The Language of Cities

by Deyan Sudjic

Overview

We live in a world that is now predominantly urban. So how do we define the city as it evolves in the 21st century? Drawing examples from across the globe, Deyan Sudjic decodes the underlying forces that shape our cities, such as resources and land, to the ideas that shape conscious elements of design, whether of buildings or of space. Erudite and entertaining, he considers the differences between capital cities and the rest to understand why it is that we often feel more comfortable in our identities as Londoners, Muscovites, or Mumbaikars than in our national identities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141980591
Publisher:	Penguin Random House UK
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	999,193
Product dimensions:	4.30(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum. He studied architecture in Edinburgh and has worked as a critic for the Observer and Sunday Times, as the editor of Domus in Milan, as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and as a curator in Glasgow, Istanbul, and Copenhagen. He is the author of B is for Bauhaus, The Language of Things, and The Edifice Complex.

Editorial Reviews

"A deeply original and necessary book." —Alain de Botton


"An indispensable guide to what makes a city a city." —Evening Standard


"Witty commentary on rampant consumerism enabled by design innovation. . . . Especially appealing to marketers and design connoisseurs, this is easily digestible for the average consumers interested in knowingly purchasing quality design for the senses—if they can still afford it in today's economy." —Publishers Weekly on The Language of Things


“The Language of Things reads like a good conversation with someone who has a deep understanding of his subject matter. . . . A provocative and effective way of looking at our world through the lens of objects.” —John Dunningan, Dean of Architecture and Design, Rhode Island School of Design

From the Publisher

10/15/2017
This title by design historian (B Is for Bauhaus; The Language of Things) and director of London's Design Museum Sudjic is the most celebratory book about cities to come along for years. Though it could use expansion, emendation, and some editing, it would be greatly transformed into an educational film or TV series devoted to the global growth of urban life over the past 50 years. Social, economic, and political factors are the subjects as the book follows the primum mobile of postmodernism. For cities, it consists of making places, but in the postmodern world, capitalist celebrity takes precedence. In fact, the star of this book is Walt Disney, who built Celebration, FL, near Disney World. It could have covered more cities than the author studies and presents here (e.g., Mexico City, Beijing, London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York City, Tokyo, and Siena, Italy, where the book was written). The author addresses a great deal since the last epoch of urban writing in the 1960s, featuring Jane Jacobs and John Reps, among others. VERDICT Highly recommended to public libraries of all sizes.—Peter S. Kaufman, Boston Architectural Ctr., MA

Library Journal