imaginary cities
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In the history of cities, ancient Ur holds an important place. It was a center of Sumerian culture as well as the birthplace of Abraham, "a stranger and a sojourner" who sired three of the world's most important religions. Now another stranger and sojourner—a young French-man with autism—has created an ur-city of his own. Starting with Legos more than 20 years ago, 34-year-old Gilles Tréhin has created a vast imaginary metropolis he calls Urville, which he has documented over the years with astonishing sweep and single-mindedness in some 200 drawings accompanied by extensive historical notes. His extraordinarily detailed urban agglomeration is presented in the new book Urville from Jessica Kingsley Publishers, which specializes in titles about autism. "Since 2003," Tréhin writes on his Web site, "I have dedicated all my time to my Urville plan."
—"A Strange Sojurn". Daniel Akst. Metropolis
Sometimes I daydream of fantastic cities, cities more interesting and variegated than the one I inhabit (ah, Milwaukee), places I can take momentary refuge in. Gilles Tréhin is obviously a permanent resident of just such a city, but with the imaginary city of Urville, he has made the fantasy a reality. While the individual architectural drawings aren't very rich and the prose style (at least the translation on the website) isn't always compelling, Tréhin's scope and attention to detail is amazing. Urville is probably documented better than many real cities, complete with a history that dates to the 12 century b.c.e.; a geography that includes location, elevation, and climate information; and census data from 1990, 1999, and 2004 down to the district level. Tréhin has also taken care that each detailed drawing of a building fits into the overall plan and can be viewed in context via the aerial drawings.
