2006
First Published
3.44
Average Rating
271
Number of Pages
The city and the cinema have become inextricably intertwined over the last century, with the identities of places becoming bound up in their cinematic portrayals. We have seen the landmarks of New York, London and Tokyo turn into iconic symbols of wealth, power, status, style and culture, and for the majority of people the images and sounds of movies form the only experience they will ever have of distant cities. Cinematic Urbanism presents an urban history of modernity and postmodernity through the lens of cinema. AlSayyad traces the dissolution of the boundary between real and reel through time and space via a series of films that represent different modernities. They include: Alsayyad argues that our understanding of the city cannot be viewed independently of cinematic experience. Films do not only capture the depiction of a society; they influence the way we construct images of the world and, as a result, how we operate within it. We are beginning to blur the distinction between what is real in the everyday, and how we imagine the everyday. Cinematic Urbanism explores this dynamic, bringing together insights from urban and film studies to illuminate current architectural debate. .
Avg Rating
3.44
Number of Ratings
18
5 STARS
17%
4 STARS
39%
3 STARS
28%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
11%
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Author
Nezar AlSayyad
Author · 5 books
Nezar AlSayyad is emeritus professor of architecture, planning, urban design, and urban history at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also served as chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He was founder and past president of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments. Among his numerous books are: Nile: Urban Histories on the Banks of a River (2020), Cairo: Histories of a City (2011), Cinematic Urbanism (2006), Making Cairo Medieval (2005), and The End of Tradition (2004).
