Reconstruction And Renewal Of Paris Represented The ' Triumph ' Of Middle Class Urban Culture And Value Of Open

Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.

In late 19th century Paris, cafés-concerts (best described as “glorified beer halls” (Clark 206)) were a very popular destination for the people of Paris. Cafés-concerts became an integral part of Parisian social life, as they were visited by hundreds of people each night, regardless of class. A bar at the Folies Bergère became the topic of Edouard Manet’s last painting, as Manet tried to portray the new, “modern” Paris, and the introduction of mass production during this time. A Marxist art historian, T.J. Clark finds this particular painting important because it revealed a lot about the new, modern Paris, and Manet’s intentions with the painting. Clark focuses more on the emergence of the new social class during this time, and how this affected the role of women in Paris. The painting, A bar at Folies Bergère, has historical significance because of how it depicts modernity in the context of the emergence of a new social class (the petite bourgeoisie), the introduction of mass production, and the changing role of women.

In the middle of Napoleon III's reign, the transformation of Paris began. He commissioned Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann to renovate the city between 1852 and 1870. Baron Haussmann received a lot of criticism for his redesign of Paris and it unfortunately led to his downfall in 1870. However should one see Haussmann as the saviour or destroyer of Paris?

This film was created after the fall of Benito Mussolini’s government, Rossellini wanted to create the film to show the realism and the after effect of the war, the films were created majority on the streets of Rome all the buildings and the infrastructures were damaged the film was well thought out Neorealism was a sign of cultural change and social progress that Italy was going through.

Well known in cities at the time were the City Beautiful movement and the city practical, however, social issues were merely pushed to the side. Wirka (1996) explains that “both are undoubtedly important movements in the history of planning” (p. 57), however, she goes on

In addition, she extends the idea of eyes upon the street showing that using and watching the street not only guarantees the safety, but it makes the street more attractive. She argues: “the sight of people attracts still other people” (37). Here, she points out the fact that people like watching other people and activities around them. Nobody likes places where there is nothing to see or to do. Interesting streets are attractive because we see different people, and different activities or businesses. In short, the more a street is frequented, the more it is secure and interesting and vice-versa. Safe streets and sidewalks contribute to the economic expansion of the city and the social fulfillment of people. Then we can conclude that safety is a one of primordial factor to the social and economic development of the city.

In the 1950’s France was recovering from war efforts from WWII. The new world shows how France was rebuilding many structures and factories, and how these things were not in common of what the old world was. Many of the streets had also been in non-contemporary grid styles. As well as people in neighborhoods staying within the bounds of their homes, not communicating much, and trying to have their household become better than

When I first heard the name Charles Baudelaire a few weeks ago, I just thought of him as another historical author that we had to learn about in an English class. Little did I know, how his work would affect me in the next weeks. Baudelaire coined the term modernity which was a period of ongoing change and transition to urban and industrial life. As a person who believes technology is destroying communication skills, it was interesting to see how Baudelaire faced the same troubles through urbanization instead of technology. A piece of Baudelaire’s piece that stood out to me was The Eyes of the Poor in his famous work called Paris Spleen. Baudelaire used the word ‘spleen’ in his work to show a sense of disgust with everything.

The environment in which people live in demonstrates the societal norms and values of said culture. In Émile Zola’s The Belly of Paris, Florent, a political outcast, returns to Paris only to find that the regime has drastically changed. Napoleon III, a self-elected emperor, has torn down many of the streets of Old Paris to make room for the angular and orderly streets of New Paris as well as the new markets of Les Halles. Throughout the novel, the character’s lives revolve around the various markets in Les Halles and the streets of Paris. Zola uses descriptions of architecture and city planning as well as how people use space within Paris to demonstrate the city’s corruption, signifying that the architecture of a city is a reflection of

Paris as the City of Light, or the “modern” Paris, emerged in the mid 19th century as the demolition of “Old Paris” by Prefect Haussmann paved the way for the urban renewal program set out by the Emperor Napoleon III. New streets, sewers, and parks, and new town halls, hospitals, and schools were all created at this time. Not all were admired though. In fact, some Parisians grew angry that the historic core of Paris was lost in these bold projects. Lights throughout Paris evolved over the 19th century as well. Candle-lit lanterns that once lit the city became oil-burning lamps. It wasn’t until the year 1900 that Paris was illuminated by electric lighting, and formally became known as “Ville Lumière.” Main monumental spaces such as the Palais de l’Électricité, the Eiffel Tower, and even the new central wide boulevards were illuminated with these lights. Paris displayed the pleasures of the city to visitors who came to experience it, however, it also divided Parisians on the basis that the city’s traditions and memories were destroyed. Despite being called the most cosmopolitan city in the world by Baedeker, its history left out the dark side of it all. Paris was desolated of its historic memories and its traditional morals. However, renovations did bring sunlight and air into the historically beloved unhealthy, cramped streets. Ultimately, this image of Paris is all about its visually appealing aesthetics and does not mention what a true Parisian, in the center-periphery or banlieues, for example, would vision.

In a book ‘The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety’, by Jane Jacobs, she abstract that ‘her basic notions of what makes a neighbourhood a community and what makes a city livable’ . She stated that ‘Great Cities are not like towns, only larger. They are not like suburbs, only denser’ . In her perspective of view, the great cities are differ from towns and suburbs in basic ways, they are full of stranger. Strangers are not only common in a public assembly, it even more common

The need of short blocks is described with the example of Manhattan, where the use of long blocks segregate walking citizens and isolate people socially as well as economically. She argues that frequent streets and short blocks are more valuable since they provide cross-use of the streets. Most shops are dependant on people passing by each day, and short blocks could control the passings and create a diverse and balanced income for them.

As a result of a booming development of the nineteenth century city, “progressive” architects of the time started to deliberate and conceive opinions to create long term solutions. Known for his radical cultural manifestos, Le Corbusier is one of the architects that epitomizes the change in ideal of the Machine Age. He introduced ideas of living in completely analogous, planned, designed, and then built, cities. Le Corbusier 's proposition for the City of Tomorrow had in its roots the intention of creating a series of fundamental principles that would become the skeleton of any modern city plan. However, considerations that were not applied during that period of time, are the cause of its unsuccessful development.

Post-revolutionary Paris should be an entirely different society than pre-revolutionary Paris. In many ways it is, but the result remains the same: the innocent man is still “proven” guilty. The common people have the power now, but that power does not result in good reasoning. In the socialistic society of Paris, there are two ways to rule. In the first way, the people rule themselves with a mob-like mentality. In the second a ruling elite rises to the top by taking a populist approach and manipulating the people. A

It was one of the largest efforts to rebuild the centre of a city since ancient times. While there was the glamour of the many entertainments in the city, there was also a darker side of poverty, crime and prostitution. "The city - with its pristine exterior, its soiled underside, its hollow entertainments - provided the makings of an enormous duality: a two-sided mirror...a spectacle and secret life." (Bromber 1996: 62) One of the key parts to this design by Haussmann were the wide tree lined avenues, which replaced the smaller streets that had previously existed in the city. "Haussmann's grand design for the reconstruction of Paris was being carried forward by the Third Republic, and the city was now laced with wide, tree-lined avenues." (Schneider 1972: 134) In fact, the modern city of Paris is based on the city that was built by Haussmann and the modern perception of Paris as being the artistic and cultural centre that it is known for, is chiefly based on Haussman's design and re-modelling of the city.