The Seduction Of Place

The City In The Twenty-First Century

In 'The Seduction of Place', Joseph Rykwert, one of the most highly respected architectural historians of our time, examines the question of whether or not we have the cities we need and, if we don't, what we can do to create them.

To understand why people love or hate their cities and why cities succeed or fail their inhabitants, Joseph Rykwert examines a broad spectrum of urban centres. Among them are Mexico City, where the world's largest metropolis has engulfed the old centre; London, the infrastructure of which is creaking to contain its huge population; Berlin, newly reunited and furiously rebuilding, New Dehli and Islambad, new capitals that exist alongside older towns; grandly planned cities like Chandigarh, Canberra and Brasilia; and more modest new towns like Columbia, Maryland and Celebration, Florida, built in an attempt to correct the problems endemic to big cities.

Rykwert looks at image, style, and ornament; at public space and buildings, at infrastructure and street layout; at the visual qualities of contrast, strife and energy that contribute to a city's appeal. Discussing both successes and failures, he suggests ways in which we can retain - or return to - the sense of place that determines the nourishing character and soul of the urban landscape. 'Seduction of Place' is also a timely celebration of metropolitan values that have recently been denigrated: tolerance, liberalism, cultural vitality, pluralism.