Becoming Places Urbanism / Architecture / Identity / Power

About the practices and politics of place and identity formation– the slippery ways in which who we are becomes wrapped up with where we are– this book exposes the relations of place to power. It links everyday aspects of place experience to the social theories of Deleuze and Bourdieu in a very readable manner. This is a book that takes the social critique of built form another step through detailed fieldwork and analysis in particular case studies. Through a broad range of case studies from nationalist monuments and new urbanist suburbs to urban laneways and avant garde interiors, questions are explored such as: What is neighborhood character? How do squatter settlements work and does it matter what they look like? Can architecture liberate? How do monuments and public spaces shape or stabilize national identity?

Part 1: Ideas 1. Making Sense of Place 2. Place as Assemblage3. Silent Complicities 4. Limits of Critical Architecture Part 2:Places 5. Slippery Characters: Defending and Creating Place Identities(with Ian Woodcockand Stephen Wood) 6. BecomingProsperous: Informal Urbanism in Yogyakarta (with WiryonoRhajo) 7. Urbanising Architecture: Koolhaas and Spatial Segmentarity 8. Open Court: Transparencyand Legitimation in the Courthouse9.Safety Becomes Danger: Drug-Use in Public Space (with John Fitzgerald) 10. New Orders: Monas andMerdeka Square (with Eka Permanasari) 11. Urban Slippage: Smooth and Striated Streetscapes in Bangkok (with Kasama Polakit)

Kim Dovey is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne. He has published and broadcast widely on issues of place and ideology including the book Fluid City (Routledge, 2005) and Framing Places (Routledge, second edition 2008).