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Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City
Building and Dwelling summarises a lifetime's thought about what makes cities work - or not - to the benefit of their communities
In this sweeping study, one of the world's leading thinkers about the urban environment traces the often anguished relation between how cities are built and how people live in them, from ancient Athens to twenty-first-century Shanghai. Richard Sennett shows how Paris, Barcelona and New York City assumed their modern forms; rethinks the reputations of Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford and others; and takes us on a tour of emblematic contemporary locations, from the backstreets of Medellín, Colombia, to the Google headquarters in Manhattan. Through it all, he shows how the 'closed city' - segregated, regimented, and controlled - has spread from the global North to the exploding urban agglomerations of the global South. As an alternative, he argues for the 'open city,' where citizens actively hash out their differences and planners experiment with urban forms that make it easier for residents to cope. Rich with arguments that speak directly to our moment - a time when more humans live in urban spaces than ever before - Building and Dwelling draws on Sennett's deep learning and intimate engagement with city life to form a bold and original vision for the future of cities.
In this sweeping study, one of the world's leading thinkers about the urban environment traces the often anguished relation between how cities are built and how people live in them, from ancient Athens to twenty-first-century Shanghai. Richard Sennett shows how Paris, Barcelona and New York City assumed their modern forms; rethinks the reputations of Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford and others; and takes us on a tour of emblematic contemporary locations, from the backstreets of Medellín, Colombia, to the Google headquarters in Manhattan. Through it all, he shows how the 'closed city' - segregated, regimented, and controlled - has spread from the global North to the exploding urban agglomerations of the global South. As an alternative, he argues for the 'open city,' where citizens actively hash out their differences and planners experiment with urban forms that make it easier for residents to cope. Rich with arguments that speak directly to our moment - a time when more humans live in urban spaces than ever before - Building and Dwelling draws on Sennett's deep learning and intimate engagement with city life to form a bold and original vision for the future of cities.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 2018
About the author
Richard Sennett
60 books460 followersRichard Sennett has explored how individuals and groups make social and cultural sense of material facts -- about the cities in which they live and about the labour they do. He focuses on how people can become competent interpreters of their own experience, despite the obstacles society may put in their way. His research entails ethnography, history, and social theory. As a social analyst, Mr. Sennett continues the pragmatist tradition begun by William James and John Dewey.
His first book, The Uses of Disorder, [1970] looked at how personal identity takes form in the modern city. He then studied how working-class identities are shaped in modern society, in The Hidden Injuries of Class, written with Jonathan Cobb. [1972] A study of the public realm of cities, The Fall of Public Man, appeared in 1977; at the end of this decade of writing, Mr. Sennett sought to account the philosophic implications of this work in Authority [1980].
At this point he took a break from sociology, composing three novels: The Frog who Dared to Croak [1982], An Evening of Brahms [1984] and Palais Royal [1987]. He then returned to urban studies with two books, The Conscience of the Eye, [1990], a work focusing on urban design, and Flesh and Stone [1992], a general historical study of how bodily experience has been shaped by the evolution of cities.
In the mid 1990s, as the work-world of modern capitalism began to alter quickly and radically, Mr. Sennett began a project charting its personal consequences for workers, a project which has carried him up to the present day. The first of these studies, The Corrosion of Character, [1998] is an ethnographic account of how middle-level employees make sense of the “new economy.” The second in the series, Respect in a World of Inequality, [2002} charts the effects of new ways of working on the welfare state; a third, The Culture of the New Capitalism, [2006] provides an over-view of change. Most recently, Mr. Sennett has explored more positive aspects of labor in The Craftsman [2008], and in Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation [2012].
His first book, The Uses of Disorder, [1970] looked at how personal identity takes form in the modern city. He then studied how working-class identities are shaped in modern society, in The Hidden Injuries of Class, written with Jonathan Cobb. [1972] A study of the public realm of cities, The Fall of Public Man, appeared in 1977; at the end of this decade of writing, Mr. Sennett sought to account the philosophic implications of this work in Authority [1980].
At this point he took a break from sociology, composing three novels: The Frog who Dared to Croak [1982], An Evening of Brahms [1984] and Palais Royal [1987]. He then returned to urban studies with two books, The Conscience of the Eye, [1990], a work focusing on urban design, and Flesh and Stone [1992], a general historical study of how bodily experience has been shaped by the evolution of cities.
In the mid 1990s, as the work-world of modern capitalism began to alter quickly and radically, Mr. Sennett began a project charting its personal consequences for workers, a project which has carried him up to the present day. The first of these studies, The Corrosion of Character, [1998] is an ethnographic account of how middle-level employees make sense of the “new economy.” The second in the series, Respect in a World of Inequality, [2002} charts the effects of new ways of working on the welfare state; a third, The Culture of the New Capitalism, [2006] provides an over-view of change. Most recently, Mr. Sennett has explored more positive aspects of labor in The Craftsman [2008], and in Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation [2012].
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 20, 2020
The final lines of the book summarize my impression quite well: richness of meaning rather than clarity of meaning. No doubt there's brilliance in here, and some ideas I really enjoyed, but I'm not a fan of the way the book is constructed, mixing abstraction with anecdotes, name dropping, and literary canon that assumes a little too much about its reader.
September 18, 2020
I'd like to believe Richard Sennett has written better books than this one. Or, at least, more focused ones. This feels like a sampler of a lifetime of theory and practice in numerous walks of architecture and urban theory. But unless these fields are completely new to the reader, the book's everything and the kitchen sink approach feels too insubstantial.
August 6, 2018
Building and Dwelling is one of the best books I have read in the past couple years in terms of influencing my thinking about a particular subject. In this book, Richard Sennett weaves together history, philosophy, literature, and plenty of urban design theory to provide a comprehensive overview of what makes for the "good life" in the city, and how urban design policies can contribute to or detract from this ideal. Each chapter references pioneers in the field of urban design and/or urban ethics, and links these philosophical concepts with tangible examples of the urban form, drawn from several case studies around the world. Parts of the book (especially in the first half) can be a bit dense, but I felt like I learned useful, interesting ideas from each chapter, and Sennett generally balances theory with anecdotal examples from recent history.
