the giant panda, and others. As of 2001, the published estimated cost was U.S.$27 billion; the budget has soared from U.S.$10.57 billion in 1992 to a figure that unofficial sources place around U.S.$76 billion. The dam was proposed as early as 1919 by Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Sun Yi Xian), and it was revived when the Peoples Republic of China exploded into being in 1949. Chinese and international engineers and scientists were involved in planning and design. Despite public opposition, The Three Gorges Project Feasibility Study Report emerged in May 1989 and became a major issue in the Tiananmen Square incident in June, after which Premier Li Peng, mostly for political reasons, became the schemes principal sponsor. Following more feasibility studies, in April 1992 the National Peoples Congress approved construction, but about a third of the delegates either abstained or voted against it. The project remains the focus of a political tussle, the outcome of which will shift the balance of power in Chinas Communist Party. The main parts of the Three Gorges Project are the dam, the powerhouses, and the navigation facilities. The 7,550-foot-wide (2,310-meter) concrete gravity-type dam is over 600 feet (175 meters) high; its 1,580-foot-long (483-meter) spillway is located in the middle of the original river channel, flanked by intake dam and nonoverflow dam sections. If the dam is finished, two powerhouses will be built at the toe of the intake dams, one on each side; there will be fourteen generator units in the left powerhouse and twelve in the right, connected to fifteen transmission lines to Central China, East Sichuan, and East China. The completed ship lock on the left bank will consist of two-way, five-step flight locks, through which 10,000-ton (9,100-tonne) barges will be able to pass. The one-step vertical ship lift will be able to raise a 3,000-ton (2,700-tonne) vessel. Responsibility for all aspects of the construction and the eventual management of the project is vested in the state-owned China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, established in September 1993. Most of the cost is being met from within China, mainly through the Three Gorges Construction Fund, loans from the State Development Bank, and power revenues from the Gezhouba Hydropower Plant and (when Phase 1 is completed in 2003) from the Three Gorges project itself. Foreign financial institutions are conservative because of the dams ecological implications; for example, the U.S. Export-Import Bank opposed the dam in May 1996, responding to recommendations of the National Security Council. They refused to guarantee loans to U.S. companies tendering for work on the dam. Some finance comes from Canada and Germany. Excavation for the dams foundations were in progress by mid-1993, and the project was formally opened in December. The Yangtze was dammed in November 1997 and diverted through a channel to drain the building site on the riverbed. A new high-way and airport were built, as well as apartment buildings for the 18,000 workers employed on the project. In January 2000 official Chinese sources claimed that the Three Gorges Dam project was on schedule, and work was accelerating. As a last word, it must be added that some engineering experts have warned about the eventual success of the project. The promised power generation, flood control, and improved navigation all depend on the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation solving the potential problem of sedimentation in the reservoir. Because of the hugeness of the dam, there is no experience on which to draw to predict the rate of sedimentation, and it may seriously reduce the projects life and effectiveness.
186. Timgad Algeria
The Roman town now known as Timgad was founded in A.D. 100 on command of the emperor Trajan (reigned 98 117) and named Colonia Marciana Trajana Thamugas for his sister. It was built on a high plateau north of the Aures Mountains in Algeria (then Numidia), 94 miles (150 kilometers) south of the modern town of Constantine. The Third Augusta Legion, effectively the Roman police force in North Africa, was garrisoned nearby, and Timgad, designed for veterans, was the archetypal Roman colony. The regular well-ordered layout became one of the principal sources of city plans in Europe and the New World from the fifteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth. It is therefore significant in the development of Western architecture and urban design. In turn, the inspiration for Timgad comes from the Roman army encampment, the castrum.
Perhaps because it was easy to set out, or perhaps because it suited military purposes, the right-angled grid formed the structure of the castrum, which might have served as a garrison for months or even years during a campaign. Two main streets, the Via Principia and the Via Praetoria, intersected at the legions command post. Both extended through fortified gates beyond the enclosing ditch and palisade. Many permanent towns later grew from a castrum; for example, most English cities with chester
187. Tower Bridge
London, England
Tower Bridge (1886 1894) is immediately and universally recognizable as an icon of London. Even during its construction, it was nicknamed Wonder Bridge
Tower Bridge (1886 1894) is immediately and universally recognizable as an icon of London. Even during its construction, it was nicknamed Wonder Bridge
188. Treasury of Atreus
Mycenae, Greece
Between 1400 and 1200 b.c. Mycenae was the most powerful ancient Greek city-state. Its ruins now stand above the Plain of Argolis in the Peloponnese, near the modern village of Mik
Between 1400 and 1200 b.c. Mycenae was the most powerful ancient Greek city-state. Its ruins now stand above the Plain of Argolis in the Peloponnese, near the modern village of Mik
189. Unite dHabitation
Marseilles, France
It has been accurately claimed that Le Corbusiers most influential late work was his Unite dHabitation in Marseilles. The eighteen-story apartment building, universally admired by architects but unloved by the people who live in it, is the first realization it was followed by three others elsewhere in France and one in Berlin, Germany of the famous Swiss architects theories of urban design formulated twenty years earlier. It also expressed the socialist housing ideals of CIAM (in English, International Congresses of Modern Architecture), developed after 1928, and spawned imitations throughout the world. It was, although perhaps for the wrong reasons, an important architectural event. Between the early 1920s and the end of World War II, Le Corbusiers most significant work albeit theoretical was in urban planning. In published plans like La Ville Contemporaine for a population of 3 million (1922), the Plan Voisin de Paris (1925) that proposed replacing the historic city with eighteen superskyscrapers, and a spate of classless
It has been accurately claimed that Le Corbusiers most influential late work was his Unite dHabitation in Marseilles. The eighteen-story apartment building, universally admired by architects but unloved by the people who live in it, is the first realization it was followed by three others elsewhere in France and one in Berlin, Germany of the famous Swiss architects theories of urban design formulated twenty years earlier. It also expressed the socialist housing ideals of CIAM (in English, International Congresses of Modern Architecture), developed after 1928, and spawned imitations throughout the world. It was, although perhaps for the wrong reasons, an important architectural event. Between the early 1920s and the end of World War II, Le Corbusiers most significant work albeit theoretical was in urban planning. In published plans like La Ville Contemporaine for a population of 3 million (1922), the Plan Voisin de Paris (1925) that proposed replacing the historic city with eighteen superskyscrapers, and a spate of classless
190. U S interstate highway system
The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways, inaugurated in June 1956 by the Federal-Aid Highway Act, is a 41,000-mile (66,000-kilometer) network linking 90 percent of the major cities whose population exceeds 50,000 and many other urban centers in the mainland United States. The bill earmarked $25 billion to be spent between 1957 and 1969, and the system was to be completed by 1972. Sinclair Weeks, then secretary of commerce, somewhat extravagantly claimed it to be the greatest public works project in history.
