THE MAKING OF THE MAP: THE ORIGIN AND LESSONS OF THE TEOTIHUACAN MAPPING PROJECT

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Millon ◽  
Jeffrey H. Altschul
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
Unique Manner ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
The Many ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The City

AbstractThe mapping of the ancient city of Teotihuacan was an archaeological project of singular importance in the history of archaeology. In this paper, we discuss the origin and history of the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) through a series of personal vignettes written by the project's leader, René Millon, which are put into larger context by Jeff Altschul, one of the many students who worked on the project. We examine the characteristics that led to the TMP's successes and its shortcomings and discuss lessons learned that may be of value to planning future big, complex archaeological projects. We argue that above all, a big project needs a big problem to solve. In the case of the TMP, the problem was the origin of the city. Marshaling a team of diverse talents, Millon and his colleagues were able to make many key decisions in ways that successfully overcame problems that had not been heretofore confronted by archaeologists. These decisions include the use of low-altitude aerial photography, the definition of sites to include nonliving urban spaces, the sampling of surface artifacts, strategic test excavations, computerized data management and sophisticated statistical analyses, and a unique manner of publication. Less successful was the project's record in publishing descriptive data. The project's success lay in its ability to take on an important problem and to follow through, even though some tasks required decades to complete and others remain to be completed.

scholarly journals The 1930-s Unrealized Projects on Development of Gorky City (Nizhny Novgorod)

2018 ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Olga V. Orelskaya
Keyword(s):  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
High Rise ◽  
General Plan ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Radical Reconstruction

The article deals with little-known unrealized projects shaping the image of the socialist Gorky city, its river panoramas, squares and highways in accordance with the first Soviet master plan of 1935-1937, made by the creative collective of Leningrad Giprogor, under theleadership of N.A. Solofnenko. The development of the master plan of alarge city was based on the principles of reconstruction of the General plan of Moscow in 1935. The architecture of a post-avant-garde epoch allowed to clearly demonstrate the architectural searches of the period, identify their characteristics, their mistakes and achievements. A radical reconstruction of an ancient city assumed a demolition of historic buildings. Instead of the lost town­planning dominants - churches that adorned the river facades of the city for many centuries, architects offered new high-rise accents in the form of monumental public buildings. Projects with classical compositions of central squares contributed to the formation of a fundamentally new image of the city. The tendencies of monumentalism appeared under the influence of well-known projects of accomplishment and organization of urban spaces in the capital cities - Moscow and Leningrad. This was an important phase of the new appeal to historicism, namely the development of the classics, which began in the mid 1930-ies and ended in the mid-1950s Archival photographs of 1930-ies complement the history of Russian Soviet architecture and urban planning and disclose the concept of the planned ambitious reforms.

Accessing heat: Environmental stigma and ‘porous’ infrastructural configurations in Ulaanbaatar

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110005
Author(s):  
Rebekah Plueckhahn
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Heat Generation ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Core Area ◽  
History Of ◽  
Burning Coal ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The City

This article explores the experience of living among diverse infrastructural configurations in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and forms of stigmatisation that arise as a result. In this capital city that experiences extremely cold winters, the provision of heat is a seasonal necessity. Following a history of socialist-era, centrally provided heating, Ulaanbaatar is now made up of a core area of apartments and other buildings undergoing increased expansion, surrounded by vast areas of fenced land plots ( ger districts) not connected to centrally provided heating. In these areas, residents have historically heated their homes through burning coal, a technique that has resulted in seasonal air pollution. Expanding out from Wacquant’s definition of territorial stigmatisation, this article discusses the links between heat generation, air pollution and environmental stigmatisation arising from residents’ association with or proximity to the effects of heat generation and/or infrastructural lack. This type of stigma complexifies the normative divide between the city’s two main built areas. Residents’ attempts to mitigate forms of building and infrastructural ‘quality’ or chanar (in Mongolian) form ways of negotiating their position as they seek different kinds of property. Here, not only are bodies vulnerable to forms of pollution (both air and otherwise), but also buildings and infrastructure are vulnerable to disrepair. Residents’ assessments of infrastructural and building quality move beyond any categorisation of them being a clear ‘resistance’ to deteriorating infrastructural conditions. Instead, an ethnographic lens that positions the viewpoint of the city through these residential experiences reveals a reconceptualisation of the city that challenges infrastructurally determined normative assumptions.

