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JessicaD
Joined: 30 Sep 2005
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 3:14 pm Post subject: french quarter...spanish design? |
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Hi everyone. I have a question for one of my classes and who better to ask than you all. The question is: What characteristics of the French Quarter reveal that it is actually Spanish in design? I've looked online everywhere but nothing...  |
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gleearch
Joined: 07 Jul 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Oakland, CA , USA
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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I believe that history has to be taken into account. I don't have the exact dates and some stuff may not be exactly accurate but you can check on this very easily. New Orleans was a Spanish colony. It burned a couple of times before they enacted building codes that required that new construction be built utilizing materials that were fire resistant. Wood burning kitchens had to be separated from the main structure, etc. It's why the old residences are built the way they are. I think the confusion comes about because everyone thinks of Spanish architecture as the adobe missions with barrel clay tiles out in California. You probably want to look more at the architecture within Spain around the same period.
And I believe the French took over New Orleans because of some deal that was worked out between the rulers of Spain and France.
So it's Spanish because most of what was built in the French Quarter was during their rule.
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Gerard Lee Architects
http://www.gleearchitects.com
San Francisco bay area, Oakland, CA based sustainable architecture & planning firm specializing in residential, education, commercial, community & civic projects. |
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Justus
Joined: 22 Jun 2004
Posts: 50
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:29 am Post subject: |
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The french quarter strikes me as a pretty good example of a spanish colonial layout.
The spanish followed a set of rules when finding a new city, written down by king Philip II himself in the 16th century. These rules were heavily influenced by Vitrivius treatise on roman citybuilding, which at that time was newly discovered. Basically 2 types of colonial city layouts were defined: the river city and the land city.
The river city layout consists of a limited number of manzanas (or blocks), with one block left empty to function as a central market plaza. This plaza was always on the river. On this plaza the most important public buidings were located: cabildo, courthouse, cathedral, (citizens, king, church). There are a lot more rules pertaining to land use, manzana size, etc. Fascinating stuff really, I am sure your school's library has a publication on this somewhere.
now look at NO. The french quarter is a gridded city, with one city block designated as a central plaza (Jackson square). This square is located centrally in the quarter, on the riverfront. At this square you will find the old city hall(=cabildo) and a cathedral.
On a different note, looking at a few pictures of the architecture in the French Quarter, it has a bit of a latin feel to it. Why don't you google up a few examples of Latin American Spanish colonial architecture styles, and compare that to selected buildings from NO? |
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keshav_architect
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 61
Location: New Delhi
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:33 pm Post subject: oye |
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  The question is: What characteristics of an apple reveals that it is actually a banana ? I've looked online everywhere but nothing... |
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