Cityscapes of Modernity

The modern metropolis has been one of the crucial sites for the exploration of modernity since at least the mid--nineteenth century. In this new volume, David Frisby provides an original and critical examination of the construction and experience of metropolitan modernity. Drawing on a rich variety of sources, Frisby seeks to reveal some key features of metropolitan experience in modernity. Among the issues examined are Benjamina s account of the flaneur and its relevance for social investigation and urban detection; Simmela s influential essay on the metropolis; contrasting interpretations of fin--de--siecle Berlin and Vienna by Sombart; the work of Otto Wagner; and the response to the modern metropolis as highlighted in German Expressionism and Weimar Berlin. Cityscapes of Modernity will be a valuable text for students of sociology, social theory, urban theory, cultural studies and architectural history, as well as all those interested in the urban culture of modernity.