RESEARCH INTO PROPORTIONS OF A HISTORICAL URBAN DEVELOPMENT – EXAMPLE OF THE NEW CITY DISTRICT OF SZCZECIN

Abstract

Proportion and mathematical ratio, as elements of beauty, have been used in architecture and urban planning since ancient times. This article presents a case study of this phenomenon in the form of mathematical analysis of spatial parameters in the district of Nowe Miasto in Szczecin (1845). The analysis demonstrates the absence of the use of geometrical proportion principles, while the principle of ratios was applied. The urban composition of New Town features urban elements shaped in the Baroque era, such as wide promenades connected to squares. However there has been a "loosening" of the rigorous geometry and symmetry typical of the Baroque era.