Author: Ferguson Russell
Place: Los Angeles
Publisher: The Museum of Contemporary Art
Year: 1994
Pages: 185
ISBN: 0-914357-34-4
Source: Donated by Charles Correa
Subject: Urbanisation
Sub-Subject: Urban Studies
Keyword: Urban Planning, Urban Renewal, Post-war Architecture, Modernism
Classification: 711.4
Shelf: C1R3
Accession No: B181
Contents: Contents : 1. Preface by Richard Koshalek; 2. Acknowledgements by Elizabeth A.T. Smith; 3. Urban Revisions : Current Projects for the Public Realm; 4. Migration, Race and Ethinicity in the Design Migration, Race, and Ethnicity in the Design of the American City; 5. Inventions and Interventions : American Urban Design in the Twentieth Century by Gwendolyn Wright; 6. Cannibal City : Los Angeles and the Destruction of Nature by Mike Davis; 7. The power of the Eye by Richard Sennett; 8. Projects in the Exhibition; 9. Bibliography.
Abstract: This book, accompanying an exhibition of drawings, photographs, and models, explores contemporary critiques of post-war urban renewal, particularly in Los Angeles, a city emblematic of modernism’s failures and its subservience to the automobile. The exhibition, which will travel to Montreal, Berkeley, and Des Moines, features five essays, including one by Mike Davis (author of *City of Quartz*), who highlights how, by 1970, one-third of Los Angeles’ land area was devoted to car-related infrastructure. The contributors—sociologists, urban planners, artists, and architects—rebel against the car culture that has shaped urban life, critiquing not just the highway projects that devastated neighborhoods, but also the mindset that prioritized rapid movement over human-scale environments. They advocate for a more collaborative approach to urban design, emphasizing community input, topography, and a diverse range of professional perspectives over top-down, utopian visions. Despite its strong thematic content, the book suffers from poor design choices, such as small type size, lack of captions, and chaotic typography, making it challenging to navigate.