In the second half of the book, Sennett brings in his own experiences working and travelling through India, Colombia, Shanghai, Washington D.C., New York, and other locations. Among many insights, I very much connected with his idea of an ethical city that lets its inhabitants try out a multitude of identities. The one slight disappointment in this otherwise illuminating book is that, after a thorough critique of past urban design policies, Sennett's own recommendations (which apparently were prompted through a conversation with Jane Jacobs) seem a bit half-formed. I would have liked a bit more focus on his ideas for how to make cities more "open", but perhaps this will be for another book.
In the second half of the book, Sennett brings in his own experiences working and travelling through India, Colombia, Shanghai, Washington D.C., New York, and other locations. Among many insights, I very much connected with his idea of an ethical city that lets its inhabitants try out a multitude of identities. The one slight disappointment in this otherwise illuminating book is that, after a thorough critique of past urban design policies, Sennett's own recommendations (which apparently were prompted through a conversation with Jane Jacobs) seem a bit half-formed. I would have liked a bit more focus on his ideas for how to make cities more "open", but perhaps this will be for another book.
September 27, 2018
In this book Richard Sennett talks about the "ville" and the "cité", i.e. the built environment and the life that goes on in that environment, and tries to identify how urban planners can design cities that are good to live in. It's a very meandering discussion, taking in literature, philosophy and many other fields as well as talking about the design of cities from Chicago to Paris, Medellin to New Delhi. I found the book rather hard to follow at key points - Sennett often talks in metaphor and analogy without quite coming to the point, and there were many times when I felt like the book needed a better editor. That said, it is endlessly thought-provoking, and it's hard to disagree with Sennett's point that many cities suffer from too much top-down design, and that what is needed is more open-endedness, more flexibility, and more collaboration with the people dwelling in the city.
February 5, 2021
M'ha agradat molt, he entès amb l'estómac l'estratègia adaptativa de què parla, de treballar amb l'entorn i no contra ell
January 27, 2019
Stadsleven in Schoonhoven
Een veer bracht me van de week in Schoonhoven, de zilverstad aan de Lek. Ik was er nog nooit geweest. Het leek me mooi om inzichten die ik aan het opdoen was uit Richard Sennett’s nieuwe meesterwerk ‘Stadsleven’ te toetsen in een verse omgeving.
In het boek beschrijft Sennett (Chicago, 1943) de spanning tussen de ‘Ville’ en de ‘Citè’, tussen de gebouwde omgeving en de gemeenschap, tussen de stenen en het stedelijk leven. De oorspronkelijke Engelse titel omschrijft het als ‘Building en Dwelling’.
Het is een spanning die ik als planoloog goed herken. Ik studeerde planologie aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, een universiteit met een sociologische benadering van de ruimtelijke wetenschappen. Om ook de andere kant te kunnen voelen, studeerde ik ook aan de architectuurfaculteit van de Sapienza, de grootste universiteit van Rome (via het geweldige Erasmusprogramma).
Het boek is geen geschiedenis van de planologie, maar probeert een antwoord te vinden op de uitdagingen de stad van nu, gebruikmakend van alles wat planologen (en nog een sloot anderen) ooit hebben bedacht. Toen Sennet ooit kritiek had op de kleinschaligheid van de oplossingen van de grote Amerikaanse sociologe Jane Jacobs – symbool van het verzet tegen grootschalige ingrepen – vroeg zij haar in haar eigen Greenwich Village, ‘Maar wat zou jij dan doen?’. Dit boek is eigenlijk een poging tot een antwoord op die vraag, vele decennia nadien.
Ik betrad Schoonhoven via de Veerpoort. Een stadspoort die stond voor het afschermen van het leven van buiten de stad, maar juist ook de gelegenheid biedt voor nieuwe bedrijvigheid. De oude stadswal werd in de 19de eeuw juist vaak een nieuwe bron van stedelijke energie en uitbreiding. Ook hier veranderde steeds de verbinding tussen stenen en het leven daaromheen.
Stedelijke ingrijpen als bijvoorbeeld het weghalen van zo’n muur kunnen veel verschillende gevolgen. Sennet neemt ons dan ook op reis naar ondermeer Medellin, naar Shanghai en naar New Delhi. Steeds weet hij door ontmoetingen met mensen in die steden zijn centrale vraagstukken te bespreken aan de hand van de veranderingen in die steden.
Schoonhoven was ook veranderd in de afgelopen jaren. Er is nog steeds een ‘cité’ van zilversmidstudenten, maar het station was al enige tijd gesloten. Maar er was ook trots, een heerlijk lokaal bier- toepasselijk Argentum geheten – en er was een Bikes & Coffeetent, genaamd Coppi. Schoonhoven ligt namelijk wel afgelegen, maar wel op allerlei recreatieve fietsroutes.
Net als Schoonhoven passen alle grote steden zich aan aan de nieuwe tijd. Om de balans tussen Cité en Ville te bewaren staat Sennet een open planproces voor. Hij is voor het planten van zaadjes, in plaats van een gedetailleerd masterplan. De zaadjes zijn dan bijvoorbeeld nieuw bibliotheken voor alle wijken (als in Medellin), maar met een volledige locale invulling.
Andere grotere uitdagingen zijn uiteraard de uitdagingen die de natuur en het klimaat ons bieden. Hij wijst hier op de Nederlandse manier van het combineren van mitigatie (hogere dijken) en adaptatie (ruimte geven aan de rivier)
Ondanks dat Sennet met de Nederlands-Amerikaanse sociologische heldin Saskia Sassen is getrouwd, komt Nederland eigenlijk maar weinig voor. De Amsterdamse speeltuinen van Aldo van Eyck worden genoemd als voorbeeld van het openen van de stad in een tijd van opkomend verkeer. Dè Nederlandse troef in het verbinden van Cité en Ville, de fiets, komt niet aan bod. Terwijl dat juist het enige vervoermiddel is in de stad waarmee je zowel verblijft ìn de stad, als dat je snel beweegt door de stad.
