Iron Curtains

Reviews / Votes

This masterful and wide-ranging exploration of an 'ordinary' city in the postsocialist world - an area which has been largely overlooked by theorists of modernity and postmodernity - brings important and unexpected insights into the nature of contemporary urbanism and the postmodern cultural condition more generally. Timely, interesting and extremely engaging, the book also stands out for its skilful and seamless integration of a wealth of detailed observation with a strongly theoretical approach. --Ekaterina Makarova, University of Virginia Drawing from deep personal insight as well as 100 interviews, Hirt describes a shift from "bland to brass," sheds light upon privatism as a cultural condition, and reveals prospects for rejuvenating the public realm in the global context. This compelling and passionate account about why the post-wall world is so busy building walls fills a gaping hole in the literature on urbanism. --Nan Ellin, University of Utah