Wolfsonian Visit

       Tony Garnier’s display of Cite´Industrielle is representational of the turn of the century, but feels closer to that of a fictional take on what at the time probably seemed so surreal, wondrous, and daunting. Le Pays Industriel displays smoke billowing into the gray-yellow sky, which is presumably polluted by the smoke that has been pumped into it for a while at the time. That painting in particular has a clear history and a very intentional sense of isolation. It’s unclear to me if the billows of smoke and the intentional gray-yellow sky are representational of a hopeful hard-working country or that of the end of said country and potentially the world. In his designs, the factory compresses are located below the rest of the city. His intention was for Cite´ Industrielle to be a major metallurgical and manufacturing center without the damage to health, social order, and ecology. His residential depictions utilized elements of Ebenezer Howard’s concept in “Garden City”. Garnier connected his homes with "generously landscaped” areas, close in appearance to a park with homes, rather than a neighborhood with foliage. The residents would have been able to walk freely throughout the gardens while going throughout town. He incorporated apartments and single-family homes, all of varying sizes.  

        Every component of the Cite´Industrielle was created to promote public health, according to the description,“Health and Recreation Facilities,” for Art and Design in The Modern Age. Garnier understood and shared that exercise, pollution reduction, and unity would contribute to a healthy public body. Garnier was triggered by the Industrial Revolution, including the spread of disease. His designs of public recreation centers seem to be sleek, clean, and welcoming. He produced several hundred plans for what would be the ideal city representation of central France. His inspirations were science fiction, classical ruins, and rational design principals, of course known to him because of his skill. He went on to influence who is apparently "the most important protagonist of modern urban planning,” Le Corbusier. Garnier attended the French Academy in and while he was expected to study ancient monuments, decided to create plans for Cite´Industrielle. Upon his return to Lyon, he worked on municipal commissions.