Reeh, Henrik,

Ornaments of the metropolis : Siegfried Kracauer and modern urban culture / Henrik Reeh. - 248 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-242) and index.

The resubjectivization of modern urban culture -- The everyday life and urban perception of the architect -- Beyond functional space : the ornament -- Discovering the city as a reflective space -- Ornament, ratio, and reason -- Urban ornaments and subjective experience -- Space analysis and social critique -- Improvisation and memory -- History and urban collectivity. Ch. 1. Ch. 2. Ch. 3. Ch. 4. Ch. 5. Ch. 6. Ch. 7. Ch. 8. Ch. 9.

"For Siegfried Kracauer the urban ornament was not just an aspect of design, it was the medium through which city dwellers interpreted the metropolis itself. In Ornaments of the Metropolis, Henrik Reeh traces variations on the theme of the ornament in Kracauer's writings on urbanism, from his early journalism in Germany between the wars to his "sociobiography" of Jacques Offenbach in Paris. Reeh argues that Kracauer's novel, essays, and historiography all suggest ways in which the subjective can reappropriate urban life. The book also includes a series of photographs by the author that reflect the ornamental experience of the metropolis in Paris, Frankfurt, and other cities."--BOOK JACKET.


Translation of: Storbyens ornamenter.

0262182378 9780262182379 0262681633 9780262681636

2004052418


Kracauer, Siegfried, 1889-1966 --Criticism and interpretation.


Urban beautification
Architecture and society--History--20th century.

NA9052 / .R44 2004

720.1030904