2 Warps to Neptune

Illustration and excerpt from The Cities of the Future by Eugène Hénard for the Royal Institute of British Architects, Town Planning Conference, London, 10 – 15 October, 1910. Selected, scanned, edited, provided with headnotes, and formatted as a web document by John W. Reps, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University.

From out the centre of the city’s heart there will arise the colossal orientation tower, soaring to a height of five hundred metres, and crowned by a powerful beacon light. At the base of the tower the historical portion of the city will nestle, with its monuments of bygone days, its old houses, and all its artistic and traditional treasures.

Around this there will be a girdle of great towers–each one from two hundred and fifty to three hundred metres in height–to warn off aviators from the forbidden area. These erections, each of a very different form and readily to be distinguished the one from the other, might be eight in number and placed at the cardinal points of the compass. Beyond them would come an annular zone of flat-roofed houses, this zone measuring from two to three kilometres in width: and above it aeroplanes of the bee-type would be permitted to float from terrace to terrace. At the circumference of this area a second girdle, consisting of tall standards or metallic poles of a hundred and fifty to two hundred metres in height, will mark the limits of the city, and will serve to warn off the greater airships. These standards, with their crow’s-nest summits, will serve as observation stations, whence an unceasing look-out will be maintained by members of the aerial police force; each of whom, mounted on his light aeroplane, will be ready when occasion arises to prevent heavy machines from flying over the city, Beyond the ring of standards will be situated the great Landing stages which will constitute the termini of all the aerial high-roads. Still further afield there will be the enormous power stations required for the public service.

The city as a whole will be traversed by wide roads radiating from the centre, and partly occupied by elevated platforms kept continually in motion, so that by this means rapid intercommunication between the several zones will be assured. These platforms will be terminated by revolving turn-tables, erected over the point of intersection of the principal streets. Lastly, the city will be planted with large parks and flower gardens, forming centres wherein rest, health, and beauty may each-be pursued.