Book Description
Open City is an investigation into the city: its nature, its possible futures, its emergence as one of the most contested economic, cultural, and political sites of our time. The range of contributors is as diverse and dynamic as the cities they examine, inhabit, and haunt: philosopher Jacques Derrida reflects on the fate of Prague; playwright Richard Sanger presents a drama set in war-torn Sarajevo; poet Lynn Crosbie explores Toronto's hidden corners in an epic ABC; architecture theorist and mayor of Venice Massimo Cacciari discusses Naples and the new Europe; novelist André Alexis reveals mystical tropes beneath Ottawa; and architecture theorist Paul Virilio discusses the political dangers lurking in cyberspace. Other contributors include novelist Catherine Bush, Harvard architecture professor Rodolphe el-Khoury, architect Farshid Moussavi, artist Krystof Wodiczko, and many more.
Alphabet City: Open City FROM THE PUBLISHER
Open City is an investigation into the city: its nature, its possible futures, its emergence as one of the most contested economic, cultural, and political sites of our time. The range of contributors is as diverse and dynamic as the cities they examine, inhabit, and haunt: philosopher Jacques Derrida reflects on the fate of Prague; playwright Richard Sanger presents a drama set in war-torn Sarajevo; poet Lynn Crosbie explores Toronto's hidden corners in an epic ABC; architecture theorist and mayor of Venice Massimo Cacciari discusses Naples and the new Europe; novelist Andrﾽ Alexis reveals mystical tropes beneath Ottawa; and architecture theorist Paul Virilio discusses the political dangers lurking in cyberspace. Other contributors include novelist Catherine Bush, Harvard architecture professor Rodolphe el-Khoury, architect Farshid Moussavi, artist Krystof Wodiczko, and many more.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
This book is actually the sixth issue of a magazine known as "Alphabet City," which attempts a postmodern investigation into the nature and meaning of cities in contemporary culture. Widely varied by medium and genre, contributions include Jacques Derrida's contemplation of post-communist Prague, an interview with Venetian mayor Massimo Cacciari, a photographic essay (in murky black-and-white) on Istanbul's indoor bazaar, a subjective view of the changes in a Toronto resident's personal cityscape since becoming HIV-positive, and a collection of Portuguese modernist poetry. The result is a truly unusual approach to the topic of urban theory. Canadian card catalog no. C94-300833-6. No index. Distributed by General Distribution Services. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Art & Photography
Book Info
