Ildefons Cerdà

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Ildefons Cerdà

Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer [ ildəˈfɔns sərˈda i suˈɲe ] (* December 23, 1815 in Centelles , † August 21, 1876 in Caldas de Besaya near Santander ) was a progressive Catalan urban planner who designed the Eixample district of Barcelona .

biography

Cerdà was originally a civil engineer . When the government gave in to public pressure and had the city ​​walls of Barcelona torn down, he advocated a global plan for the subsequent city expansion so that the new district would become efficient and livable, in contrast to the narrow, epidemic-prone inner city. He couldn't find any suitable reference works, which is why he decided to write one himself. In the meantime, he designed the basic structure of the Eixample , drawing on some ideas from his contemporaries, but his concept is considered unique.

Cerdà realized his dream by giving up a permanent position as a civil engineer. He spent the rest of his life working on new projects, improving existing designs and developing new large-scale theoretical concepts. He used up the entire family inheritance and died heavily in debt; he was never paid for his design of the Eixample .

In 1851/52 Cerdà was briefly a member of the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Congreso de los Diputados . Cerdà wrote - in addition to a detailed topographical map of the surroundings of Barcelona - treatises on each of his larger projects. He also shaped some Spanish neologisms such as urbanización . The corresponding terms in French (urbanisme) and Italian (urbanistica) are based on the title of his basic work on urban planning Teoría general de la urbanización (Madrid 1867 ).

In 1876 he was buried in the Cementiri de Montjuïc in Barcelona.

Working method

It focused on the basic needs of people in the city: sunlight , ventilation, plants , effective waste and sewage disposal, and transportation of people, goods, energy and information.

His designs are based on a networking concept that was far ahead of its time. Its street layout and grid design was optimized for pedestrians , wagons, horse-drawn trams , light rail vehicles (which were still completely unknown), natural gas supplies, and large sewage systems to prevent regular flooding ; but neither did he forget private gardens and other amenities. The latest technical innovations were included in his designs when they were beneficial for integration, but Cerdà also brought in new concepts of his own, including a system for floor leveling , which was essential for the success of his projects, and also a statistical analysis of the situation the working class at the time.

controversy

Original plan of the city expansion of Barcelona from 1859

His plans for Barcelona underwent two major revisions, the second version, approved by the Spanish government, can still be seen on the current layout of Eixample , although the low buildings and gardens in each neighborhood quickly disappeared. Only one of the two planned diagonal streets was actually built. Eixample was and is still inhabited by the upper class, rather than shared by all classes. Many Catalan architects criticized his ideas and even accused him of promoting views of socialism . Eventually, however, most of them ended up designing the district's modernist facades.

Political developments in Spain and Catalonia, however, led to a revisionist version, with which Cerdà obtained official approval for his plan.

In fact, Cerdà developed his designs under the supervision of the authorities at the time, the Spanish government and the city ​​council . A politically changed local government and the new city council then tried to revise the decisions made by launching a project competition in 1859 . Nevertheless, Cerdà's design was able to prevail, but not without annoying the large landowners concerned.

Fonts

  • 1859: Teoría de la Construcción de Ciudades (Theory of Urban Planning), as support for the expansion of Barcelona
  • 1861: Teoría de la Viabilidad Urbana y Reforma de la de Madrid (Theory of the urban transport network and the reform of the same in Madrid), in support of his draft reform of the inner city of the Spanish capital
  • 1863: Teoría del Enlace del Movimiento de las Vías Marítimas y Terrestres (theory of the traffic connection of transport by land and sea), as an accompanying work for a project in the port of Barcelona
  • 1867: Teoría General de la Urbanización (General theory of urbanization, digitized volumes 1 and 2 )
  • 1873: Teoría General de la Rurización (General theory of suburbanization, unfinished)

literature

  • Ramon Grau i Fernández: Ildefonso Cerdà y la geografía catalana. In: Revista de geografía. ISSN  0048-7708 , Volume 14, 1980, pp. 75-92 (PDF) .
  • Javier García-Bellido García de Diego: Ildefonso Cerdá y el nacimiento de la Urbanística: La primera propuesta disciplinar de su estructura profunda. In: Scripta Nova: Revista electrónica de geografía y ciencias sociales. ISSN  1138-9788 , Volume 61, 2000, No. 4, pp. 55-78 (E-Text) .
  • Ingeniería y territorio. ISSN  1695-9647 , Volume 88, 2009: Subject "1859-2009: El Ensanche de Cerdá" (proof of contributions) .
  • Fabián Estapé Rodríguez: Vida y obra de Ildefonso Cerdá. Península, Barcelona 2009, ISBN 978-84-8307-360-5 (original edition 2001).

Web links

Commons : Ildefons Cerdà  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Estadística del personal y vicisitudes de las Cortes y de los Ministerios de España desde el 29 de setiembre de 1833, en que falleció el Rey Don Fernando VII, hasta el 11 de setiembre de 1858, en que se disolvió el Congreso de los Diputados. Imprenta Nacional, Madrid 1858, p. 393.
  2. ^ Sylvain Malfroy: Urban development. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . October 1, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Cerdà, Ildefons
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish city planner
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH Centelles
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1876
Place of death Caldas de Besaya near Santander