The Place Royale and Urban Design in the Ancien Régime
The Place Royale and Urban Design in the Ancien Régime
£38.00
GBPOriginally published in 1999, this study was the first to examine a unique urban phenomenon that is closely associated with French monarchy in the age of absolutism. A distinct type of city square, the Places Royales were planned in honour of Louis XIV and his heir, Louis XV. Featuring a free-standing statue of the monarch at its centre, the Place Royale was framed by buildings of uniform, monumental design such as are found in some of the most outstanding examples to have survived, including the Place Vendôme and the Place Stanislas. In this study, Richard Cleary examines the Places Royales in terms of the political mechanisms and design processes through which they were conceived, their intended meanings for contemporaries, and their relationship to the urban fabrics of which they are a part. Also included is a catalogue describing projects for Places Royales in twenty-five cities in France and Canada.
- Was the first book to deal with this influential element in European urban design
- Projects are extensively documented with archival drawings and contemporary engravings
Reviews & endorsements
Review of the hardback: 'This could act as an unusual guide to twenty-three French cities (several have more than one place) - a bonus above the book's value as architectural history.' The Times Literary Supplement
Product details
July 2011Paperback
9780521369985
330 pages
254 × 178 × 18 mm
0.57kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Patrons and politics
- 2. Design management and funding
- 3. The sculpture
- 4. The architectural setting
- 5. The Place Royale and the city
- 6. Visions of the new Rome.
