10 Cities in the world with a different and special planning

Some architects are capable of transforming cities into true works of art through super complex urban planning. And so, areas appear in the form of stars, pentagrams, geometric figures and even the shape of a Roman helmet. Such a project does not necessarily hide the eccentricity of its creator. Sometimes, unusual planning is just an objective way to solve a problem related to the climate or topography of the region.

O awesome.club made a list of 10 cities that have very different construction plans. Let’s take a look!

The layout of the small Chilean mining camp reproduces the shape of a classic Roman helmet. Legend has it that the son of the head of the mining company had a Roman helmet as his favorite toy, which he ended up losing when he went with his father to the mine. After several years, this same boy flew over El Salvador and was super moved when his father showed him the area through the window, saying that he had found his lost helmet.

Unfortunately, this is just a myth, nothing more. Architect Raymond Olson just thought the semi-circular shape blended perfectly well with the topography of the area.

Singapore was built according to the traditions of feng shui philosophy🇧🇷 Historic places, for example the Singapore Merlion, Hotei or the 150-meter wheel of fortune, also represent elements of feng shui, whose main objective is to bring financial health to the country.

According to the Plano Piloto by architect Lúcio Costa, the city had initially been designed in the shape of a giant butterfly. Nowadays, the most obvious thing is to compare it with an airplane, with its body (Eixo Monumental, with the Esplanada dos Ministérios) and its wings. The project was awarded urbanism awards in 1957 and the limits of the Plano Piloto are defined by Lake Paranoá and some streams.

The plan of the capital of Australia follows geometric models, with circles, triangles and hexagons. The city’s design was drawn up by architect Walter Burley Griffin. The center and some important areas of the city represent a ring from which the main avenues come out, like the radius that comes out of the center of a circle.

When it was being built, it was presented as the symbolic city of the new independent India. At different times, several architects, such as Albert Mayer, Maciej Nowicki and Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, worked on his plan.

In all constructions, the structural truth of the buildings was privileged, in order to never hide their structural elements, which later became the basis of Brutalist architecture. As building designs, arches and rectangles were chosen, which was not only an architectural innovation, but also a pragmatic solution that allowed the wind to circulate more, relieving the heat.

Palmanova is a municipality in the province of Udine. Initially, it was shaped like an enneagon with two stars perfectly fitted, one of them with 9 points. With these geometric shapes, the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi created a bastioned fortification, also known as an Italian layout, to face the development of artillery.

The ancient city of Nicosia in Cyprus is another example of a fortification system. In this case, the execution was in the hands of the architects Giulio Savorgnano and Franscesco Barabaro. The plan of the walls represents an 11-pointed star and a stylized sun.

Located in Argentina, this city’s extraordinary network-shaped construction was designed by architect Pedro Benoit. The territory was all designed in a rational way. It is also often referred to as ‘The City of Tylos’, or the ‘Athens of America’.

Jaipur is the capital and largest city in the state of Rajasthan, India, and is known as ‘The Pink City’, since, in 1876, its maharaja had it painted that color. Since then, the city has been regularly painted. According to architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya’s plan, the city consisted of 9 square-shaped quarters, 2 of which were for administration buildings and private apartments of Maharajah Ram Singh II.

Washington, DC is the capital of the United States and has had a huge architectural influence from Freemasonry. In aerial photos it is possible to see 5-pointed stars (pentagrams) between the buildings.

Do you know any other cities that present a different plan that should be on this list? Share in the comments.