infrastructural city on tropolism

Over at Tropolism, John Southern has a thoughtful review of the Infrastructural City.

John’s right on the money by putting the book in the context of the economic collapse (predict here years ago) and the proposed "infrastructure bailout." John also gets why this book is crucial for architects and urban planners (even for Mr. Obama):

As capital flows increase their plasticity and are lubricated by technology, cities choke on grass-roots democracy and localized individualism, stymieing new civic projects. As a result, the role of infrastructure as a panacea for solving the problems of the contemporary metropolis only gains friction, leaving it open to terminal failure. Only by understanding and recognizing this reality will architects be able to operate in the contemporary urban terrain.

Thanks for the great review John, and thanks to Chad Smith at Tropolism, one of my favorite blogs, for hosting it.

Over at Tropolism, John Southern has a thoughtful review of the Infrastructural City.

John’s right on the money by putting the book in the context of the economic collapse (predict here years ago) and the proposed "infrastructure bailout." John also gets why this book is crucial for architects and urban planners (even for Mr. Obama):

As capital flows increase their plasticity and are lubricated by technology, cities choke on grass-roots democracy and localized individualism, stymieing new civic projects. As a result, the role of infrastructure as a panacea for solving the problems of the contemporary metropolis only gains friction, leaving it open to terminal failure. Only by understanding and recognizing this reality will architects be able to operate in the contemporary urban terrain.

Thanks for the great review John, and thanks to Chad Smith at Tropolism, one of my favorite blogs, for hosting it.