NUMBERS
are far less present on the landscape of the street than are letters.
Their purpose may be to orient you by identifying buildings or indicating
distances, or they may have a business purpose, like that of posting prices
or displaying a telephone number on a sign or on a shop window.
The numbering of buildings helps the pedestrian orient himself in a city,
or it may disorient him when in a new city. Even if the system of having
even numbers on one side of the street and odd numbers on the other side
is pretty common in the world, it is far from being the norm. Many cities
have a different numbering system, which is often inherited from ancient
history and has therefore not adapted to the needs of the modern city.
Some numbering systems are incomplete and sometimes there is no system
at all. In addition, the numbers themselves are not always standardized
and can add to a foreigner's confusion
Numbering Systems
The need
to identify buildings arose with the growth of cities in Europe and China
in the 18th century. The addresses contained an indication of the street
where the house was located, along with some additional general directions.
Here's an example of a Paris address in 1778: De Sahuguet d'Espagnac,
rue Meslé, the fourth door on the right when you enter via rue
du Temple.
Identifying buildings was first necessary to facilitate navigating the
city, but it also enabled the State to effectively apply fiscal law to
the buildings.
But assigning a number to a residence can sometimes meet with the resistance
of the inhabitants. Thus,
the numbering of buildings in Paris, started in 1779, was never able to
get on track as a result of the arrogance of the noblesse, as is reported
in Louis- Sébastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris: "How can you
reduce the hotel of Mr. General Farmer to a vile number and what good
would be his proud marble statue? Everyone resembles Caesar, but no one
wants to be second in Rome, and then a noble door would be inscribed right
next to a common store.That would imprint a sense of equality that we
should guard against at all costs."
Identification
can be established either by a name given to the building or through a
numbering system. The numbering system has the added advantage of occupying
less space and of situating buildings on the street in relation to one
another. In may cities today, like São Paulo or Istanbul, the name
of residential buildings is as or more important than its number.
Numbering
the buildings of a street is not as simple as it seems.
It must first be decided whether the numbers should be on each door of
any building on the street or only on the main door of the building. The
first system, which Paris used between 1780 and 1790, has the advantage
of giving an address to each business located in the same building. The
second system, however, is clearly more stable, since it is far less likely
that a building be destroyed than it is a door.
It must then
be decided at which end to start the numbering. It generally starts at
the end that is closest to the center of town, so that when the street
is extended, usually towards the outskirts of town, the numbering can
increase with it. But it not always the location of the street that determines
where the first number goes. In fact, in Venice, the first number is placed
on the landmark for each neighborhood (Thus, for the San Marco neighborhood,
the Doge's Palace is number one).
Here's
another problem: is it necessary to start at the number one for each street?
Or, should the numbering system be continuous for each neighborhood? The
latter solution was adopted in Paris under the Revolution and still exists
today in Japan, where the districts, called ku, are divided into quarters,
chome, which group together dozens of houses and thus form a block. The
houses are thus numbered according to the block to which they belong,
and not according to the street.
And
finally the last obstacle to overcome: how do you number buildings? There
are two widely used systems:
The metric numbering system, which assigns the number 500 to a building
that is located 500 meters from the beginning of the street, allows for
a better understanding of where the building is geographically located.
The problem is that there must be strict oversight by the municipality,
which is alone in determining the precise length of a street. In a city
where the numbering is sometimes done by the residents themselves, problems
may arise. This system has been adopted by some cities in Brazil, like
São Paulo.
The alternating numbering system-even on one side, odd on the other-is
easy to manage and allows you to determine which side of the street a
building is located. The disadvantage is that it gives no indication of
how far the building is located from the beginning of the street. This
is the system used in France.
Whether
or not they're standard, address numbers must be readable. For
even the slightest distortion of a number can lead to misleading information,
whereas the distorting of a letter can usually be figured out in the context
of the address. The advantage of standardization is precisely legibility.
As such, the numbers of Parisian buildings, black numbers on a blue background,
are particularly legible, even at night, because this combination reflects
well even the faintest light. The problem is the monotony in the urban
landscape, since the regulations do not allow for any creativity.
The
standardization of numbers for Paris residences
Decree from September 27, 1982, article 5 :
" Building
number plaques on or near a chambranle will be rectangular in form: they
will be 17 centimeters in height, and their length will vary depending
on the how many numbers are to be inscribed. The numbers will be white
on a blue background without any framing. They will serve as the regulatory
model for road traffic. "
In São
Paulo, various colors, sizes, supports and materials are used. This variety
entertain the eye of the pedestrian and don't necessarily harm the number's
legibility.
Library
of Numbers
click a number
to acess the library
Ruavista's
library of numbers gathers the numbers that can be seen in the street
in all of their diversity and richness. Feel free to make
your own contribution.
NUMBERS
are far less present on the landscape of the street than are letters.
Their purpose may be to orient you by identifying buildings or indicating
distances, or they may have a business purpose, like that of posting prices
or displaying a telephone number on a sign or on a shop window.
For
even the slightest distortion of a number can lead to misleading information,
whereas the distorting of a letter can usually be figured out in the context
of the address. The advantage of standardization is precisely legibility.
As such, the numbers of Parisian buildings, black numbers on a blue background,
are particularly legible, even at night, because this combination reflects
well even the faintest light. The problem is the monotony in the urban
landscape, since the regulations do not allow for any creativity.