Bewegen door steden en door tijdperken doet Sennett constant in dit geweldige boek. Ik ken geen ander boek dat de stedenbouwkundige ontwikkelingen zo confronteert met het daadwerkelijk leven in de stad, en de werkelijkheid van hoe investeringen in de 21ste eeuw werken. En dat overspoelt Sennet met een rijke filosofische saus die ervoor zorgt dat je soms een alinea wel drie keer overleest. Er zit zoveel in. Vandaar dat ik naar een kleine stad wilde om het zonder afleiding te kunnen ondergaan.
De barkeepster van de Toltien moest lachen toen ik vertelde wat ik haar stad kwam doen. Maar ze voelde zich gevleid en begon trots te vertellen over het beleg van 1303. Het was volgens haar ‘dan wel een stadje, maar toch echte stad’. ‘Ja’ dacht ik, ook hier is daadwerkelijk Stadsleven…
Een veer bracht me van de week in Schoonhoven, de zilverstad aan de Lek. Ik was er nog nooit geweest. Het leek me mooi om inzichten die ik aan het opdoen was uit Richard Sennett’s nieuwe meesterwerk ‘Stadsleven’ te toetsen in een verse omgeving.
In het boek beschrijft Sennett (Chicago, 1943) de spanning tussen de ‘Ville’ en de ‘Citè’, tussen de gebouwde omgeving en de gemeenschap, tussen de stenen en het stedelijk leven. De oorspronkelijke Engelse titel omschrijft het als ‘Building en Dwelling’.
Het is een spanning die ik als planoloog goed herken. Ik studeerde planologie aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, een universiteit met een sociologische benadering van de ruimtelijke wetenschappen. Om ook de andere kant te kunnen voelen, studeerde ik ook aan de architectuurfaculteit van de Sapienza, de grootste universiteit van Rome (via het geweldige Erasmusprogramma).
Het boek is geen geschiedenis van de planologie, maar probeert een antwoord te vinden op de uitdagingen de stad van nu, gebruikmakend van alles wat planologen (en nog een sloot anderen) ooit hebben bedacht. Toen Sennet ooit kritiek had op de kleinschaligheid van de oplossingen van de grote Amerikaanse sociologe Jane Jacobs – symbool van het verzet tegen grootschalige ingrepen – vroeg zij haar in haar eigen Greenwich Village, ‘Maar wat zou jij dan doen?’. Dit boek is eigenlijk een poging tot een antwoord op die vraag, vele decennia nadien.
Ik betrad Schoonhoven via de Veerpoort. Een stadspoort die stond voor het afschermen van het leven van buiten de stad, maar juist ook de gelegenheid biedt voor nieuwe bedrijvigheid. De oude stadswal werd in de 19de eeuw juist vaak een nieuwe bron van stedelijke energie en uitbreiding. Ook hier veranderde steeds de verbinding tussen stenen en het leven daaromheen.
Stedelijke ingrijpen als bijvoorbeeld het weghalen van zo’n muur kunnen veel verschillende gevolgen. Sennet neemt ons dan ook op reis naar ondermeer Medellin, naar Shanghai en naar New Delhi. Steeds weet hij door ontmoetingen met mensen in die steden zijn centrale vraagstukken te bespreken aan de hand van de veranderingen in die steden.
Schoonhoven was ook veranderd in de afgelopen jaren. Er is nog steeds een ‘cité’ van zilversmidstudenten, maar het station was al enige tijd gesloten. Maar er was ook trots, een heerlijk lokaal bier- toepasselijk Argentum geheten – en er was een Bikes & Coffeetent, genaamd Coppi. Schoonhoven ligt namelijk wel afgelegen, maar wel op allerlei recreatieve fietsroutes.
Net als Schoonhoven passen alle grote steden zich aan aan de nieuwe tijd. Om de balans tussen Cité en Ville te bewaren staat Sennet een open planproces voor. Hij is voor het planten van zaadjes, in plaats van een gedetailleerd masterplan. De zaadjes zijn dan bijvoorbeeld nieuw bibliotheken voor alle wijken (als in Medellin), maar met een volledige locale invulling.
Andere grotere uitdagingen zijn uiteraard de uitdagingen die de natuur en het klimaat ons bieden. Hij wijst hier op de Nederlandse manier van het combineren van mitigatie (hogere dijken) en adaptatie (ruimte geven aan de rivier)
Ondanks dat Sennet met de Nederlands-Amerikaanse sociologische heldin Saskia Sassen is getrouwd, komt Nederland eigenlijk maar weinig voor. De Amsterdamse speeltuinen van Aldo van Eyck worden genoemd als voorbeeld van het openen van de stad in een tijd van opkomend verkeer. Dè Nederlandse troef in het verbinden van Cité en Ville, de fiets, komt niet aan bod. Terwijl dat juist het enige vervoermiddel is in de stad waarmee je zowel verblijft ìn de stad, als dat je snel beweegt door de stad.
Bewegen door steden en door tijdperken doet Sennett constant in dit geweldige boek. Ik ken geen ander boek dat de stedenbouwkundige ontwikkelingen zo confronteert met het daadwerkelijk leven in de stad, en de werkelijkheid van hoe investeringen in de 21ste eeuw werken. En dat overspoelt Sennet met een rijke filosofische saus die ervoor zorgt dat je soms een alinea wel drie keer overleest. Er zit zoveel in. Vandaar dat ik naar een kleine stad wilde om het zonder afleiding te kunnen ondergaan.
De barkeepster van de Toltien moest lachen toen ik vertelde wat ik haar stad kwam doen. Maar ze voelde zich gevleid en begon trots te vertellen over het beleg van 1303. Het was volgens haar ‘dan wel een stadje, maar toch echte stad’. ‘Ja’ dacht ik, ook hier is daadwerkelijk Stadsleven…
December 18, 2019
El meu interès per la història de les ciutats i l’urbanisme i la meva preocupació pel present de ciutats com Barcelona em van portar cap aquest llibre. I n’he après molt. A mig camí entre l’urbanisme i la sociologia, Sennett veu les ciutats com entitats que es construeixen, però també que es viuen. A partir d’aquí, el més important, proposa. I tot això sense perdre el caràcter divulgatiu.
