City Transformed: Urban Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century

From Library Journal Convinced that successful architecture in cities relies on sound urban-design precepts, Powell (Architecture Reborn: Converting Old Building for New Uses) has assembled an international selection of 25 urban design projects from the 1990s. Summarizing urban-design developments over the past century, the introductory essay includes stimulating observations amid a few puzzling generalizations on the political, economic, and aesthetic dimensions of the modern city. The four main sections of the book address the city in terms of healing, extending, motion, and culture, offering five to eight examples each. The illustrations are informative and often include site plans or models, but information on specific buildings is at times inadequate (omitting names of architects) or incorrect (as when Powell calls the Museum of Jewish Heritage the Holocaust Museum). Perhaps the most informative aspect of the volume is the captioning, while the index is too brief to be really useful. For larger architecture and urban-design collections.APaul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Publisher Contrary to the pessimistic popular belief of the recent past, the world’s cities continue to thrive and grow. Throughout Europe, North and South America, and even the Far East, urban areas have renewed themselves, not just as centers of industry and employment, but as places that are pleasing to live in and enjoy. City Transformed celebrates the movement known as new urbanism, certain to be an increasingly powerful element in world architecture in this century. It highlights a selection of key projects, dating from the 1990s to the millennium and beyond, in cities as diverse and dynamic as Berlin, Seattle, Miami, Kyoto, Lisbon, Genoa, Dublin, London, New York, Shanghai, Rotterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Bilbao, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Paris-each of which exemplify the renaissance of the urban ideal and the rebirth of an architectural program. Divided into four sections–Healing the City, Extending the City, Cities in Motion, and Culture and the City-it illustrates in 300 full-color and black-and-white photographs, architectural renderings, and models, as well as through fascinating text how architects and planners are currently repairing damaged cities, managing growth, innovatively addressing transportation issues, and building cultural resources. As enlightening as it is optimistic, this vibrant look at today’s ever-changing urban areas displays the work of some of the most imaginative and foreword-looking architects of our time as it promotes a vision of city life that is hopeful, exciting, and increasingly rewarding. About the Author Ken Powell is an architectural critic and journalist based in London. His many books include monographs on the work of Norman Foster, Edward Cullinan and Richard Rogers. Actively involved in the field of architectural conservation for many years, he was secretary of Save Britain’s Heritage and is currently consultant director to the Twentieth Century Society. He lives in London.