Between Space and Place

I really enjoyed reading "Concrete Reveries" -- to me the book felt like a series of landscape essays describing the evolution of spaces into places. Kingwell is a very philosophical writer and so we really get a the meta-knowledge of why cities are the way they are.

As Kingwell himself states, the book is not a blueprint for an ideal city, it is not a polemic of Le Corbusier, nor is it an extension of Jane Jacobs, it is an exploration into what makes a city a city, what makes New York New York, what makes Shanghai Shanghai.

Though I found the book highly readable, I think the philosophical density may appear daunting to the average reader -- Kingwell is heavy into Heidegger, Descartes, and Freud. I highly recommend "Concrete Reveries" for anyone studying urban planning or modern architecture. ( )

p 46 favorite quote so far: "Solvitur ambulando, medieval monks liked to say: it is solved by walking."