November 13, 2020
Educative book, even though after a while it starts to feel a little repetitive and limited in its "Weltanschauung". Some of the examples are also not relevant to the points presented or are too much exploited. Overall a decent read, on a niche that is sadly insufficiently explored by most leisure-readers (including myself).
October 1, 2023
“There are two kinds of smart city, closed and open. The closed smart city will dumb us down, the open smart city will makes us smarter.”
Sennett’s approach is a considered, layered and contemplative one, he tackles many of the best known cities in the world, focusing on Olmstead and Vaux’s Central Park in Manhattan, Cerda’s Eixample in Barcelona, Haussmann in Paris. He then goes onto the work and convictions of Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford and the Chicago School (the architecture one not the economics).
Later on he gets into Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin, De Tocqueville and Individualism. The phenomenal privilege that is the so called “Googleplex” which he compares to the work equivalent of an elite school, as its so sheltered from reality, a corporate ghetto isolated from the rest of the world. Sennett also gets into the difference between borders and boundaries in everyday spaces and how in urban design space is given punctuation marks, just as in writing.
Elsewhere he warns about examples set in the so called smart cities creeping in around the world like Masdar City in the UAE, where a single control centre regulates all aspects of city life, and Songdo in South Korea. He illustrates the good that can be achieved for the poor and the majority when a different approach is chosen, like in the case with Sergio Fajardo in Medellin, who employed starchitects to create public, everyday places such as the libraries instead of opera houses.
There was a lot in here and this was one of those fine books where I came away feeling like I really had learned a lot about many interesting subjects in many new and sometimes surprising places too. Sennett has a pleasing and accessible style and makes many convincing points and draws our attention to many fascinating and worrying ideas.
Sennett’s approach is a considered, layered and contemplative one, he tackles many of the best known cities in the world, focusing on Olmstead and Vaux’s Central Park in Manhattan, Cerda’s Eixample in Barcelona, Haussmann in Paris. He then goes onto the work and convictions of Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford and the Chicago School (the architecture one not the economics).
Later on he gets into Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin, De Tocqueville and Individualism. The phenomenal privilege that is the so called “Googleplex” which he compares to the work equivalent of an elite school, as its so sheltered from reality, a corporate ghetto isolated from the rest of the world. Sennett also gets into the difference between borders and boundaries in everyday spaces and how in urban design space is given punctuation marks, just as in writing.
Elsewhere he warns about examples set in the so called smart cities creeping in around the world like Masdar City in the UAE, where a single control centre regulates all aspects of city life, and Songdo in South Korea. He illustrates the good that can be achieved for the poor and the majority when a different approach is chosen, like in the case with Sergio Fajardo in Medellin, who employed starchitects to create public, everyday places such as the libraries instead of opera houses.
There was a lot in here and this was one of those fine books where I came away feeling like I really had learned a lot about many interesting subjects in many new and sometimes surprising places too. Sennett has a pleasing and accessible style and makes many convincing points and draws our attention to many fascinating and worrying ideas.
December 29, 2023
Academic jargon and aimless thoughts abound, which is a shame because there’s some great ideas hidden in here. A friend without subject matter expertise started reading this and recommended it to me but she had to DNF around 50 pages because it was so dense.
I have two masters degrees and have done research in these subjects and could barely work through this mess— I can’t fathom that a qualified editor actually edited this. Sennett goes on wild tangents and makes references out of the blue that only experts in the field would understand (and even when I did, it was still so disorienting that it made the reference feel irrelevant).
I have two masters degrees and have done research in these subjects and could barely work through this mess— I can’t fathom that a qualified editor actually edited this. Sennett goes on wild tangents and makes references out of the blue that only experts in the field would understand (and even when I did, it was still so disorienting that it made the reference feel irrelevant).
February 18, 2020
I choose to read this book in order to get introduced to the realm of urban studies, and Sennett introduced me perfectly. The book entails Sennett's personal experiences as an urban planner/consultant of such in worldwide projects while also discussing philosophical and sociologist thought in a tangible way. On top of this, it's beautifully idealistic and with a certain liberal bent that left me hopeful that such an open city could actually exist, and left me hungry to be part of shaping my city in that way.
July 30, 2019
Vel skrifað inngangsrit fyrir þá sem að vilja kynna sér pælingar í kringum arkitektúr og borgarskipulag.
February 2, 2021
Quite stimulating! He draws on research/ideas from very different fields to provide his own perspective on cities. He calls for openness to provide for richer experiences.
June 3, 2022
interesting stuff, but sennett rambled
July 11, 2022
What a slog! This was a pain to get through. Sennett clearly tried to include everything but the kitchen sink without really giving us anything to take away from all this….zzzz
May 1, 2021
Building and Dwelling is the final book in Richard Sennett's trio on the skills people need to sustain everyday life - craftsmanship (The Craftsman); cooperation (Together) and finally, shaping the physical environment. In Building and Dwelling, Richard Sennett grapples with the role of planners and urbanists. He draws a distinction between the "ville" and the "cité", where the former refers to the built environment and the latter refers to how people dwell in it (although Sennett does note that the English phrase 'built environment' doesn't do justice to the idea of the "ville"). Should the role of the planner, of urbanism, be to serve the local community, to reflect and support the way they live; or is it to shift society to the way it "should" be living?
Sennett argues that the urbanist "should be a partner to the urbanite, not a servant - both critical of how people live and self-critical about what he or she builds". Sennett argues that cities, as complex ecosystems, need to be open. Open forms can "make urban places complex in a good way" - Sennett highlights 5 elements: (i) creating public spaces where synchronous activities can draw different groups together and invite them to mix; (ii) introducing both monumental and mundane markers to "punctuate" the urban landscape to help draw attention to (nondescript) elements in the urban environment and orientate people; (iii) creating porosity in the city by creating "membranes" that allow for flows and exchange, rather than impermeable boundaries at the edges (whether between a building's exterior and interior, or between neighbourhoods); (iv) using "type-form" structures that people can adapt and appropriate rather than fixed forms that are built to address a specific (static) need but fail to adapt as the context evolves; and (v) "seed planning" instead of master planning.
