Overview

To what extent do urban dwellers relate to their lived and imagined environment through aesthetic perceptions, and aspirations? This book approaches experiences of urban aesthetics not as an established framework, defined by imposed norms or legislations, but as the result of a continuous reflexive and proactive gaze, a complex and deep engagement of the mind, body and sensibilities. It uses empirical studies ranging from China, India to Western Europe. Three axes are privileged. The first considers urban everyday aesthetic experiences in the long-term as a historical production, from medieval Italy to a future imagined by science fiction. The second examines the impact of aestheticizing everyday material realities in neighbourhoods, and the tensions and conflicts these engender around urban commons. Finally, the third axis considers these relationships as aesthetic inequalities, exacerbated in a new age of urban development. The book combines local and transnational scales with an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together historians, sociologists, cultural geographers, anthropologists, architects and contemporary art curators. They illustrate the importance of combining different social science methods and functional perspectives to study such complex social and cultural realities as cities. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of humanities and social sciences, cultural and urban studies, architecture and political geography.

Full Product Details

Author:   Arundhati Virmani
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.380kg
ISBN:  

9781032060651

ISBN 10:   1032060654
Pages:   226
Publication Date:   31 May 2023
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I Aesthetic perceptions of urban environments: A long-term perspective Chapter 1. Pulchritudo civitatis: Aesthetic gazes on cities in communal Italy (12th-14th century) Chapter 2. London, Paris, Rome…: Travellers’ experiences of early modern European cities Chapter 3. Cities destroyed, cities rebuilt: sightseeing after a cataclysm (London, 1666; Lisbon, 1755) Chapter 4. The vertical city in science fiction. Urban utopia or social nightmare? Part II Urban everyday aesthetics as a common good Chapter 5. Whose river is it anyway?: River as commons, river as neighbour – The Yamuna in Delhi Chapter 6. Negotiating advertising aesthetics in early twentieth-century Shanghai Chapter 7. A plea for do(ing) the right thing. An ordinary dog day in Bed-Stuy Chapter 8. Experiencing the urban through the prism of fiction and cinema in postcolonial India Part III Aesthetic inequalities, a challenge for urban grammar Chapter 9. From aesthetic assets to sensitive public policies: for an ethic of the affective city Chapter 10. Battling aesthetic inequalities in contemporary cities: afterthoughts of an Indian architect Chapter 11. The aesthetics of slum? Exploring the lived and the imagined narratives of Dharavi (Mumbai) Chapter 12. Changing the metropolitan face in India. Interview with Giulia Ambrogi Afterword: Inhabiting a city is not a planned activity

Reviews

Author Information

Arundhati Virmani (EHESS, Marseilles, France) is a specialist in colonial and contemporary Indian history.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions