Vestingplattegrond van München 1668 - 1720

Curator: Here we have a baroque engraving, "Vestingplattegrond van München", which translates to something like "Fortified Plan of Munich." It's dated between 1668 and 1720, and credited to Antoine Coquart. Editor: My first impression is how contained everything feels. Almost like a little fortress town carefully plotted on a lace doily. It makes me think of obsessive control. Curator: Precisely! The star-shaped fortifications represent the period's anxieties about warfare. Cityscapes like these weren’t just art, they were tools for planning defense strategies. Editor: And look at how meticulously ordered it all is within those walls—almost claustrophobic! Straight lines everywhere. Where’s the chaos, the mess, the… life? Or maybe that's exactly what they wanted to keep out. Curator: Exactly. These fortified plans weren't merely geographic, they projected power, security, and urban planning ideals. Munich becomes this ordered space, easily knowable and therefore manageable by the ruling class. Editor: Managed, controlled, categorized—all very Enlightenment. You can practically see the gears turning in their heads, plotting everything. It's beautiful, in a way, but also a little terrifying. A visual manifestation of a mind at war. Curator: Think of the symbolic weight—the ruler’s ability to literally draw the lines of power, defining not only the physical but also the social landscape within. Who lived where, access to resources... All planned. Editor: It really does change how I see contemporary city maps. Less a guide and more a gentle reminder of underlying power dynamics still structuring our environments. Coquart unwittingly left behind an instruction manual. Curator: Perhaps… or maybe just an early iteration of the debates around the relationship between state power and civic space that are very relevant still to this day. Editor: Good point. It’s funny how these seemingly objective depictions always betray someone's perspective and intentions. Anyway, a great reminder that even something as pragmatic as a city map can be a piece of poetry about control, planning, and ultimately, perhaps, fear.