Submitted by WA Contents
Cities beyond the Market: the new avantgarde in urban development?
Architecture News - May 13, 2008 - 12:40 11237 views
The metaphor of the city as a bazaar is rich in meaning: obviously a result of economic interaction the city is readable as the physical body of the economic base it is founded on, be it local small-trade business or the globalized exchange of goods. The production of a city is subject to the laws of the market, building activity follows capitalistic dynamics and reputated architects have become global brands, whose purchase has become a question of prestige rather than esthetic or functional concern. Today much professional interest is addressed towards the exploding cities in the developing world, some of them with growth rates up to 30% per year, fascinating and terrifying at the same time with their energy, productive chaos and astounding architectural turnout-rates, but also with their sprawling slums, decay, poverty, famine, traffic gridlock, and ecological depredation. The conditions we find in some of the much discussed cities in China or Africa created the term ?High-speed -Urbanism?,
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