The
Lure of the City: From Slums to SuburbsThe United Nations describes cities as ‘dynamic centres of creativity, commerce and culture’. Conversely, they are often described as hectic, tense, polluted and overcrowded. Two distinct descriptions, but are they mutually exclusive? Don’t they both describe the city?
Is the city, the place of anonymity, or civic engagement? Will developing countries lose cultural identity in their transition to urban economies – and, if so, will it be worth it? Are cities dynamic centres of innovation and culture – or dated modes of organization? Are cities sociable, or anti-social? Should historic centres be conserved or demolished to create new? Are cities too impersonal or welcoming? Is a stress-free, uncongested city a contradiction in terms – but should we be striving for it anyway? Do cities encourage liberal free expression, or conformity?
This book explores the paradoxes, contradictions and challenges of an urban world.
The
Future of Community: Reports of a Death Greatly ExaggeratedWe are constantly being told that we are losing a ‘sense of community’. This book shows that the notion of community is actually under threat from the very thing supposed to protect it: relentless government intervention.
The family and collective institutions have certainly suffered in the face of market forces and moralising. But, the authors argue, a far bigger threat to social solidarities comes from the crisis of political confidence. Replacing a political vision for society with instrumental attempts to create ‘community’ has given rise to unelected ‘community leaders’, and formalised community relationships to the detriment of traditional freedoms. This book argues that for genuine communities to flourish we need a space, free from official intervention, where people can confidently negotiate their own relations.
Visit the Future of Community Blog here...
Book Launch: The Future of Community was launched in Northern Ireland at the Belfast Salon. Read more here...
This book examines the concept of sustainability and presents a critical exploration of its all-pervasive influence on society. Each chapter examines a particular guise of 'sustainability'; from architecture to energy policy, from first world to underdeveloped world. It is, the author argues, a pernicious, corrosive doctrine that has survived primarily because there seems to be no alternative to its canon: in effect, its bi-partisan appeal has depressed critical engagement and neutered politics.
Shortcuts
Book 2: These two books are written and illustrated by Austin Williams and provide an idiot's guide to construction. Presented in a journalistic style aided by cartoons, sketches and detail drawings, Williams says "effectively, I read the regulations so that you don't have to"... (although there are plenty of references for further reading should you so wish).
"Although I have 25 years experience in Building Control, I still find that it is easier to explain regulations to a client using Austins Shortcuts than to refer to the Approved Documents." Geoff Wilkinson, Vice Chair,Faculty of Building Control and Standards, CIOB
“Shortcuts is very much like its author: swiftly getting to the core of the matter in a precise and concise style. Importantly it also sees through much of the bureaucracy” Simon Allford, AHMM
Available from RIBA Bookshops. For more information, please email: Austin
WIlliams
Coming in 2010: Shortcuts Book 3: "Environment and Law"
This Attitudes to the City research paper investigates the attitudes that people have towards crime and anti-social behaviour and how their views reflect - or impact upon - their primary concerns of city life in the UK. It explores issues that are often regarded as 'problems' for cities and society.