The current obsession with smart cities illustrates how technology can end up creating a closed, rather than open system. Sennett argues that we should use technology to "coordinate rather than control activities…focus[ing] on people as they are, in all their Kantian crookedness, rather than on how they should be…single citizens and groups have more control over feedback. The coordinative smart city honors limitations on its own data, then processes and relates that information to other groups". This works with complexity, gives people the data to help them make decisions and develops human intelligence. By contrast, technology used to control activities - "sensors read[ing] citizen behaviour, as in speeding or electricity usage, whether the citizen wants to be read or not; feedback is involuntary" - creates a "prescriptive city" where choice and agency are removed and where [technology's] prescriptions privilege efficiency over other considerations.
I had found Together to be pretty hard-going and Building and Dwelling was a much more enjoyable read for me. Partly because I like reading about cities and the first section of the book, on how urbanism has evolved and shaped cities was full of fascinating case studies and nuggets. Like how the nineteenth century was the age of black clothing which created an anonymous uniform for urban inhabitants, making it difficult to read strangers. This was in contrast to 18th century London and Paris, "whose streets were full of colours; people's dress in the ancien regime city marked not just their place in the social hierarchy, but more particularly the professions or trades they pursued (butchers wore striped red-and-white scarves; pharmacists sported rosemary in their lapels)".
It was fascinating reading about Haussman's Paris, Ildefons Cerdà Barcelona and Frederic Law Olmsted's Central Park. How Hausmann's Paris "privileged space [through which people move] over place [where people dwell]. Its transport networks connected people spatially, but diminished their experience of place". Sennett points out that our desire "not to be stuck in traffic…is a sensation we take for granted as natural - but it's a historical construction of our sensibilities…whereas our pre-modern ancestors…took slow movement through a city for granted". With Hausmann came our expectation that a "good city" was one where there was mobility. Yet, by allowing people to move through Paris at faster speeds, by building up the "networked ville", this has diminished people's awareness of place and hence, the cité. Or how Cerdà sought to create an equitable and social city with the additive grid, but this monocultural approach of building up Barcelona ran the risk of reducing diversity and hence resilience. Or how Olmsted, by siting Central Park on land that was farmed by free blacks and the Irish since the early 19th century, "destroyed this existing, integrated, rural life for the sake of a visionary, integrated, urban life". How Central Park is artifice designed to create the impression of nature, an illusion created to draw people to its grounds. In all three cases, they illustrate how the modern city lacks self control; these plans were not determined by citizens but were "arbitrary assertions of power, the first enabled by an emperor, the second by an unelected committee of notables, the third by a committed of planning commissioners who had not exposed the possibility of Central Park to much public discussion…national states, international businesses and ubiquitous bureaucracies rule".
Sennett offers many thought provoking points to mull over.
#1: Like how we need to look beneath the surface to assess the vitality and value of a place. Which Times Square to we privilege, for instance? The Times Square pre-clean up which was dirty and dingy but also contained thriving furniture workshops, small restaurants and bars serving local workers, or the Times Square of today which is glitzy and shiny with "packaged entertainment, chain-store places to eat, standardized hotels" and bustling with tourists but avoided like the plague by locals? Sennett argues that Olmstead "inaugurated a certain emphasis on removing the signs and sites of labour in his planning of sociable spaces in the city, the equating of sociability with artifice so that the city itself becomes a kind of theatre".
#2: Or how might we "connect to the past - a past whose passing one might regret - without turning the city into a museum"? (Sennett uses Shanghai's Xintiandi as an example, which is now restored albeit sanitised and quoting James Salter, "an illustration of life rather than life itself".)
#3: Or how "the idea that the oppressed will bond in solidarity is both naïve and factually rare. Oppression does not beget integraton. Rather solidarity is a necessary fiction to be conveyed to a dominant power: we are strong because united. The oppressed need to learn how to act as though this were true, to act out the fiction, make it believable.:
#4: That "class differences are not experienced today in the same way as are cultural differences of race, religion or ethnicity. When people of different classes mix together up close, invidious comparisons are dawn; inequalities hurt personally." The concept of meritocracy exacerbates this as failure to succeed in life is taken as a personal indictment while conversely, success in life is seen as affirmation of one's personal merit.
#5: That innovation and creativity is about overcoming constraints and obstacles. Therefore "an office, as much as a laboratory or an artist's studio, should allow people to dwell on difficulties". The irony is that in the case of Google, which prides itself on innovation, has designed a Googleplex that minimises resistance, where Googlers are encouraged to "play ping-pong…use the chill-out rooms whenever you are tired….as though the nicer [the offices] are, the more creative people will be."
#6: How might we create connection to a place if a city privileges space over place (like Haussman's Paris)? Rather, we should enable walking knowledge of the city to be developed by making provisions for sidewalks, alleys, benches, public water fountains and public toilets;
Sennett argues that the urbanist "should be a partner to the urbanite, not a servant - both critical of how people live and self-critical about what he or she builds". Sennett argues that cities, as complex ecosystems, need to be open. Open forms can "make urban places complex in a good way" - Sennett highlights 5 elements: (i) creating public spaces where synchronous activities can draw different groups together and invite them to mix; (ii) introducing both monumental and mundane markers to "punctuate" the urban landscape to help draw attention to (nondescript) elements in the urban environment and orientate people; (iii) creating porosity in the city by creating "membranes" that allow for flows and exchange, rather than impermeable boundaries at the edges (whether between a building's exterior and interior, or between neighbourhoods); (iv) using "type-form" structures that people can adapt and appropriate rather than fixed forms that are built to address a specific (static) need but fail to adapt as the context evolves; and (v) "seed planning" instead of master planning.