Puccini's La Bohème

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Music Drama ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
La Boheme ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City

La bohème is one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. But how did it come to be so adored? Drawing on an extremely broad range of sources, Alexandra Wilson traces the opera’s rise to global fame. Although the work has been subjected to many hostile critiques, it swiftly achieved popular success through stage performances, recordings, and filmed versions. Wilson demonstrates how La bohème acquired even greater cultural influence as its music and dramatic themes began to be incorporated into pop songs, film soundtracks, musicals, and more. In this cultural history of Puccini’s opera, Wilson offers a fresh reading of a familiar work. La bohème was strikingly modern for the 1890s, she argues, in its approach to musical and dramatic realism and in flouting many of the conventions of the Italian operatic tradition. Considering the work within the context of the aesthetic, social, and political debates of its time, Wilson explores Puccini’s treatment of themes including gender, poverty, and nostalgia. She pays particular attention to La bohème’s representation of Paris, arguing that the opera was not only influenced by romantic mythologies surrounding the city but also helped shape them. Wilson concludes with a consideration of the many and varied approaches directors have taken to the staging of Puccini’s opera, including some that have reinvented the opera for a new age. This book is essential reading for anyone who has seen La bohème and wants to know more about its music, drama, and cultural contexts.

Topography of Athens

Classics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Hurwit ◽  
Ioannis Mitsios
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Urban Core ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
City States ◽  
City State ◽  
The City

The ancient city-state (or polis) of Athens was contiguous with the region known as Attica, a large, triangular peninsula extending southeastward from the Greek mainland into the Aegean Sea. In the western angle of Attica, on a coastal plain surrounded by four mountains (Hymettos, Pentelikon, Parnes, and Aigaleos), lay the city itself. Although the modern city has thickly spread up the slopes of the mountains as well as to the sea, the study of Athenian topography concentrates on the monuments, buildings, and spaces of the ancient urban core, an area roughly 3 square kilometers surrounding the Acropolis and defended in the Classical period by a wall some 6.5 kilometers in length. Athens is the ancient Greek city that we know best, and it is unquestionably the Greek city whose art, architecture, literature, philosophy, and political history have had the greatest impact on the Western tradition and imagination. As a result, “Athenian” is sometimes considered synonymous with “Greek.” It is not. In many respects, Athens was exceptional among Greek city-states, not typical: it was a very different place from, say, Thebes or Sparta. Still, the study of Athens, its monuments, and its culture needs no defense, and the charge of “Athenocentrism” is a hollow indictment when one stands before the Parthenon or holds a copy of Sophocles’ Antigone. This article will refer to the following periods in the history of Athens and Greece (the dates are conventional): late Bronze, or Mycenaean, Age (1550–1100 bce); Dark Age (1100–760 bce); Archaic (760–480 bce); Classical (480–323 bce); Hellenistic (323 –31 bce); and Roman (31 BCE–c. 475 ce).

scholarly journals The sustainable urban design on the example of Oświęcim

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 00080
Author(s):  
Krystyna Paprzyca
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Spatial Management ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City

The quality of the urban environment determines a lasting relationship between a man and his place of residence. Sustainable management of the urban spaces is crucial as it directly affects their quality. The article analyses the results of the sustainability regarding spatial, socio-economic, technical and environmental aspects, which are one of the many conditions that contribute to the proper functioning of urban life. They also influence the quality of life and residence in the urban environment. There are different ways of expressing the development of the cities defined by specific indicators. They focus mainly on development of the quality of life - social, economic and environmental development. The sustainable urban design is related to issues connected with the form and spatial management. This topic is presented on the example of the city of Oświęcim - the Old Town district with the surrounding area.

