A Study of the Ideas of Town Planning in De Huysbou by Simon Stevin

Abstract

SUMMARY The Dutch 17th-century theorist Simon Stevin wrote De Huysbou a theoretical treatise on town planning and architecture in which he detailed his theories on architectural design military engineering and town planning The purpose of this study is to investigate the ideas of town planning discussed in De Huysbou with particular emphasis on the locations shapes and the patterns of cities The location of a city should look for a fertile plain situated at the mouth of a great navigable river In terms of city shapes while his contemporaries considered star-shaped cities easier to defend Stevin proposed a square-shaped city design that found a balance between order and defensibility As for city patterns Stevin’s design included canal systems street layouts blocks and plots and public buildings that incorporated facilities of similar functions Based on these theories the present study examines cities in the Low Countries where Stevin had lived or visited and analyzes the town planning process in Dutch overseas colonial cities with the main focus being Batavia and the town of Zeelandia in the 17th century INTRODUCTION The Dutch 17th-century theorist Simon Stevin (1548-1620) was born in Bruges and moved to the Netherlands in the 1580s Having acted as the tutor to the stadtholder Maurice of Orange and the quartermaster-general of the army Stevin founded the Duytsche Mathematique in 1600 the first institute in Europe that trained military engineers and land surveyors where he also taught In his later years Stevin dedicated himself to writing De Huysbou a theoretical treatise on town planning and architecture deeply informed by classical and Italian Renaissance architectural theories After his passing the unfinished manuscript was compiled and published The present study investigates three aspects of town planning theories discussed in De Huysbou—locations shapes and patterns of cities The author then attempts a comparison of these theories with cities in the Low Countries where Stevin lived or visited and overseas territories colonized by the Dutch On one hand the study addresses the question of whether Stevin’s theories might have drawn from his own experience of town space On the other hand it explores the possibility of Stevin’s ideas of town planning influencing the town planning process of Dutch overseas colonial cities In sum the four main purposes of this study are: 1 To provide information on the background of De Huysbou and a chapter-by-chapter review on its contents and analyze theories related to town-planning discussed therein; 2 To explore the relationship between De Huysbou and classical or Italian Renaissance architectural theories; 3 To compare De Huysbou with cities in Low Countries where Stevin lived or visited to determine whether the theories were drawn from his experience of town space; and 4 To discuss the influence of Stevin’s theories of town planning on Dutch overseas colonial cities MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study references four types of literature including (a) literature on Simon Stevin or De Huysbou (b) historical literature on Western town planning theories (c) literature on town planning in the Low Countries and Dutch overseas colonial cities and (d) literature on the 17th century town of Zeelandia Among these the research efforts of Van den Heuvel (2005) are a seminal piece to understanding Simon Stevin and De Huysbou Furthermore this study utilizes the town space analysis methodology proposed by R van Oers (2000) to facilitate the discussion on the Low Countries and Dutch overseas cities Through literature review and town space analysis the present study addresses both the “theoretical” and “practical” aspects of town planning In the literature review this study examines not only the town planning theories in De Huysbou but also the related ideas discussed in Stevin’s other treatises on military architecture and army camps A comparison is made between Stevin’s ideas and those proposed by earlier theorists—Vitruvius Leon Battista Alberti and Sebastiano Serlio—to identify any direct references In town space analysis the study adopts R van Oers’ methodology in his analysis of Dutch overseas town planning during VOC and WIC rule which itself was based on Stevin’s town planning theories RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In terms of city locations Stevin argued that a river mouth that facilitates both sea and inland traffic allows domestic and international trade in the Netherlands to prosper and that the fertile plains enable cities to expand and multiply in a rapid fashion In terms of city shapes Stevin suggested using practical square shapes in town design which makes cities highly expandable and easy to control with additional bastions in place to fortify defenses Finally in terms of city patterns Stevin proposed a canal system that runs through the central axis of the city a grid layout rectangular blocks and plots and public buildings that incorporate a comprehensive plan of similar functions each appropriately situated The findings of this study demonstrate that Stevin’s theories of town planning originated from the town planning traditions in the Low Countries and exerted profound influence over Dutch overseas town planning Results also show that Stevin might have been inspired by the prime location of Antwerp at the Scheldt River and its surrounding fertile plain the complete square shape and grid plan found in the Dutch city Elburg since the Middle Ages the grid expansion of Leiden and the decentralized layout of The Hague’s public buildings in early 17th century To a large extent Stevin’s theories of town planning—particularly the location shapes and patterns of cities—were realized in 17th century Batavia By the same token although the town of Zeelandia was not situated at the mouth of a river it still had the advantage of two-way traffic and a grid plan CONCLUSION “Like-sidedness” is the central theme that appears throughout Stevin’s theories of town planning and architecture in De Huysbou Stevin along with some other theorists believed that town planning and architectural design should be in keeping with the principles by which God created all things—i e the harmonic proportions found in the human body Stevin didn’t discuss much about proportions in his writing; instead he emphasized the practicality of town planning and architectural design His ideas of town planning were rooted in traditional cities in the Low Countries and in his own career Stevin’s beliefs and values could very possibly have disseminated through his tenure at the Duytsche Mathematique among military engineers and land surveyors in charge of overseas colonial town planning in the 17th century Future studies in this vein can explore other cities in the Low Countries or under Dutch colonies based on the theories of town planning and architecture in De Huysbou

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Supervisor	En-Yu Huang (Supervisor)