Concrete and the Engineered Picturesque the Parc Des Buttes Chaumont (Paris, 1867) Author(S): Ann Komara Source: Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), Vol
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Concrete and the Engineered Picturesque the Parc des Buttes Chaumont (Paris, 1867) Author(s): Ann Komara Source: Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), Vol. 58, No. 1, Construction and Context (Sep., 2004), pp. 5-12 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40480519 . Accessed: 26/09/2014 11:03 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Fri, 26 Sep 2014 11:03:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ANN KOMARA Concrete and the University of Colorado- Denver Engineered Picturesque The Parc des Buttes Chaumont (Paris, 1867) Influentialdevelopments in landscape architecture paralleling those in architecture,industrial design, and engineering occurred during the French Second Empire (1851-1870). The civil engineer J.CA Alphand oversaw the design and construction of the Parc des Buttes Chaumont located in Paris's 19th arrondissement.The park opened concurrentlywith the Exposition Universelle on April 1, 1867; it is the only extant installation associated with the exposition. The park demonstrated advances in landscape design through numerous innovations in construction and materials, particularlyconcrete. Alphand's theoretical treatise and the physical presentation of the park as an engineered landscape fundamentallyshifted the practice of landscape design. Introduction within the broader context of the urban design pro- landscape lies in its conception and construction Napoléon III and his cadre of administrators, engi- gram initiated under Napoléon III.4 As overseen by and how it influenced popular acceptance of new neers, and designers wrought dramatic changes in Haussmann, the urban design campaign during the industrial materials by demonstrating their aesthetic the appearance of Paris during the Second Empire Second Empire was enacted with dedication, focus, merits. (1851 -1870). Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand and vision. No single reason spawned the park; Alphand transformed an old refuse dump and (1817-1891) played a significant role. Trained as an rather, it arose within the constellation of ideas, quarry site in the newly annexed industrial area of engineer at the École des Ponts et Chaussées, he influences, and urges surrounding the urban design the 19th arrondissement in northeast Paris into the became Director of Parks, Bridges, and Roads under campaign. These include martial, economic, sanitary, Parc des Buttes Chaumont.7 The park shared an Prefect Eugene Haussmann.1 The conception and social, and aesthetic agendas such as Napoleon's opening day with the Exposition Universelle and construction of his projects situate Alphand's influ- desire to maintain order and a visible government remains today as evidence of many of the new ential developments in landscape design firmly presence, the incentive to clean up the slums and materials and technologies displayed in the halls within the context of nineteenth-century design bring "green lungs" producing healthy air for the and grounds of the exposition.8 In response to the theory and advances in engineering and architec- city, and the aesthetics and ¡mage of the city. No Exposition's theme of art and industry,the two sites tural design. Alphand's Pare des Buttes Chaumont scholarship focuses directly on the Pare des Buttes demonstrated the results of new or improved con- (1867) exemplifies Napoléon Ill's desire to further Chaumont, although Marceca and Meyer emphasize struction practices and improvements or innovations industry and commerce through showcasing it, and most sources mention it as one of the great in equipment and systems, as well as a broad range advances in industrial materials and innovative achievements of the era.5 Within the context of this of materials and products. The park engaged new building practices and technologies.2 (Figure 1 .) paper, Marceca is most relevant for her allusions to materials and construction practices in many ways. Literature on the Parc des Buttes Chaumont the technological associations with the 1987 Expo- This included using steam-powered machines for originates with Alphand's influential treatise, Les sition Universelle. Nicholas Green's work identifies earthwork, connecting to the extended and improved Promenades de Paris (1867-1873), in which he the transformation of the picturesque idiom from a city-wide sewer and drainage systems, the introduc- records the technological emphasis of his many proj- residential to an urban aesthetic tied into experi- tion of cast iron gaslights and macadamized roads, ects.3 No previous studies have addressed Alphand ences of visual consumption.6 Antoine Picon's hydraulic pumps installed to create water cascades, or his signature role as a chief designer in the Sec- excellent work on engineering and landscape design new tree-planting machinery and recent develop- ond Empire. Mention of the Buttes Chaumont gen- within the École des Ponts et Chaussées informs my ments in uses of hothouse and exotic plants, and erally falls into three categories: guidebooks and interpretation of the "engineered picturesque" an arrosage, or integrated irrigation system. general descriptions, overviews of the projects of within Alphand's metier. In short, the significance of Alphand's design approach at the Buttes Haussmann or Alphand, and critiques of the park the Parc des Buttes Chaumont's designed urban Chaumont commenced with earthwork and site 5 KOMARA Journalof ArchitecturalÄJucation, pp. 5-12 © 2004 Ann Komara This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Fri, 26 Sep 2014 11:03:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1 . Bird's-eyeview of the Parc des ButtesChaumont, fromAdolphe Alphand, Les Promenadesde París, Paris,1867-1873. quarrysite as a dump. Based on experiencegained duringhis remedialwork at the Bois de Boulogne, Alphand linedthe Buttes Chaumont'slakebed with béton, an imperviousconcrete material. As an engi- neer trainedat the École des Ponts et Chaussées, Alphand knewbéton as a highlyrefined hydraulic limeconcrete perfect for this application.11Béton was firstrecognized in the mid-eighteenthcentury for its capacityto cure and hardenin water and found its earliestapplication in bridgefoundations. Over the next century,the materialbecame more widelyused by engineersand architects.For instance,an 1866 article,"Concrete for Seaworks," in The Builderhighlighted innovative research by the Frenchengineer, M. Poirel,on physicalproper- ties and potentialuses forwater-cured lime cement.12In Second Empirebuilding projects,, béton was used forapplications with high water or mois- ture such as the sewers and reservoirs,as well as for bridgefoundations and the quays of the Seine. Alphand's use of hydraulicconcrete as a lining forthe artificiallake in the extantquarry bed at the parksolved his functionalrequirements for creating configurationsfor water features; overlaid on the featuresthree significant modes or applicationsof a water-retentive lake withinthe site conditions landform,the circulationsystem was calculated to béton (concrete): functionally,as the imperviouslin- describedearlier. Alphand thus used his engineering skillsto create the centralfocus of the directthe visitor'sexperience of the site. Planting ing forwater rillsand the lakebed; decorativelyas park's pic- The fromthe and site furnishingcompleted the picture.Conceiv- stuc ciment(stucco cement) embellishments;and turesque landscape.13 picturepostcard "Tout Paris" series at the turnof the ably,a contemporaryvisitor would have been aware structurallyas béton armée (reinforcedconcrete) for centuryclearly shows the lakebed's liningin an area partially of the fabricatedelements of this picturesqueland- numerousfeatures and design elements. drainedto allow for maintenancework.14 (Figure 2.) scape; this qualitywas especiallypresent in the Also significantis the concretesill or curb with variousapplications of concrete.Concrete is, in fact Functional Applications whichAlphand detailed the edge of the lake; integralto the entirepark; it is presentin every of Concrete throughthe artificeof the hard-edgedcurb he aspect of the designed landscape that Alphand Alphand's initialstudies of the geology and physical places the fabricatedcondition of the ButtesChau- inscribedonto the formerquarry. capacities at the ButtesChaumont site made it clear mont'slake directlyinto view. The lake is not sup- Concretewas not a new buildingmaterial, but that waterfeatures such as the lakes so any popular posed to be understoodas a naturallyoccurring the mid-nineteenth led to in the idiomwould extensive developmentsby century picturesque require body of waterso integralto the formulaof the pic- the of a consistent of A production fairly quality adaptations.10 waterfeature could not simplybe turesque, but ratheras a constructed,pleasurable