No comments about A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan For The New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Area.

No comments about Pathologies of Modern Space: Empty Space, Urban Anxiety, and the Recovery of the Public Self.

No comments about Cities Without Cities: Between Place and World, Space and Time, Town and Country.

2 comments about Surface Architecture.

1. I am finishing my thesis at a recognized architecture school on the west coast. This book is a great read. Very insightful and contemporary critique of the role of the facade with relation to fabrication. I admittedly have not finished the text but I have enjoyed what I have read thus far. Enjoy.



2. The conflict between tradition and modernity is a
   force in contemporary architecture even in 21th century!

   Let me ask what is the way of the future of architecture? If we accept architecture as a social and cultural art, beside its technological effacts, (and we know that the culture and society have got their own new definitions in 21th century regarding the new situation of the relationship between human and technology...)we are going to chang the relationship between humans and machines (look at the really similar atmophere in the early 20th century, specially structuralism)...

   Actually, there is no much moral codes here! As Cordeiro says, we are going to live a really new terminology, Genetic engineering. Cyborgs. Artificial intelligence. Consciousness uploading. Singularity, Posthumanism etc. Even as Mark Amerika (in the AVANT-POP MANIFESTO) says: "Now that Postmodernism is dead and we're in the process of finally burying it, something else is starting to take hold in the cultural imagination and I propose that we call this new phenomenon Avant-Pop" ...

   Yes, Avant-Pop and Posthuman (or whatever you call it), and specially the new Electronic Age and the new Cultural Imagination, these are the paradigms of the future and going to define everything including the basement of the architectural design, production and culture in a transdisciplinary way of thinking...

   Maybe its the most question of our age which Mostafavi asks: "'How can design utilise the opportunities of current industrial production so that the practice of architectural representation is neither independent of nor subjugated to the domination of technology?"

3 comments about The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago: A History of Our Future.

1. This book is a worthless exploration of the city through the dubious analytic framework utilized by Mike Davis in "City of Quartz." What separates that book is Davis' intimate familiarity with Los Angeles as a lifelong resident. Whereas D'Eramo is an Italian who's polemic is as cliched as any other European assessment of America which comfortably embraces false stereotypes and broad generalizations about american urban culture. What mystifies me about these modern marxist urban theorists is they vilify modern american cities, yet ultimately believe that cities provide the best social mechanism for engineering their normative philosophies.
   anyway, none of this is to imply that Chicago is immune from criticism. It is, as is any city. It's has a sordid history of racism, corruption, an dubious institutional choices. But any comprehensive analysis of Chicago that refuses to recognize Chicago's virtues or at least attempt to understand Chicago on Chicagoans terms is intellectually bankrupt and a worthless read. If you want great polemic pick up the works of the great chicago polemicists Algren and Royko, not the work of this Italian Huckster



2. Chicago as it is. The history of Capitalism and the history of American power have never been disected like this before. This is a good intro to those who are interested in cultural studies and their relevance to our every day lives. This is a superb work in the line of Braudel, Jared Diamond and Mike Davis.



3. Ably translated into English by Graeme Thomson, The Pig And The Skyscraper, Chicago: A History Of Our Future by Marco d'Eramo is a serious-minded and acutely insightful social analysis of Chicago as the penultimate example of the modern metropolis. From Chicago's humble origins to its towering rise in world prestige to the churning capitalism that keeps it running, The Pig and the Skyscraper looks closely at America's famous windy city and pulls no punches regarding the dark side of urban sprawl. A fascinating, in-depth account, The Pig And The Skyscraper is especially recommended reading for students of Urban Studies and the historical, contemporary, and future development of metropolitan Chicago.

1 comments about Privately Owned Public Space : The New York City Experience.

1. This book is divided into two parts. Part One (about 20% of the book) describes the history, law, and expeirence with publicly owned private spaces. Part Two describes and evaluates each of New York's 503 spaces.

   You might think that a discussion of the law and history of publicly owned private spaces might appeal only to city planners, developers and lawyers. You would be wrong. It would be hard to find a more lucid and balanced discussion of what happens when politicians attempt to direct the course of urban development. Anyone interested in public policy will find this discussion illuminating.

   The descriptions of the spaces in Part Two combine a critical examination of the architecture and design with a practical discussion of how well these spaces work or, in many cases, don't work. Anyone who lives in or visits New York City could spend a fascinating day visiting these spaces with this book in hand.

No comments about Heterotopia and the City: Public Space in a Postcivil Society.

No comments about Elemental: A Do Tank for Urban Projects in Contexts of Scarce Resources.

No comments about Views from the Road: A Community Guide For Assessing Rural Historic Landscapes.

No comments about Setting and Stray Paths: Writings on Landscape Architecture.