The development of the city has witnessed the process of a civilization, and modernization has made the city more single and functional, but it has lost its former beauty. Sitting in the CBD of any city, there is a sense of déjà vu. Fortunately, there are still many small European cities that retain the historical buildings of the past, and the whole plan also tries to maintain a unified style, retaining the beauty of the past while modernizing.
The British architectural critic Owen Hassely wrote this book, "Trains Across Europe", which takes us through the historical cities of Europe, experiencing the interesting aspects of urban planning and architectural design, twenty-four cities bring us twenty-four completely different styles, which represent a more distinctive Europe.
Many European cities, like any developing city, are slowly losing their own identity. Among the twenty-four cities introduced by the author, there are neither capital cities such as Paris or London, nor famous tourist cities such as Milan and Venice. As the author says, the book does not discuss other "non-European" genres, and the authors prefer cities with typical European characteristics. But in fact, just as the author does not understand non-European cities, for Chinese readers, it is relatively unfamiliar to European architecture and European cities, so the reading of this book has a hardcore feeling.
European architecture has its own style, completely different from classical Chinese architecture. I once saw a saying that Chinese architecture pays more attention to comfort, but does not require long-term preservation, so Chinese architecture is mostly wooden structures, which will gradually disappear in the long history; but many of the ancient buildings in Europe are stone buildings, and many buildings have been preserved throughout the city after a long history, which has brought a completely different historical background to each city. Although the history of Europe may not be so long, it can give people a sense of vicissitudes from architecture. In many small historical towns in Europe, there is a return to the texture of the European Middle Ages, and classical, Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance and other buildings can be seen everywhere.
Athens, once the capital of ancient Greece, although there is no chapter dedicated to the city of Athens, the form of ancient Architecture in Athens has deeply influenced Europe. Although the architectural styles of Europe as a whole are constantly changing, and the various regions and periods have also formed their own characteristics, in the final analysis, the classicism of Athens will be mentioned. The Greek civilization, which once profoundly influenced Europe, must have spread its architectural style throughout Europe; just as China's ancient architecture will also be influenced by the Han and Tang Dynasties, architecture also has a whole historical development context.
But after all, history has become history, and modernity has arrived. Modern architecture has more functional requirements to consider, so the architectural style of each city will become different. Between history and modernity, we explore the beauty of each city, and in the twenty-four cities in this book, each city has its own unique beauty and a completely different style.
The historic city of Porto, with its layers of buildings, "stands in the middle, like standing in a Cubist painting, a steeper slope, swooping down to Hanoi at an almost insane angle, the city is named after the ancient alley mouth by the river, and for me, a man like me who can feel at home in the weather and clear scenery of the north, the landscape of this town is dizzying, creating a state of somewhere between excitement and dizzying anxiety." "The intricate architecture of Porto, this strong sense of oppression, this ingenious design, certainly has its functional considerations, but it has also become its own unique landscape.
Madrid, on the other hand, is a completely different form of architecture, with its roofless Plaza Municipal, the Red Brick Bank Tower, and the Red Patmelas, madrid takes red brick art and minimalist art to the extreme.
Every city has its historical roots, its practical considerations, and European cities are also evolving. Reading this "Express Across Europe", following the author to wander between European cities, wandering between history and reality, experiencing the beauty of classical architecture, experiencing the changes brought about by modernity, and experiencing a diversified Europe. #Dry Goods Sharing Book Club##National Book Recommenders##城市建筑 #