The current obsession with smart cities illustrates how technology can end up creating a closed, rather than open system. Sennett argues that we should use technology to "coordinate rather than control activities…focus[ing] on people as they are, in all their Kantian crookedness, rather than on how they should be…single citizens and groups have more control over feedback. The coordinative smart city honors limitations on its own data, then processes and relates that information to other groups". This works with complexity, gives people the data to help them make decisions and develops human intelligence. By contrast, technology used to control activities - "sensors read[ing] citizen behaviour, as in speeding or electricity usage, whether the citizen wants to be read or not; feedback is involuntary" - creates a "prescriptive city" where choice and agency are removed and where [technology's] prescriptions privilege efficiency over other considerations.
I had found Together to be pretty hard-going and Building and Dwelling was a much more enjoyable read for me. Partly because I like reading about cities and the first section of the book, on how urbanism has evolved and shaped cities was full of fascinating case studies and nuggets. Like how the nineteenth century was the age of black clothing which created an anonymous uniform for urban inhabitants, making it difficult to read strangers. This was in contrast to 18th century London and Paris, "whose streets were full of colours; people's dress in the ancien regime city marked not just their place in the social hierarchy, but more particularly the professions or trades they pursued (butchers wore striped red-and-white scarves; pharmacists sported rosemary in their lapels)".
It was fascinating reading about Haussman's Paris, Ildefons Cerdà Barcelona and Frederic Law Olmsted's Central Park. How Hausmann's Paris "privileged space [through which people move] over place [where people dwell]. Its transport networks connected people spatially, but diminished their experience of place". Sennett points out that our desire "not to be stuck in traffic…is a sensation we take for granted as natural - but it's a historical construction of our sensibilities…whereas our pre-modern ancestors…took slow movement through a city for granted". With Hausmann came our expectation that a "good city" was one where there was mobility. Yet, by allowing people to move through Paris at faster speeds, by building up the "networked ville", this has diminished people's awareness of place and hence, the cité. Or how Cerdà sought to create an equitable and social city with the additive grid, but this monocultural approach of building up Barcelona ran the risk of reducing diversity and hence resilience. Or how Olmsted, by siting Central Park on land that was farmed by free blacks and the Irish since the early 19th century, "destroyed this existing, integrated, rural life for the sake of a visionary, integrated, urban life". How Central Park is artifice designed to create the impression of nature, an illusion created to draw people to its grounds. In all three cases, they illustrate how the modern city lacks self control; these plans were not determined by citizens but were "arbitrary assertions of power, the first enabled by an emperor, the second by an unelected committee of notables, the third by a committed of planning commissioners who had not exposed the possibility of Central Park to much public discussion…national states, international businesses and ubiquitous bureaucracies rule".
Sennett offers many thought provoking points to mull over.
#1: Like how we need to look beneath the surface to assess the vitality and value of a place. Which Times Square to we privilege, for instance? The Times Square pre-clean up which was dirty and dingy but also contained thriving furniture workshops, small restaurants and bars serving local workers, or the Times Square of today which is glitzy and shiny with "packaged entertainment, chain-store places to eat, standardized hotels" and bustling with tourists but avoided like the plague by locals? Sennett argues that Olmstead "inaugurated a certain emphasis on removing the signs and sites of labour in his planning of sociable spaces in the city, the equating of sociability with artifice so that the city itself becomes a kind of theatre".
#2: Or how might we "connect to the past - a past whose passing one might regret - without turning the city into a museum"? (Sennett uses Shanghai's Xintiandi as an example, which is now restored albeit sanitised and quoting James Salter, "an illustration of life rather than life itself".)
#3: Or how "the idea that the oppressed will bond in solidarity is both naïve and factually rare. Oppression does not beget integraton. Rather solidarity is a necessary fiction to be conveyed to a dominant power: we are strong because united. The oppressed need to learn how to act as though this were true, to act out the fiction, make it believable.:
#4: That "class differences are not experienced today in the same way as are cultural differences of race, religion or ethnicity. When people of different classes mix together up close, invidious comparisons are dawn; inequalities hurt personally." The concept of meritocracy exacerbates this as failure to succeed in life is taken as a personal indictment while conversely, success in life is seen as affirmation of one's personal merit.
#5: That innovation and creativity is about overcoming constraints and obstacles. Therefore "an office, as much as a laboratory or an artist's studio, should allow people to dwell on difficulties". The irony is that in the case of Google, which prides itself on innovation, has designed a Googleplex that minimises resistance, where Googlers are encouraged to "play ping-pong…use the chill-out rooms whenever you are tired….as though the nicer [the offices] are, the more creative people will be."
#6: How might we create connection to a place if a city privileges space over place (like Haussman's Paris)? Rather, we should enable walking knowledge of the city to be developed by making provisions for sidewalks, alleys, benches, public water fountains and public toilets;
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 18, 2022Interesting topics and historic perspective adressed. Last 1/3 of the book, however, I really started to loose my focus. Wouldn’t have mind if all that was left out..
April 2, 2020
A very dense book that is jam packed full of ideas and insights. At times it covers so much it’s hard to take it all in and reflect (something that the author very much encourages). As such, I suspect each reader will take something different from it. The difference between the ‘built’ and ‘lived’ experience is a strong theme and I particularly enjoyed the author’s challenge to put ourselves in the shoes of others as we think about how places are experienced. The books parting thought probably sums it up - the challenge is how do we live one among many, engaged by a world which does not mirror oneself?
September 9, 2020
En este libro, Richard Sennett hace distinción entre dos nociones dentro de la ciudad, la «ville» y la «cité». La primera entendida como el medio construido, la infraestructura de la ciudad, y por otra parte la «cité» que hace referencia a como vive la gente de la ciudad. Sennett hace una recopilación coyuntural de diferentes ejemplos, en donde muestra como estas dos nociones han estado recíprocamente actuando o por el contrario han caído en la dicotomía, perjudicando el urbanismo, la arquitectura y el habitar.
August 14, 2021
Bedachtzaam was ik tijdens en na het lezen hiervan. Ik woon in een stad, ervaarde hoe het was en is. Deze boek hielp ook om over hoe het zou kunnen zijn na te denken. Schitterend basis voor debatten voor open steden die het aandurven. En anders een basis voor het bevestiging van een persoonlijk overtuiging van de potentieel van een coördinatieve (en open) tegenover een prescriptieve slimme stad. Als burger wens ik actief bij te dragen niet passief te gebruiken. Hopelijk ben ik niet de enige.
