The Architectural Consequences of Anamnesis

April sees the publication of the latest volume in the Ashgate Studies in Architecture edited by Eamonn Canniffe MEMORIES OF CITIES: TRIPS AND MANIFESTOES by Jonathan Charley (Strathclyde University)

Memories Of Cities is a collection of overlapping essays that explore different ways of writing about the political and economic history of the built environment. Employing a variety of narrative forms including memoirs, letters, and diary entries, the essays are united in their critique of capitalist architectural and urban development and are illustrated by original photographs that form a parallel and supporting narrative. Rooted in the direct experience of living, working and visiting different places, the book investigates the dominant forces that underpin the capitalist nature of the built environment, whilst simultaneously highlighting some of the historic attempts to forge an alternative vision of how buildings and cities might be produced and experienced. Taken as a whole, Memories Of Cities takes us on what is a predominantly European journey that explores aspects of cities such as Glasgow, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Marseille. Drawing upon key authors and concepts to be found in both fiction and non-fiction, it encourages us to question how the built environment is produced and experienced.