Lessons of the Renaissance
This is an excellent polemic about the role of architecture and urban design in the civic life of cities. While ostensibly about Renaissance Italy, the author's arguments are as much about city life today as about the past. His chapters on Rome and Pienza are, to my mind, the best, but his discussions of Florence, Venice and Siena are enjoyable as well. The book does not rely on new research, but rather is a coherent interpretation of what we might describe as civic-mindedness or publicness. The only negative critique I would offer is that the author's diatribe against preservation seems hyperbolic and misses the mark. While it is true that preservation became professionally established only under modernism, this does not reflect an inherent modernist bias in the field. We are lucky to have the buildings that have been saved, even if we can imagine better ones (ie, more beautiful or magnificent, in the author's terms) in their place. Nonetheless, this impassioned plea for the beauty of cities--"living civic artifacts"--is a must-read for anyone interested in city life.