May 13, 2018
Sennett draws together numerous threads to demonstrate the folly of designing a city and expecting people to use it the way you planned. If you have ANY interest in urban design this is essential reading.
November 10, 2018
Rich, full of ideas and optimistic. Sennet makes the case for an open city and uses philosophers like Hegel, Heidegger, Ahrendt and Kant to substantiate this.
April 21, 2020
I found separating the study of the city between the frames of cité–meaning people, communities, the social–and ville–meaning infrastructure, buildings, the built environment–very insightful. A lot of literature on cities deal with one or the other, or the interaction between the two, but do not explicitly lay out this out. I find, at least for myself, that this causes a lot of confusion as to what part of the city is being studied, and why. (urban sociology → cité, architecture → ville, urban economics → interaction between the two, etc.).
The first half of the book deals in broad strokes on the history of urbanism using the frames of cité and ville. Sennett's long, personal connections to many prominent urbanists gives his anecdotes and analysis life. I thought this was the best part of the book. He argues convincingly that the specialization of professions dealing with the city–planners, architects, etc.–has isolated these frames, to their detriment.
A tension he comes back to often is between Jane Jacob's more cité-centric understanding of the city, focused on the local and the neighborly, and the fact that some urban challenges need interventions that are at scales much larger then a neighborhood, the domain of large-scale infrastructure, the ville. Sennett is sympathetic to Jacobs, but acknowledges that her focus on the local cannot solve all problems.
The second half, broadly, is his attempt to answer a question Jacob's posed to him: "So what would you do?". This was the weaker part of the book. He reflects on 'smart cities', and co-production, neither of which I found particularly new or insightful. He meanders a bit through a lot of common urbanist terrain–Jan Gehl, the Villa Verde project in Chile, Songdo, Masdar. If you're new to the study of cities, these are good waypoints to learn as they come up a lot. If you're already well versed, this part of the book is tiresome.
Sennett is most insightful when focusing on people, their motivations, their adaptability, their human-ness. He returns to several characters throughout the book, including a street-seller of contraband iPhones in Delhi and a librarian from Medellín. His sympathetic and genuine treatment of these urbanites were the most enjoyable part of the second half of the book. He makes a good case that migrants are the model urbanite because of their adaptability, resilience, and ability to "live one among many, engaged by a world which does not mirror oneself."
The first half of the book deals in broad strokes on the history of urbanism using the frames of cité and ville. Sennett's long, personal connections to many prominent urbanists gives his anecdotes and analysis life. I thought this was the best part of the book. He argues convincingly that the specialization of professions dealing with the city–planners, architects, etc.–has isolated these frames, to their detriment.
A tension he comes back to often is between Jane Jacob's more cité-centric understanding of the city, focused on the local and the neighborly, and the fact that some urban challenges need interventions that are at scales much larger then a neighborhood, the domain of large-scale infrastructure, the ville. Sennett is sympathetic to Jacobs, but acknowledges that her focus on the local cannot solve all problems.
The second half, broadly, is his attempt to answer a question Jacob's posed to him: "So what would you do?". This was the weaker part of the book. He reflects on 'smart cities', and co-production, neither of which I found particularly new or insightful. He meanders a bit through a lot of common urbanist terrain–Jan Gehl, the Villa Verde project in Chile, Songdo, Masdar. If you're new to the study of cities, these are good waypoints to learn as they come up a lot. If you're already well versed, this part of the book is tiresome.
Sennett is most insightful when focusing on people, their motivations, their adaptability, their human-ness. He returns to several characters throughout the book, including a street-seller of contraband iPhones in Delhi and a librarian from Medellín. His sympathetic and genuine treatment of these urbanites were the most enjoyable part of the second half of the book. He makes a good case that migrants are the model urbanite because of their adaptability, resilience, and ability to "live one among many, engaged by a world which does not mirror oneself."
December 5, 2022
Dit boek biedt een breed spectrum aan overwegingen die je kan betrekken bij keuzes die je als planoloog kan maken. Ik ben actief in de plaatselijke politiek, een politiek die vaak over keuzes in inrichting van de bebouwde omgeving gaat. Sennett laat zien dat er een groot verschil is tussen wonen in en leven in. Die tweedeling tussen "de Ville" en de "Cité" werkt hij vervolgens helemaal uit waarbij ook zaken aan de orde komen als wat is er nodig om te kunnen "wortelen" , hoe maak je dat de condities zo zijn dat je in de stad kan ingroeien en je ontplooien als je uit het arme achterland komt, hoe hou je het hanteerbaar wanneer door migratie meerdere culturen moeten coëxisteren in een beperkt gebied.
Hij heeft een duidelijke voorkeur voor een open stad, een stad die niet helemaal af is maar gaandeweg gemaakt wordt door de bewoners. Hij heeft zijn bedenkingen bij de bedachte stad waarvan het ontwerp te eendimensionaal functioneel is. Het gehele boek is doorspekt met psychologische en filosofische vraagstellingen die als belangrijkste functie hebben de mensen zoals ze zijn af te zetten tegen de mensen zoals we graag willen dat ze zouden zijn.
Hoe verhouden vorm en functie zich tot elkaar en hoe kan je een vormtype gebruiken. Sennett kan terug kijken op een lange ervaring en belezenheid en dat zie je ook terug in zijn literatuur selectie. Toch vraag ik me af of hij zijn eigen beschouwingen over tijd wel serieus genoeg neemt.Het is maar zeer de vraag hoe gesloten (slimme) steden zich uiteindelijk in de tijd zullen ontwikkelen.
Volgens mij is een 1984 scenario geen waarschijnlijk scenario maar zal ook daar tijd uiteindelijk naar openheid tenderen. Alles bij elkaar toch een zeer interessant boek.
Hij heeft een duidelijke voorkeur voor een open stad, een stad die niet helemaal af is maar gaandeweg gemaakt wordt door de bewoners. Hij heeft zijn bedenkingen bij de bedachte stad waarvan het ontwerp te eendimensionaal functioneel is. Het gehele boek is doorspekt met psychologische en filosofische vraagstellingen die als belangrijkste functie hebben de mensen zoals ze zijn af te zetten tegen de mensen zoals we graag willen dat ze zouden zijn.
