Rethinking the Informal City
Critical Perspectives from Latin America
1st Edition
Published on 1. December 2009
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-84545-582-8 (ISBN)
Description
Latin American cities have always been characterized by a strong tension between what is vaguely described as their formal and informal dimensions. However, the terms formal and informal refer not only to the physical aspect of cities but also to their entire socio-political fabric. Informal cities and settlements exceed the structures of order, control and homogeneity that one expects to find in a formal city; therefore the contributors to this volume - from such disciplines as architecture, urban planning, anthropology, urban design, cultural and urban studies and sociology - focus on alternative methods of analysis in order to study the phenomenon of urban informality. This book provides a thorough review of the work that is currently being carried out by scholars, practitioners and governmental institutions, in and outside Latin America, on the question of informal cities.
Reviews / Votes
"This anthology represents a huge effort due to the diversity of realities that exist within Latin America. Cities have different dynamics according to their characteristics such as population, economic resources and territory...Therefore, the effort made by the editors to collect a group of professionals and researchers interested in Latin American cities is remarkable and mark this book as an important contribution to the knowledge of informal urban spaces in Latin American cities." ? Urban Studies Journal"...a worthwhile and timely contribution to the field of Latin American urban studies, which will help to fill the current gap in literature on the Latin American city...this book's major contribution is in its exploration of the social, spatial, cultural and aesthetic processes which constitute the informal city, which is (re)presented as fluid, dynamic, and most importantly, as part of the city. This aspect should ensure its interest to scholars of space and culture; as in rethinking the informal city, we are forced to re-evaluate our understandings of the city itself." ? Space and Culture
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
Bibliography; Index; Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
538 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84545-582-8 (9781845455828)
DOI
10.3167/9781845455828
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Felipe Hernandez | Peter Kellett | Lea Knudsen Allen
Rethinking the Informal City
Critical Perspectives from Latin America
E-Book
12/2009
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€32.49
Available for download
Felipe Hernández | Peter Kellett | Lea Knudsen Allen
Rethinking the Informal City
Critical Perspectives from Latin America
E-Book
12/2009
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Persons
Felipe Hernandez is an Architect and lecturer in architectural design, history and theory at the University of Cambridge. He has an MA in Architecture and Critical Theory and received his PhD from the University of Nottingham. He taught previously in the School of Architecture at the University of Liverpool, and has also taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), the Universities of Nottingham, East London and Nottingham Trent. Felipe Hernandez has published extensively on contemporary Latin American cities, focusing on the multiplicity of architectural practices that operate simultaneously in the constant re-shaping of the continent's cities. He is the author of Beyond Modernist Masters: Contemporary Architecture in Latin America (Birkhaeuser 2009) and Bhabha for Architects (Routledge 2009) and co-editor of Transculturation: Cities, Space and Architecture in Latin America (Rodopi 2005).
Content
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Rahul Mehrotra
Chapter 1. Introduction: Reimagining the Informal in Latin America
Felipe Hernandez and Peter Kellett
PART ONE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Chapter 2. The Form of the Informal: Investigating Brazilian Self-Built Housing Solutions
Fernando Luiz Lara
Chapter 3. Informal Practices in the Formal City: Housing, Disagreement and Recognition in Downtown Sao Paulo
Zeuler R. Lima and Vera M. Pallamin
Chapter 4. The Formal Architecture of Brasilia: An Analysis of the Contemporary Urban Role of its Satellite Settlements
Annalisa Spencer
Chapter 5. The Evolution of Informal Settlements in Chile: Improving Housing Condition in Cities
Paola Jiron
Chapter 6. Housing for the Poor in the City Centre: A Review of the Chilean Experience and a Challenge for Incremental Design
Margarita Greene and Eduardo Rojas
PART TWO: CRITICAL PRACTICES
Chapter 7. Rules of Engagement: Caracas and the Informal City
Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner
Chapter 8. Integrated Informality in the Barrios of Havana
Ronaldo Ramirez
Chapter 9. Formal-Informal Connections in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: The Favela-Bairro Programme
Roberto Segre
Chapter 10. Spatial Strategies and Urban Social Policy: Urbanism and Poverty Reduction in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro
Jorge Fiori and Zeca Brandao
Chapter 11. Urban and Social Articulation: Megacities, Exclusion and Urbanity
Jorge Mario Jauregui
Chapter 12. Public-city in Manifesto: The Formal City In-formed by Public Interest
Claudio Vekstein
Notes on Contributors
Index
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Rahul Mehrotra
Chapter 1. Introduction: Reimagining the Informal in Latin America
Felipe Hernandez and Peter Kellett
PART ONE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
Chapter 2. The Form of the Informal: Investigating Brazilian Self-Built Housing Solutions
Fernando Luiz Lara
Chapter 3. Informal Practices in the Formal City: Housing, Disagreement and Recognition in Downtown Sao Paulo
Zeuler R. Lima and Vera M. Pallamin
Chapter 4. The Formal Architecture of Brasilia: An Analysis of the Contemporary Urban Role of its Satellite Settlements
Annalisa Spencer
Chapter 5. The Evolution of Informal Settlements in Chile: Improving Housing Condition in Cities
Paola Jiron
Chapter 6. Housing for the Poor in the City Centre: A Review of the Chilean Experience and a Challenge for Incremental Design
Margarita Greene and Eduardo Rojas
PART TWO: CRITICAL PRACTICES
Chapter 7. Rules of Engagement: Caracas and the Informal City
Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner
Chapter 8. Integrated Informality in the Barrios of Havana
Ronaldo Ramirez
Chapter 9. Formal-Informal Connections in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: The Favela-Bairro Programme
Roberto Segre
Chapter 10. Spatial Strategies and Urban Social Policy: Urbanism and Poverty Reduction in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro
Jorge Fiori and Zeca Brandao
Chapter 11. Urban and Social Articulation: Megacities, Exclusion and Urbanity
Jorge Mario Jauregui
Chapter 12. Public-city in Manifesto: The Formal City In-formed by Public Interest
Claudio Vekstein
Notes on Contributors
Index