The European Urban Renaissance is an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

movement aiming at developing

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an cities according to traditional urban design principles and architectural styles. The movement is contemporaneous with the American

New Urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating Walkability, walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has ...

movement.

Typology of intervention

The first exhibition dedicated to the movement was opened in March 1996 by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales at the “A Vision of Europe” Bologna Triennale II. The exhibition has been curated by Gabriele Tagliaventi and assembling more than 150 projects and built works in 24 countries. Both the exhibition and the accompanying English/French/Italian catalogue were organized by using an order of typology of intervention: # Reconstructing the area of the former Putterie/Putterij quarter that was destroyed for the construction of

Brussels-Central railway station Brussels-Central railway station (; ) is a railway and metro station in central Brussels, Belgium. It is the second busiest railway station in Belgium and one of three principal railway stations in Brussels, together with Brussels-South and ...

, 1985–95 # Continuity of the classical tradition in the construction of the American capital city

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 1905–95 # Continuing the construction of a bourgeois city, 1985–95 # Urbanizing the suburbs # Extending the city with new urban quarters # Founding new traditional cities # Re-qualifying the urban space through the demolition of obsolete modernist buildings # Constructing new traditional public buildings # Reconquering the centre of the city # Reconquering the sacred space # Revitalizing the garden city # Healing the city

Works and main figures

The catalogue, published by Grafis,

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, contains a foreword by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales and essays by Gabriele Tagliaventi, Leon Krier, Maurice Culot, Dawid Watkin, Carroll William Westfall and featured for the first time the largest operation of Urban Renaissance in Europe: the new mixed-use urban block of Rue de Laeken (1989–1995) designed by Tagliaventi & Associates, Atelier 55, Sylvie Assassin, Barthelemy Dumons, Philippe Gisclard, Nathalie Prat, Jean Philippe Garric, Valerie Negre, Javier Cenicacelaya, Iñigo Saloña, Liam O’Connor, John Robins, Joseph Altuna, Marie Laure Petit. Since 1996, the movement for the Urban Renaissance spread all over Europe, from the new town of

Poundbury Poundbury is an experimental urban extension on the western outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England. The development is led by the Duchy of Cornwall, and had the keen endorsement of King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1988–2007) master-planned by

Leon Krier Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

to the new Medina of Hammamet (2000–2005) designed by Tarak Ben Miled, from the new town of Potsdam Kirchsteigfeld (1993–2002) in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Bairro Alto Bairro Alto (; literally: ''Upper District'') is a central district of the city of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Unlike many of the civil parishes of Lisbon, this region can be commonly explained as a loose association of neighbourhoods, with no ...

(2000–2007) designed by José Baganha, from the Borgo Città Nuova new urban neighborhood in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

(1995–2002) designed by

and Gabriele Tagliaventi to the new town of

Val d'Europe Val d'Europe (; ) is the easternmost sector (''Sector IV'') of the Planned_community#France, new town of Marne-la-Vallée, located around to the east of Paris, France. It was built as part of a Public–private partnership, public–private par ...

(1995–2007) built near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

according to the master-plan by Cooper-Robertson to the new village of Pitious at

Spetses Spetses (, "Pityussa") is an island in Attica, Greece. It is counted among the Saronic Islands group. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia. In ancient ...

(1992–96) designed by

Demetri Porphyrios Demetri Porphyrios (; born 1949) is a Greek architect and author who practices architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates. In addition to his architectural practice and writing, Porphyrios has held a number of teachin ...

, from the Richmond Riverside neighborhood (1987–1992) in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Quinlan Terry John Quinlan Terry CBE (born 24 July 1937) is a British architect. He was educated at Bryanston School and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He was a pupil of architect Raymond Erith, with whom he formed the partnership ...

to the new urban neighborhood of Sankt Eriksgaten in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

(1995–2004) designed by Alexander Wolodarski. Due to the success of these operations of re-urbanization of both suburban and central areas, many new interventions are actually under construction all around Europe, including the Quartier am Tacheles in Berlin-Mitte (2000–2007) master-planned by Andres Duany &

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (born December 20, 1950) is a professor at the University of Miami's School of Architecture and an architect and urban planner in Miami, Florida. Plater-Zyberk is considered to be a representative of the New Urbanism scho ...

with buildings by Demetri Porphyrios, Piotr Choynowski, Tagliaventi & Associates, Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge,

Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern (born May 23, 1939) is an American architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A. M. Stern Architects, also known as RAMSA. From 1998 to 2016, he was the Dean of the Y ...

, Calvin TsaO, the reconstruction of the historical centre of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

(1996–2007), the new Beguinage at Valenciennes (2002–2007) by Styles Architectes, the new urban centre of Plessis-Robinson, France, (1992–2007) designed by Jean

François Spoerry François Henry Spoerry (28 December 1912 – 11 January 1999) was a French architect, developer, and urban planner who created the seaside town of Port Grimaud. He was an Officier of the Légion d'honneur and an Officier of the Ordre des Art ...

, Xavier Bohl, Marc and Nada Breitman, the new urban centre of the Via della Pietra Neighborhood in

by Tagliaventi & Associates (2002–2007).

References

*Tagliaventi, Gabriele (1996),''URBAN RENAISSANCE'', Grafis - Bologna *Culot, Maurice (1995), ''THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LAEKEN STREET IN BRUXELLES'', AAM Ed.- Bruxelles *Tagliaventi, Gabriele (2004),''NEW CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. THE ECOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE TO SUB-URBANIZATION'', ALINEA - Florence, *Culot, Maurice (2005), ''XX ALTER ARCHITECTURE'', AAM Ed.- Bruxelles *Tagliaventi, Gabriele (2006),''FROM SLAB-URBIA TO THE CITY'', ALINEA - Florence {{ISBN, 88-8125-860-9

External links

A Vision of EuropeCongress for the New Urbanism
Urban planning by region New Urbanism New Classical architecture

Typology of intervention

Works and main figures

See also

References

External links