Reading Questions
Olsen, “The City as Monument” in The City as a Work of Art
Chapter 3: London
Here the focus is on the building of Regent Street and Regent’s Park.
1. Until the early nineteenth century, Olsen claims, “London [was] visually
unobtrusive and understated” (13). Why? What factors does he mention to
explain this?
2. What were the planners of Regent Street and Regent Park (especially John Nash)
trying to achieve? As you read, make a list of the different purposes that the
new Regent Street served (16-19).
3. Olsen looks at four reasons why London’s “burst of self-confident
reconstruction” was brief (21ff.). What are they?
Chapter 4: Paris
Focus on the section “Paris Remade, 1853-1870”—the rebuilding
of central Paris planned by Baron Haussmann--though don’t overlook the
first section. Note the map on p. 57.
1. Olsen refers to arguments about the motives for Haussmann’s remaking
of Paris. What explanations have been put forth? What does Olsen’s view
seem to be? (Do you agree?) How would you describe Haussmann’s vision?
2. What has happened to the streets and quarters of Paris that Haussmann did
not reconstruct (36)?
3. What happened to the working population who lived in the quarters that were
demolished—where did they end up? Who, and what, replaced them along the
new boulevards?
Chapter 5: Vienna
In this part of the book, focus on the creation of the Ringstrasse. The maps
on p. 59 will help; use them to get oriented in the two-page photograph on pp.
71-72.
1. If the center of Paris before Haussmann’s rebuilding had included many
poor districts, was this true of Vienna?
2. As one English visitor pointed out in the late nineteenth century, Vienna’s “growth
in population and wealth came more from its position as an imperial capital than
from heavy industry” (64). What were the consequences of this?
2. “[T]he Ringstrasse reflected the spirit of a newly dominant and self-confident
liberalism” (68). What does Olsen mean? What kinds of buildings were placed
along the Ringstrasse? (Make a list.)
3. Olsen discusses the idea of baroque city planning, in which long boulevards
provided vistas that focused attention on buildings or monuments (73). To some
extent Haussmann was influenced by this vision of city planning. Why wasn’t
it applied in Vienna?