Urban Art and the City: Creating, Destroying, and Reclaiming the Sublime

This book explores how urban art transforms cities into human-made sublime, focusing on Athens, Byzantine Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cyprus, and regional cities. It presents new ideas for theorizing and sensuous conceiving artistic reality, architecture, and planning attributes, from archaic to classical to Byzantine urban splendor to current urban decline. It responds to recent imperialism of debt and neoliberal institutions, evoking older forms of spatial power.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This captivating book delves into the intricate tapestry of cities as a dynamic and ever-evolving creation of urban art, offering a rich and interdisciplinary perspective. It embarks on a captivating journey through historical lenses, exploring urban space as a subject of apparent quasi-cycles and processes of constitution, exaltation, imitation, contestation, and redemption through the lens of art.

The transformative power of urban art is unveiled as it transforms the city into a human-made sublime, a testament to human creativity and ingenuity. Within the context of the Eastern Mediterranean, the book takes readers on a captivating exploration of this phenomenon, focusing primarily on Athens, Byzantine Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cyprus, and regional cities. It reveals how urban space, an ever-evolving tapestry of spatial and temporal layers, unavoidably encompasses a palimpsest of past and present, constantly emerging and reinterpreting itself.

Through the lens of Athens and Byzantine Constantinople, as well as other cities, the book probes the intricate process of urban transformation. It unveils how urban space becomes a canvas for artistic expression, a medium through which the city's history, culture, and identity are expressed and celebrated. It explores how urban art shapes the perception and experience of urban spaces, creating a sense of wonder, awe, and belonging among residents and visitors alike.

Moreover, the book offers innovative ideas for both the theorization and sensuous conception of artistic reality, architecture, and planning attributes. It spans a broad spectrum, from the archaic, classical, and Byzantine urban splendour to the contemporary challenges of urban decline and the constitution and attack on the sublime. It sheds light on the complex interplay between spatial power, artistic expression, and the socio-political dynamics of cities.

This book appeals to a wide range of scholars and students, including those in geography, urban studies, art, restoration, film theory, architecture, landscape design, planning, anthropology, sociology, and history. It provides a valuable resource for those seeking to understand the complex dynamics of cities, the role of urban art in shaping them, and the potential for artistic interventions to transform and revitalize urban spaces.

In conclusion, this book offers a profound and thought-provoking exploration of cities as a diachronic creation of urban art. It provides original insights into the transformative power of art in shaping urban spaces, the historical processes that have shaped them, and the potential for artistic interventions to create a more vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable future. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of art, architecture, and urbanism, and will undoubtedly inspire and inform future generations of scholars and practitioners.

Weight: 490g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367546984