Finally available again:
The City as a Project

The City as a Project is presents the results of  the PhD program of the same name, that Pier Vittorio conducted at the Berlage institute and TU Delft from 2009 to 2013. Eight thoroughly researched essays scrutinize a fascinating line-up of urban conditions across more than two thousands years of history: from the political theology of the Islamic city to the political economy of Renaissance architecture; from the rise of public architecture in 17th-century France to the laissez-faire development of the contemporary Greek city; from the exemplary teachings of Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand to the collaborative work of Hannes Meyer; and from the plan of the Mesoamerican metropolis to that of the Fordist factory floor. In challenging the split between theory and practice, The City as a Project reveals the powerful ways in which the city arises from the constant interaction between ideas and spatial conditions.

But the book is way more than just a collection of individual theses on the relationship between architectural form, political ideas and urban history. It is in fact the outcome of a true collective research, as Pier Vittorio puts it in the preface of the book: „Above all, ‚The City as a Project‘ was an extraordinary human adventure that proved how friendship and camaraderie are the essential infrastructure of intellectual exchange.“

Presently the research group „The City as a Project“ is an independent group of architects and candidates from PhD program ‘City-Architecture’ at the Architectural Association in London directed by Pier Vittorio Aureli. 

With contributions by Pier Vittorio Aureli, Fernando Donis, Hamed Khosravi, Amir Djalali, Maria Shéhérazade Giudici, Christopher C. M. Lee, Francesco Marullo, Bernardina Borra, Platon Issaias.

If you are interested in buying the book, please check your local book store. You can also purchase it from our webshop here.

1/