Radiocarbon Dating the Ancient City of Loulan

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1215-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Xu ◽  
Zhaoyan Gu ◽  
Xiaoguang Qin ◽  
Yong Wu ◽  
Guijin Mu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Abrupt Decrease ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Jin Dynasty ◽  
Ice Accumulation ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
Natural Climate ◽  
The City ◽  
Eastern Han

AbstractThe discovery of the ancient city of Loulan in Xinjiang, China, at the beginning of the 20th century was of great significance for understanding the evolution of culture and civilization in Inner Asia. However, due to the lack of systematic chronological studies, the history of this ancient city remains unclear, particularly the date of its construction and abandonment. Here, we present the results of the first systematic radiocarbon (14C) dating carried out on artifacts from ancient Loulan. Our results show that human activity began as early as 350 cal BC, flourished during the interval from the 1st to 4th centuries AD, and completely disappeared around 600 AD. Most of the buildings in the city were constructed during the Eastern Han Dynasty rather than in Wei/Jin Dynasty, as previously indicated by excavated documents and letters (Hedin 1898; Xiao 2006). The development and flourishing of Loulan coincided with the interval of high ice accumulation and meltwater supply from surrounding mountains. The city began to decline and was finally abandoned following an abrupt decrease in ice accumulation and meltwater supply (Yao et al. 1996; Lauterbach et al. 2014), suggesting that natural climate change was the major factor responsible for the abandonment of Loulan.

THEODORE VACQUER AND THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MODERNITY IN HAUSSMANN'S PARIS

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 157-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Jones
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Urban Identity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Magnum Opus ◽  
The City ◽  
Archaeological Excavations

AbstractThéodore Vacquer (1824–99) was an archaeologist who excavated, directed excavations in and visited all archaeological sites in Paris between the 1840s and his death. In the latter part of his career, he served as assistant curator at what became the Musée Carnavalet, specialising in the Roman and early medieval history of the city. Taking advantage of the reconstruction of the city in the nineteenth century associated with the work of Paris prefect, Baron Haussmann, he was able to locate far more of Roman Paris than had been known before. His findings remained the basis of what was known about the Roman city until a new wave of archaeological excavations after 1950. Vacquer aimed to highlight his discoveries in a magnum opus on the history of Paris from earliest times to ad 1000, but he died with virtually nothing written. His extensive archive still exists, however, and provides the substance for this essay. The essay seeks to rescue Vacquer from the relative obscurity associated with his name. In addition, by setting his life and work in the context of the Haussmannian construction of Paris as the arch-city of modernity it aims to illuminate the history of archaeology, conservation and urban identity in nineteenth-century Paris.

scholarly journals Impulsos urbanos. Apuntes para entender el presente y el futuro de Dubái | Urban Impulses. Notes to Understand the Present and the Future of Dubai

ZARCH ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Rubén García Rubio ◽  
Tiziano Aglieri Rinella
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Las Vegas ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Shopping Malls ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Global Imaginary ◽  
Led Lights ◽  
The City

