Human Geography Images

Urban Geography

The images below represent some of the themes of urban geography that have been discussed in class.

Palmyra, Syria. Ancient ruins of a city on the edge of the Roman Empire. The Castle on the hill is an old Turkish fortress. Note the use of Roman-style pillars to form the colonnades of a well-planned city center. The use of columns was common in the ancient Mediterranean because they allowed air to flow through the buildings in the hot summer, while supporting a roof to shade a building’s inhabitants and to keep out the occasional rain.

Tubingen, Germany. This building in typical of the style of architecture used in northwestern Europe in the early days of merchant capitalism. The steep-pitched roofs remove moisture (rain or snow) from the rooftops. Numerous windows allowed light into the buildings so that fires would not always be burning as a source of light. They also allowed the buildings to cool on hot days. The clock was a popular feature on public buildings during the early modern era as not only showpiece for modern technology, but also for the practical reasons, of keeping track of wage labor and keeping appointments.

Liepaja, Latvia. This old building dates from the pre-communist era. A building constructed entirely of wood is uncommon in most of Europe, because most forests have been largely used up. Brick and concrete are much more common. Latvia has a relatively sparse population and along with the other Baltic nations, provided a lot of wood to the rest of Europe over the last several centuries. During the communist era however, the aesthetic of wood decreased in importance as steel and concrete were deemed the most efficient, if unattractive, materials to use for construction.

Stuttgart, Germany. The old theater in Stuttgart was probably built in the 1700s or 1800s. It was very common at the time to imitate the styles of ancient Greece and Rome, since these were still considered to be the high points of civilization, and the use of their architectural styles gave added legitimacy to the upper classes of Europe. This imitative style was commonly used throughout the United State for government buildings and larger houses built by the upper classes.

Madison, Wisconsin. Science Hall in Madison, built in 1887, was one of the first steel-framed buildings in the United States. It still only reaches 6 floors high, since the use of elevators was just beginning at the time. Many building from the late 1800s through the turn of the century have this sort of appearance.

Berkeley, California. The modest Women’s Gym at the University of California, built in the early 1900s, still imitates many of the styles of ancient Greece and Rome, notably on the urn in the front of the entrance and the decorative columns around the upstairs window. Is typical of the Beaux Arts style of architecture, which emerged out of France in the late 1800s.

Szeged, Hungary. Early 1900s Art Nouveau. The Art Nouveau sought to bring an element of naturalness to architecture, in opposition to the more elegant and formal designs of the Victorian era. Thus the use of curvature based on forms seen in the natural environment.

Berkeley, California. The 1930s brought about the earliest modernist architecture. Modernist architecture often expressed themes of efficiency, power and technology. These ideas are often associated with the “machine age.” The Art Deco movement arose with it, using simpler designs and more straight lines. This is exhibited in the formal caricatures of the human body above the gymnasium doors. The body was often considered analogous to a machine in this era.

San Francisco, California. This art deco building is more decorated than the above gymnasium, but still exhibits more use of straight lines than architecture from earlier eras.

Berkeley, California. This building was clearly inspired by the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright. The idea was to blend with the landscape, rather than dominate it. Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas tended to parallel the modernist trend and used some of its ideas, but was clearly of a different nature.

Berkeley, California. The international style of architecture gained prominence after WWII in opposition to ideas of nationalism and tradition. It falls within the modernist movement since it promoted the idea that buildings should be practical and efficient. Because of that materials such as concrete and glass are used over a steel frame with little or no decoration that could associate the building with any nation. It often promoted the use of artificial systems for light and ventilation; a building should be a machine for living. Windows are small and often don’t open.

San Francisco, California. Both the Chinese Cultural Center in the foreground and the newer TransAmerica Tower in the background exhibit modernist architecture. The Chinese cultural center further exhibits the internationalist trend. This is especially interesting because of any building that might exhibit traditional designs and patterns; one would think it would be a cultural center. Again, note the lack of windows in the older structure compared to the newer one.

Poprad, Slovakia. The communists took the idea of the Radiant City (and the corresponding internationalist architecture) to its fullest extent.

Stuttgart, Germany. A good example of a mundane style of international architecture. Much of post-WWII Germany was reconstructed in this style.

Seattle, Washington. Technology, power, dominance over the landscape and the general idea of space exploration all make the Space Needle an exellent example of modernist architecture. This was build for the 1964 world’s fair.

Stuttgart, Germany. A new theater from the 1960s or 1970s. Internationalist in style, but the trend is to use more glass for natural light.

Seattle, Washington. A post-modern comment on the use of the Roman pillar. This symbolizes the end of the pillar, the final separation from Roman architecture.

Seattle, Washington. Modernist materials (steel, glass) in a postmodern building. Postmodernism tends to use designs that evoke feeling and emotion rather than the themes of modernism.

Seattle, Washington. Postmodernism at its finest. The Music Experience Project was designed in some ways to be completely impractical and almost without form or logic. Instead it attempt to invoke the feelings and emotion of music into its design (whether it succeeds is debatable, of course).

Las Vegas, Nevada. The strip in Las Vegas is a great example of post-modern architecture. Luxor is the pyramid building, Camelot it to the right of it. The trend there is to attach an image of fantasy to each casino/hotel in order to differentiate if from its competitors. Instead of treating tradition and culture as themes to be avoided, postmodernism in Las Vegas co-opts foreign symbols and meanings and incorporates them into a building in a time and place which is completely disassociated from the originating culture. All of these buildings evoke a feeling in us, rather than the awe of power that a modernist building might bring about.

All photos taken by David Snyder.

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