Hoe verhouden vorm en functie zich tot elkaar en hoe kan je een vormtype gebruiken. Sennett kan terug kijken op een lange ervaring en belezenheid en dat zie je ook terug in zijn literatuur selectie. Toch vraag ik me af of hij zijn eigen beschouwingen over tijd wel serieus genoeg neemt.Het is maar zeer de vraag hoe gesloten (slimme) steden zich uiteindelijk in de tijd zullen ontwikkelen.
Volgens mij is een 1984 scenario geen waarschijnlijk scenario maar zal ook daar tijd uiteindelijk naar openheid tenderen. Alles bij elkaar toch een zeer interessant boek.
December 13, 2022
A thought-provoking read on the past, present and future of cities and urbanisation. The openness and ethics of the city was discussed in the context of technological advancements, sociology, and spatial design.
It is certainly not a piece for someone to start diving straight into urbanism and design. I think the book would flow better provided the reader already has some grasps on these topics.
The author, as also noticed by other reviews, resorts to many inputs from external sources and/or anecdotes. While it shows the broad knowledge of the author and how he creates connections to (unexpected) domains, it also makes most of the final one-fourth of the book a pain to go through. Thankfully, the writing style is similar to academic writing in that there is a summary of the most important points of each section, and the book ends pretty nicely with space for reflection.
It is certainly not a piece for someone to start diving straight into urbanism and design. I think the book would flow better provided the reader already has some grasps on these topics.
The author, as also noticed by other reviews, resorts to many inputs from external sources and/or anecdotes. While it shows the broad knowledge of the author and how he creates connections to (unexpected) domains, it also makes most of the final one-fourth of the book a pain to go through. Thankfully, the writing style is similar to academic writing in that there is a summary of the most important points of each section, and the book ends pretty nicely with space for reflection.
March 14, 2018
Nowadays we make cities to much as a closed system: uniform, lineair, and controlled. Instead of this 'Closed City' we need an 'Open City' where citizens actively hash out their differences and planners experiment with urban forms that make it easier for residents to cope. This is the main message of urban socialist Richard Sennett in his new book 'Building and Dwelling'.
An inspiring book with a strong and important message that reads wonderfully due to several anecdotes, interesting historical descriptions, and useful theoretical backgrounds. A must for every urbanist, architect, planner, politician, and student.
A summary on http://urbanspringtime.blogspot.nl/20...
An inspiring book with a strong and important message that reads wonderfully due to several anecdotes, interesting historical descriptions, and useful theoretical backgrounds. A must for every urbanist, architect, planner, politician, and student.
A summary on http://urbanspringtime.blogspot.nl/20...
February 9, 2019
“Een weergaloos boek”, kopte de Volkskrant. Altijd sceptisch dan, maar deze keer is dit niet overdreven! Sennett gebruik elementen uit de filosofie, (sociale) psychologie, sociologie en vooral architectuur en planologie om de kloof te duiden tussen de “ville” en de “cité”, tussen het gebouwde en het geleefde. Tegenover de moderne “gesloten” steden, pleit hij voor de “open” stad waarin niet alles strikt gepland is en bijgevolg rekening kan gehouden worden met onvoorspelbaarheden (bv. plotse migratie, klimaatproblemen, ...).
Lang geleden dat ik nog zo’n boeiend en uiterst gedocumenteerd boek las, toch doorspekt met persoonlijke verhalen, en verslagen van kleine en grote ontmoetingen.
Lang geleden dat ik nog zo’n boeiend en uiterst gedocumenteerd boek las, toch doorspekt met persoonlijke verhalen, en verslagen van kleine en grote ontmoetingen.
February 18, 2019
Het boek is veel beter dan de Nederlandse vertaling recht aan doet. Het staat vol kromlopende zinnen en vertalingen die je haast transliteraties mag noemen, en verder gewoon een aantal slordigheden.
Ik raad het boek zeker aan voor wie sociologie, (sociale) planologie of filosofie interessant vindt. Ik heb zelf geen achtergrond ik een van deze velden, maar Sennett onderbouwt zijn verhaal met de gedachten van 's werelds grootste denkers, geschiedenis en zijn eigen ervaringen.
Wel zou ik iedereen aanbevelen het Engelstalige origineel (Building and Dwelling) te lezen.
Ik raad het boek zeker aan voor wie sociologie, (sociale) planologie of filosofie interessant vindt. Ik heb zelf geen achtergrond ik een van deze velden, maar Sennett onderbouwt zijn verhaal met de gedachten van 's werelds grootste denkers, geschiedenis en zijn eigen ervaringen.
Wel zou ik iedereen aanbevelen het Engelstalige origineel (Building and Dwelling) te lezen.
June 25, 2020
Erg goede en interessante uiteenzetting van hoe de stad van de toekomst eruit moet of zal komen te zien, maar erg lastig geschreven voor mensen die niet bekend zijn met dit vakgebied. Ik had al eens geprobeerd het te lezen voordat ik begon met mijn studie (sociale planologie) maar pas na de eerste colleges kon ik enigszins in het verhaal komen. Daarnaast is er soms een hele ketting aan argumenten nodig voordat de Sennett tot de kern komt. Dat maakt het lastig om door de tekst heen te komen. Zonde, want de kernboodschap is er één voor iedereen, niet alleen voor de planningssector
January 12, 2022
Construir y habitar es una lectura que se acerca más a la abstracción de las anécdotas del autor que a un libro de teoría urbana. Prefiero quedarme con las reflexiones de Sennett acerca de la cité y la ville, del medio físico y como este se habita, del repaso histórico de algunos urbanistas, espacios de exclusión y simplificación, estrategias de restauración, arreglo y reconfiguración de una ciudad, etc. Lo demás hace tediosa la lectura. En resumen, es un libro que ilumina el camino hacia ciudades más abiertas sin profundizar mucho más en el tema.
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