En el imaginario global, Dubái representa hoy en día una fascinante y reluciente ciudad joven proyectada hacia el futuro aunque hace tan solo 50 años, la ciudad no era más que pequeña población de comerciantes y pescadores. Sin embargo, el descubrimiento y comercialización el petróleo en los años 60 supuso un punto de inflexión en la historia del emirato y su capital. Rápidamente brotaron del desierto infinitas siluetas de luces brillantes que animan la imagen de Dubái. Una imagen que presenta numerosas analogías con las fachadas iluminadas de Las Vegas, ciudad con la que Dubái ha sido frecuentemente comparada, pero, ¿qué se esconde verdaderamente “detrás de las fachadas” de este espectáculo urbano? La rápida y explosiva expansión de la ciudad durante el pasado reciente condujo a fenómenos de expansión urbana y a la proliferación de espacios basura (junkspaces). En medio de zonas de alta densidad existen grandes espacios vacíos y zonas desérticas generan una fuerte sensación de desorientación urbana. Así, en una ciudad donde los centros comerciales y los hoteles se ha convertido en los principales puntos de agregación social, la estructura urbana parece similar a una interconexión de “no-lugares”, según la definición de Marc Augé, de iconos dispersos por el territorio. Este artículo analizará las ambiciones implícitas y descartadas de los distintos planes urbanos de Dubái para, en base a ellos, tratar de señalar las soluciones para las actuales cuestiones urbanas abiertas.PALABRAS CLAVE: Dubái, crecimiento, plan urbano, morfología, densidad, futuro.In the global imaginary, Dubai represents a fascinating and glimmering young city projected to the future even, if just 50 years ago, the city was a small village of fishermen and shopkeepers. Nevertheless, the discovery and commercialization of oil in the 60s was a turning point in the history of the emirate and its capital. Quickly sprout up from the desert, the glittering led lights that animate Dubái’s skyscrapers at night present common analogies with the «decorated sheds» of Las Vegas, which is a city commonly compared with Dubái. But, what is concealed “behind the scenes” of this outstanding urban spectacle? The very fast and bursting expansion of the city of the recent past led to phenomena of urban sprawl and to the proliferation of junkspaces. In between highdensity zones, there are large unbuilt empty spaces and desertic areas that generate a strong sensation of urban disorientation. Thus, in a city where shopping malls and hotels became the main points of social aggregation, the urban structure seems similar to an interconnection of Non-Places, following the definition of Marc Augé, of urban landmarks spread on the territory. This paper will attempt to unfold the implied and jettisoned ambitions of Dubái’s masterplans, attempting to point out solutions for the present open urban issues.KEYWORDS: Dubai, urban growth, masterplan, morphology, density, future

scholarly journals FRAGMENTS OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC FROM NIGIN

Iraq ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Davide Nadali ◽  
Lorenzo Verderame
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
The State ◽  
The Third ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Third Millennium ◽  
Third Millennium Bc ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Dynasty ◽  
The City

The ancient city of Nigin in the State of Lagash is largely attested in the epigraphic sources of the rulers of the First Dynasty of Lagash. Conversely, the archaeological evidence of the Early Dynastic Period is so far very scanty and limited. This paper presents a small group of documents to be dated to the Early Dynastic Period IIIb that were found out of context, but that nevertheless point to a phase of occupation of Nigin in the third millennium BC and are coherent with the information we already know about history of the city and the State of Lagash.

Constituting Freedom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Raimondi
Keyword(s):  
Free State ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
First Republic ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Form ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City ◽  
Mode A

This work begins with a question posed by Machiavelli: ‘In what mode a free state, if there is one, can be maintained in corrupt cities; or, if there is not, in what mode to order it.’ The book analyses the different solutions proposed by Machiavelli starting with the hypothesis of the ‘civil principality’, passing through both the definition of the republican ‘civil and free way of life’ and the examination of the history of the Florentine institutions, to two short writings from the years 1520–22. In the Discursus florentinarum rerum and the Minuta di provisione per la riforma dello Stato di Firenze, Machiavelli exposed publicly for the first time, his proposals to bring back republican freedom to Florence after the fall of the first republic and the Medici’s return. The main thesis put forward in this work is that Machiavelli, when he worked for the Medici, was always a committed republican, even if he believed that the city’s constitution needed to change after the fall of Soderini. In the Discursus and in the Minuta Machiavelli proposed a constitution in which the ‘humours’ were forced to mix together in order to generate a new form of ‘equality’ that according to Machiavelli is the main characteristic of a free, just, and stable republic. The aim was not to obtain equilibrium among the parts of the city leaving them unaltered, but to mix them.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document