The Sense of the City: an exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture and a book by Mirko Zardini
“Sense of the City” is a major exhibition curated by Mirko Zardini at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montréal (until 10 September 2006), dedicated to the theme of urban phenomena and perceptions which have traditionally been ignored, repressed, or maligned. Challenging the dominance of the visual in the urban environment, the exhibition proposes a re-thinking of latent qualities of the city, offering complex analyses of the comforts, communication systems, and sensory dimensions of urban life—thus advancing a new spectrum of experience and engagement. “Sense of the City” explores overlooked modes of perception, suggesting a new ‘sensorial’ approach to urbanism. The materials exhibited include drawings, photographs, artefacts, maps, printed ephemera, models, installations, videotapes, projections, recorded sounds, and odours.
A catalogue of the same name accompanies the exhibition, co-published by the CCA and Lars Müller Publishers, and edited by Mirko Zardini. Following the thematic structure of the exhibition, the book comprises a critical interpretation of the city through sensory experience. With an introduction by Mirko Zardini and a preface by Phyllis Lambert, the volume features essays by cultural historians Constance Classen and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, anthropologist David Howes, urban designer and planner Norman Pressman, and historian Emily Thompson.
Domus # 892 publishes a thorough review of the book by Cristina Bianchetti’s (Professor of Urbanistic at Turin Polytechnic).
www.cca.qc.ca
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Il senso della città: una mostra al Canadian Centre for Architecture e un libro a cura di Mirko Zardini>>>