The ideal city: overall view and two-level stairs
Spiral stairs join upper and lower streets; the town's filth carried off by sea or river
A faint bird's-eye view sketches the whole of the ideal city, its buildings and ramps marked M and N. A stair diagram beside it (c d, f g, h K) shows how flights descend from one street level to the next. The accompanying note calls for round spiral staircases at every arch, doors opening onto common privies and urinals, high streets rising six braccia above the low streets outside the gates, and that the town be sited by the sea or a great river so its filth is borne away by water.
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Bird's-eye view of the whole ideal city
A light perspective view lays out the ideal city as a whole, its terraces, ramps and blocks marked M and N. The sketch fixes the general layout that the notes below then detail.
Flights of stairs between street levels
A stair diagram shows the descent from one level to the next: the stairs c d descend into f g, and likewise f g descends into h K. The stepped scheme ties the upper and lower streets together.
Spiral stairs, latrines and water-borne sanitation
At every arch a wide round spiral staircase is specified, with a door on its first turn opening into common privies and urinals; square stairs are avoided because people foul their corners. The high streets are to begin outside the gates and gain a height of six braccia, and the town is to be placed by the sea or a great river so that the city's filth is carried away by the water.
