Following in the footsteps of 19th-century urban reformer Jacob Riis, the author, through the power of photography, reveals the destitution and vulgarities of urban decay. Chicago; Newark, New Jersey; New York; Detroit; Los Angeles; and several other cities are the backdrops for his 400 photographs. Vergara focuses on the physical environment, showing the transformation of particular sites over time. His tour of dilapidated neighborhoods and crumbling downtowns is visually startling. Vergara lays bare the direction of a new urbanness that strips the grandeur from its fabric and lays waste to the cityscape, pointing out that while we have wasted cities, many of the ruins are magnificent. An invaluable resource for urban studies and architecture collections.

    M. Stern's monumental series of documentary studies of New York City architecture and urbanism. New York 1880, New York 1900, and New York 1930 have comprehensively covered the architects and urban planners who defined New York from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century. The post-World War II era witnessed New York's reign as the unofficial but undisputed economic and artistic capital of the world. By the mid-1970s, the city had experienced a profound reversal, and both its economy and its reputation were at a historic nadir. The architectural history of the period offered an exceptionally abundant and varied mix of building styles and types, from the faltering traditionalism of the 1940s through the heyday of International Style modernism in the 1950s and 1960s to the incipient postmodernism of the 1970s. Organized geographically, New York 1960 provides an encyclopedic survey of the city's postwar architecture as well as relating a coherent story about each of its diverse neighborhoods. Primary sources are emphasized, including the commentaries of the preeminent architecture critics of the day; the text is illustrated exclusively with a rich collection of period photographs.

    Gardens Are for People contains the essence of Thomas Church's design philosophy and much practical advice. Amply illustrated by site plans and photographs of some of the 2,000 gardens Church designed during the course of his career, the third edition has a new Preface as well as a selected bibliography of writings by and about Church.Called "the last great traditional designer and the first great modern designer," Church was one of the central figures in the development of the modern California garden. For the first time, West Coast designers based their work not on imitation of East Coast traditions, but on climatic, landscape, and lifestyle characteristics unique to California and the West. Church viewed the garden as a logical extension of the house, with one extending naturally into the other. His plans reflect the personality and practical needs of the homeowner, as well as a pragmatic response to the logistical demands of the site.

    This new collection brings together, for the first time in English, Lefebvre's reflections on the city and urban life written over a span of some twenty years. The selection of writings is contextualized by an introduction - itself a significant contribution to the interpretation of Henri Lefebvre's work - which places the material within the context of Lefebvre's intellectual and political life and times and raises pertinent issues as to their relevance for contemporary debates over such questions as the nature of urban reality, the production of space and modernity. Writings on Cities is of particular relevance to architects, planners, geographers, and those interested in the philosophical and political understanding of contemporary life.

    "This is a work for the general reader which will also earn the admiration of all academic specialists in Ottoman history".--Sunday Telegraph (London) 8 pp. of photos.

    The Barbary Coast Trail(R) connects twenty of San Francisco's most important historic sites. This comprehensive guide takes you to all of them and reveals a world populated by Gold Rushers, shanghaiers, Bonanza Kings, railroad barons, visionaries, and the pioneer women who tamed them. The Barbary Coast Trail is San Francisco's official historical walking trail. A series of bronze medallions set in the sidewalk mark the trail as it winds its way through vibrant neighborhoods. You'll walk down Gold Rush-era streets and Chinatown alleys, past Barbary Coast melodeons and Bonanza King mansions on a journey of discovery. It's great fun for the whole family! Whether you're a life-long resident or a brief visitor, you'll quickly become immersed in the heart and soul of San Francisco. You'll explore areas devastated in 1906, then reclaimed from the ashes. You'll visit the birthplace of the Gold Rush. You'll walk through a graveyard of Gold Rush ships buried beneath the streets. You'll experience the vibrant culture of North Beach, where Beat writers and artists once congregated and where Italian immigrants established a presence. You'll visit the first Asian temple in North American and the first Catholic cathedral west of the Rockies. You'll walk the on the decks of historic ships. You'll find several local history museums, as well as many fine restaurants when you're ready to take break. It's all waiting for you on the Barbary Coast Trail.

    It's under construction, but it should be an interesting resource. Check out the traffic in the land of commuting. And, finally, enjoy Los Angeles: Revisiting the Four Ecologies.

    Does anything remain of the old city?The internationally known Japanese architectural historian Jinnai Hidenobu set out on foot to rediscover the city of Tokyo. Armed with old maps, he wandered through back alleys and lanes, trying to experience the city's space as it had been lived by earlier residents. He found that, despite an almost completely new cityscape, present-day inhabitants divide Tokyo's space in much the same way that their ancestors did two hundred years before.Jinnai's holistic perspective is enhanced by his detailing of how natural, topographical features were incorporated into the layout of the city. A variety of visual documents (maps from the Tokugawa and Meiji periods, building floorplans, woodblock prints, photographs) supplement his observations. While an important work for architects and historians, this unusual book will also attract armchair travelers and anyone interested in the symbolic uses of space.(A translation of Tokyo no kûkan jinruigaku.)

    Original. Serial rights to Spin Magazine. IP.

    Targeted at architects, students, urban designers and planners, landscape architects, and city and regional officials, The Fractured Metropolis provides a thorough analysis of not only cities but also the entire metropolitan region, considering how both are intrinsically linked and influence one other.

    From the end of empire in the sixties, through the attempts in the 1970s to maintain a common culture through education, good literature, and state subsidies for the Arts, to the 1980s when there was a shift toward the acknowledgement of a multiplicity of cultures, this was a period of considerable change and development. Waugh looks at the effects of the fragmentation of English culture and examines the new and varied voices that grew up as a result of this proliferation of cultures.

    Against this is set an alternative history of ecological values informing proven approaches to urban design which work with^n nature in the city.