IDEAL CITIES

What is an ideal city?

Ideal city is the city of a plan that has been
conceived in accordance with the dictates of
some rational or 'moral' objective.
The ideal nature of such a city may encompass
the moral, spritual and juridical quzlities of
citizenship as well as the ways in which these
are realised through urban structures including
buildings, street layout etc.
The ground plans of ideal cities are often based
on grids (in imitation of Roman town planning)
or other geometric patterns

Characteristics of an IDEAL CITY

Ideal city schemes drawn by various
Renaissance architects often extended the
centralized concept to include radial streets
and a polygonal town wall with arrow-head
shaped bastions at the vertices.

Alberti's Theory on IDEAL CITY

Leon Battista Alberti is the foremost early theoritician
in architecture and urban design.
He wrote a book "De Architectura" he treats
architecture and town design as a single theme.
As an urban designer, Alberti is chiefly remembered
for ideal cities, star-shapped plans with streets
radiating from a central point usually proposed as
the location for a church, palace or possibly a castle.
He devised designs for ideal cities on hillsides as well
as flat land. The hillside designs usually had curved
streets to match the topography.

Plan of Sforzinda by Filarete

Planning features of Sforzinda by Filarete

Sforzinda is a visionary ideal city named after Francesco
Sforza, the Duke of Milan.
The basic layout of the city is an eight point star created
by overlaying two squares so that all the corners were
equidistant.
The shape is then incribed within a perfect circular moat.
The shape is iconographic and probably ties to Filaret's
interest in magic and astrology.

In terms of planning the outer points had towers while the inner
angles had gates.
Each of the gates was an outlet of radial avenues that each
passed through a market square dedicated to certain goods.
All the avenues finally converged in a large square which was
centrally located.
The town contained three squares - one for the prince's palace,
one for the cathedral, and one for the market.
The street had a canal for cargo transport. The canal system was
connected with the river as well as the outside world for the import
and export of goods.
The city also contained many buildings including parishes and
separated schools for boys and girls.
The design of Sforzinda may have been in part a direct response
to the congested cities of the medieval period whose organic
growth did not ordinarily depend on conscious city planning, which
meant they can be difficult to navigate or control.

Plan of an ideal city by Albrecht Durer

Albrecht Durer in Germany designed a rectangular city, with zones for

each activity.
His plan was functional, pragmatic, socially responsible and the purpose
of its design was to improve the status and lifestyle of german artisans.

Plan of an ideal city by Scamozzi

Scamozzi designed a plan with grid-iron interior street layout.

Plan for an ideal city by Pietro Cataneo

Plan for an ideal city by Vasari IL Giovane

Thank You
BY: Nubayra Reza
Ridwana Khandoker Prothoma