There were seven wonders in ancient times, more recently a private foundation promoted the selection of the new seven wonders of the world, and travel magazines come up with their own list of seven wonderful new icons every few months. Now UCityGuides.com has been telling you where to find the best of the world's top cultural cities in its ultimate city guides, and has given you the chance to also have a say in what is truly wonderful, spectacular, and unique in the urban world. We've made a selection of places and landmarks that have defined their cities, shaped them into what they are today, or are simply extraordinary urban creations that have stood the test of time and remain a vital part of their cities.
You may be surprised to see many famous landmarks missing from our list, but as outstanding as many of those might be from an architectural standpoint, if they aren't listed below it's because they don't fit in the concept of what an urban wonder is, which is a unique or pioneering creation meant to serve the general population of an expanding and evolving metropolis. An urban wonder is also not simply a mere relic of the past, but an integrated part of the modern city, having helped transform its location into an important urban center. Other wonders were responsible for urban renewal, were created to be the focal points of their cities, or have unexpectedly become unique icons or models for future works.
Take a look at our list of wonders that were the candidates to be voted on by our readers. The seven first were the winners, the most wonderful of them all.
You may be surprised to see many famous landmarks missing from our list, but as outstanding as many of those might be from an architectural standpoint, if they aren't listed below it's because they don't fit in the concept of what an urban wonder is, which is a unique or pioneering creation meant to serve the general population of an expanding and evolving metropolis. An urban wonder is also not simply a mere relic of the past, but an integrated part of the modern city, having helped transform its location into an important urban center. Other wonders were responsible for urban renewal, were created to be the focal points of their cities, or have unexpectedly become unique icons or models for future works.
Take a look at our list of wonders that were the candidates to be voted on by our readers. The seven first were the winners, the most wonderful of them all.
BRASILIA
This is the only wonder on our list that is not a single construction or a collection of them in one neighborhood. This is an entire city, purposely built to serve as a country's capital, completely designed with innovative contemporary architecture. Oscar Niemeyer is the architect responsible for this monumentally modernist city, a place that with time came to show that concrete design could become popular. The Brazilian capital's buildings are pure sculptures, placed between broad roads and several parks and gardens. The idea was to make it a city that was easy to navigate, a bold metropolis that was simply seen as an administrative center at first, but that time has shown to be an increasingly attractive place to live and visit.
GRACHTENGORDEL CANALS,AMSTERDAM
The four main half-circles of canals in central Amsterdam are the result of successful urban planning, dug in the 17th century to extend the boundaries of the city and accommodate a burgeoning population. One of those canals was created with the purpose of defense and water management, while the other three were mainly for residential development. This was a monumental task under strict regulations, particularly the size of the building plots around the canals, and the styles and colors for each residence. The result is an aesthetic uniformity that makes Amsterdam one of the most charming cities in the world, a place where no particular sight stands out, but with an overall atmosphere not found anywhere else.
PASSEIG DE GRACIA, BARCELONA
Passeig de Gracia is not only one of Barcelona's most important shopping boulevards, but also home to some of the most unconventional architecture in the world. Those outstanding constructions are not the usually grand religious temples or public buildings, but private residences known for their surreal façades. Two of the most famous are the work of Gaudi, whose highly individualistic designs are also seen elsewhere in the city (Park Guell and Sagrada Familia). In Passeig de Gracia he built Casa Batlló and Casa Milá, two remarkable constructions of irregular shapes and no straight lines, predecessors of modern biomorphic buildings such as New York's Guggenheim or the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Down the avenue are a number of other notable buildings, not created by Gaudi but by other great local architects such as Josep Puig i Cadafalch and his Casa Amatller and Casa Fuster, Lluís Doménech i Montaner's Casa Lleó Morera, and the famous street lights and ornate benches of Pere Falqués i Urpí. This concentration of spectacular designs arguably makes Passei de Gracia the world's most stunning street.
POMBALINE LISBON, LISBON
Before Haussmann's Paris there was Pombal's Lisbon. When one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded destroyed the Portuguese capital in 1755, the prime minister, the Marquis of Pombal, had the city center rebuilt in a grid of broad streets lined with earthquake-resistant buildings. These structures used a symmetrical wood-lattice framework meant to distribute seismic force and the style became known as Pombaline architecture. It was the world's first prefabricated and anti-seismic system for large-scale construction, and Europe's first great example of neoclassical design and urban planning, a district designed for commerce with streets named after the craftsmen and shopkeepers of the area. It was a strikingly modern plan that took several decades to complete, and already in the 19th century, the central square, Rossio, was finalized with a wave-patterned pavement made with cobblestones, a technique then used throughout Portugal and its colonies. Famous examples are Rio de Janeiro's beachfront promenade and Macau's main squares.
STRØGET, COPENHAGEN
It's the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe and arguably the world's most pleasant district for a stroll. It was created by urban planner and architect Jan Gehl, whose work focused on improving the quality of pedestrian urban life. Although the pedestrianization of central Copenhagen took place in the 1960s, it remains the perfect example of how a car-free city is a much more liveable city, and serves as a model for other pedestrian-only areas around the world.
WARSAW'S OLD TOWN
Warsaw saw war destroy 85% of its historical center, but not even a world war or the worst man-made disasters could prevent it from bringing it all back to life. Brick by brick (many of them the original pieces), every building was raised back up, and the meticulous five-year restoration plan is an outstanding example of restoring centuries of history, culture, and heritage. Decorative elements were redone using the rubble, and all designs were carefully remembered using artists' paintings and drawings of the past.
THE WHITE CITY, TEL AVIV
The White City district in Tel Aviv is home to the largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings in the world and is an outstanding example of 20th century town planning and architecture. This is a unique urban center unlike any other in the world, where planners carefully considered residential, environmental, commercial, and cultural needs to assure a high quality of life. Buildings had to be surrounded by gardens, there had to be a reasonable distance between the buildings, and the building area could be no more than a third of the plot area. A green boulevard runs through the residential neighborhood, and in the center of each block is a public building serving the residents. The result is a mosaic of modern architecture, white cubes surrounded by gardens creating an intimate urban center that has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق