Acta Architecturae Naturalis

European Contributions to American City and Regional Planning: A Snapshot of the Flow of Concepts and Ideas Across the Atlantic

John Mullin — 2020-12-31

It has long been noted that America has adopted and adapted many of its city planning principles based on the experiences of European nations. This paper identifies and concisely explains ten of the most significant European planning elements that have influenced American planning since Puritan times (1630-1680) to the present. These examples were selected as a result of our scholarly research, field work and consulting experiences both in Europe and the United States. The intent of the paper is to contribute to the dialogue on the transference of planning visions, concepts and approaches from European nations to the New World.

The Founding of New Cities in Sicily between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Architecture, Urban Models and Rural Infrastructures in the Study of the Town of Delia

Giuseppe Giugno Giuseppe Giugno — 2020-12-31

his article deals with the study of newly founded cities in Sicily between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This phenomenal rise in the number of new cities occurred in most of the inland areas of the island and was affected by extensive transformations financed by the nobility during that period. Within this study, the theme of building new cities is addressed with reference to the political and cultural scenarios and as related to the space-time coordinates of the physical and social transformations. To develop a general framework, the founding of the city of Delia, in which the visible elements remain useful for grasping most of the aspects related to the development of this city, is adopted as a case study.
The specific reference to the founding of a city is crucial to understand the birth of a new urban center. Three aspects should be considered in that development: its architectural dimension, its urban characteristics and its relationship with the surrounding environment characterized by cereal production.
My analysis, distinguished from all previous works published on the history of Delia, concentrates on these three specific aspects. Therefore, this research highlights the existence of shared architectural and urban planning principles that arose between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. On a methodological level, it was necessary to adopt one Sicilian city that was founded in the 16th century as a model in order to compare it with other examples of the same period. The proposed case study reveals the existence of urban and social planning procedures and practices that are reflected in all the other centers. However, it remains necessary to extend the study to the construction of a new city and its diffusion of new architectural ideas through the circulation of workers, artists and architects.

Arisen from ignoring - planning of a secret Soviet stately industrial town Sillamäe

Siim Sultson — 2020-12-31

As the Soviet Union was in utter shortage of uranium, Sillamäe was converted from a modest settlement to an industrial town just within ten years. Planning of the town was a task for Leningrad (St Peterburg) architects from a state planning office Lengorstroyproyekt and a challenging opportunity for Estonian town planners from the Department of Architecture of the Estonian SSR. While in the beginning the planning process of the secret town at least apparently tried to follow bilaterally systematic involving pattern, the later hectic contacts between Leningrad planning office and local department paradoxically formed Sillamäe as an industrial town with central stately urban ensemble. Leningrad architects ́ variants for constructing new plan and space of Sillamäe was remodelled by local architects to stately, complex design that was to bring out and accentuate local natural circumstances, as well as implement local planning ambitions.

A Case Study of Teaching Method and Students’ Learning Experience in Integrating Urban Design and Performance Simulations for Climate Conscious Design in Estonia

Francesco Luca — 2020-12-31

Indoor comfort, energy efficiency and outdoor comfort are critical factors for the design of sustainable, climate conscious and livable urban environments. Simulations tools are available to be used by architects and urban designers to improve the environmental performance of buildings and districts from the early stages of the design process. Building requirements, standards and metrics can be used efficiently to assess the simulation results and parametric design methodologies allow for finding optimal design solutions. The schools of architecture struggle to teach the students how to perform correctly simulations and how to integrated them in the design process. The reason lies in the separation of the courses in which simulations are taught, usually building technology courses, and architectural and urban design studio courses. This research presents method and outcomes of an urban design course taught by the author during which the students learned how to integrate architectural and urban design principles with simulations and analysis of results against standards and metrics through parametric design. The course succeeded as well in increasing the awareness of the students about sustainable and climate conscious design.

An Historic Overview of The Development of Estonian Village Structures in the Context of Historic Land Reforms

Minea Kaplinski-Sauk — 2020-12-31

This article describes how the spatial layout of Estonian villages has changed throughout history, basing its research on the idea that any landscape should be seen as a complicated interwoven structure that consist of many layers. The changes in Estonian village structures are observed in the context of different historic land reforms (peasant laws of 1849 and 1856, land reform of 1919, land reforms of the 1940s and land reform of 1991), which brought about a new socio-economic reality with different needs and values that in turn reflected in the landscapes of the era. To understand how and why village structures changed, the most important socio-economic changes that took place during each of these time periods are described by combining previous research into a continuous historic narrative. To further draw attention on how land reforms reflected in the spatial layout of villages, the changes are illustrated with original historic maps and plans.