City squares
Subtitle: eighteen writers on the spirit and significance of squares around the world
By: [edited by] Catie Marron
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 287
ISBN-13: 9780062380203
Subjects: Social aspects; Public spaces; Plazas; Urban Sociology; City planning
Description: "In this important collection, eighteen renowned writers, including David Remnick, Zadie Smith, Rebecca Skloot, Rory Stewart, and Adam Gopnik evoke the spirit and history of some of the world{u2019}s most recognized and significant city squares, accompanied by illustrations from equally distinguished photographers. Over half of the world{u2019}s citizens now live in cities, and this number is rapidly growing. At the heart of these municipalities is the square{u2014}the defining urban public space since the dawn of democracy in Ancient Greece. Each square stands for a larger theme in history: cultural, geopolitical, anthropological, or architectural, and each of the eighteen luminary writers has contributed his or her own innate talent, prodigious research, and local knowledge"--Amazon.com.
Notes: "With 93 photographs"--Dust jacket.
Table of contents: title: part one.; title: Culture : the power of place:; title: Introduction  -- by Michael Kimmelman ;; title: Maidan-e-Pompa, Kabul : resisting the square  -- Rory Steward ;; title: Place des Vosges, Paris : a private place  -- Adam Gopnik ;; title: Red Square, Moscow, Grand Market Square, Kraków : the past is always present  -- Anne Applebaum ;; title: Squares of Rome and Venice : the shadow of ideas : circles and squares  -- Zadie Smith ;; title: Djemaa el-Fnaa, Marrkech : engaging with complexity and diversity  -- David Adjaye -- part two.; title: Geopolitics : strength in numbers:; title: Introduction  -- David Remnick ;; title: Tahrir Square, Cairo : lost and found in the Square  -- Jehane Noujaim ;; title: Rabin Square, Tel Aviv : so empty, so loud  -- Ari Shavit ;; title: Taksim Square, Istanbul : Byzantine, then and now  -- Elif Shafak ;; title: Tiananmen Square, Beijing : in search of heavenly peace  -- Evan Osnos ;; title: Euromaidan, Kiev : a place becomes a movement  -- Chrystia Freeland -- part three.; title: History : influence on humanity:; title: Introduction  -- George Packer ;; title: Grand Parade, Cape Town : a speech for the ages  -- Richard Stengel ;; title: Residential squares, London : a meander through splendor and squalor  -- Andrew Roberts ;; title: Zócalo, Mexico City : on sacred ground  -- Alma Guillermoprieto ;; title: Harvard Square, Boston : a city changes, its heart endures  -- Ann Beattie ;; title: The virtual square : Hacker Square -- Gillian Tett.