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Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)

Auteur de La cité à travers l'histoire

77+ oeuvres 5,361 utilisateurs 26 critiques 9 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Lewis Mumford has been referred to as one of the twentieth century's most influential "public intellectuals." A thinker and writer who denied the narrowness of academic speciality, Mumford embraced a cultural analysis that integrated technology, the natural environment, the urban environment, the afficher plus individual, and the community. Although he lacked a formal university degree, Mumford wrote more than 30 books and 1,000 essays and reviews, which established his "organic" analysis of modern culture. His work defined the interdisciplinary studies movement, especially American studies; urban studies and city planning; architectural history; history of technology; and, most important in the present context, the interaction of science, technology, and society. Mumford was the editor of Dial, the most distinguished literary magazine of its era, and in 1920 he served as editor of Sociological Review in London and was strongly influenced by Sir Patrick Geddes, the Scottish botanist, sociologist, and town planner. In 1923, Mumford became a charter member of the Regional Planning Association of America, an experimental group that studied city problems from a regional as well as an ecological point of view. Mumford's well-known principle of "organicism" (the exploration of a cultural complex, where values, technology, individual personality, and the objective environment complement each other and together could build a world of fulfillment and beauty) was discussed in all of his work, spanning a career of nearly 70 years. Mumford's first book, The Story of Utopias (1922), introduces reliance on history to understand the present as well as to plan for the future. His books on architectural history and his works in urban studies established Mumford's reputation as the leading American critic of architecture and city planning. Each book views and analyzes the city, or built environment, in the context of form, function, and purpose within the larger culture. Mumford's books are focused on technology's role in civilization, especially "the machine" and "megatechnics." As a result, they have provided formative direction and structure to science, technology, and society studies and have established Mumford's stature as one of the foremost social critics of the twentieth century. Mumford's most profound and important analysis of technology (and the work that most directly influenced interdisciplinary technology-society studies) is the two-volume The Myth of the Machine:Volume 1, Technics and Human Development (1967), and Volume 2, The Pentagon of Power (1970). It was written following World War II (during which Mumford lost his son) after the deployment of atomic weapons by Russia and the United States, and during the arms race. This major work reflects a noticeable reinterpretation of the role of technology and a deep pessimism regarding "megatechnics," a metaphor Mumford uses for intrusive, all-encompassing systems of control and oppressive order. He views the military-industrial complex (the most horrendous "megamachine") as destroyer of the emotive and organic aspects of life. Mumford argues against the loss of personal autonomy and the organic world by electricity-based computer systems. Mumford died on January 26, 1990. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins

Séries

Œuvres de Lewis Mumford

La cité à travers l'histoire (1961) 1,400 exemplaires
Technique et Civilisation (1934) 607 exemplaires
The Culture of Cities (1938) 256 exemplaires
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays and Journals (1968) — Directeur de publication — 214 exemplaires
The Story of Utopias (1922) 154 exemplaires
Art and Technics (1952) 130 exemplaires
The Lewis Mumford Reader (1986) 111 exemplaires
The condition of man (1944) 104 exemplaires
Herman Melville (1929) 95 exemplaires
The conduct of life (1951) 93 exemplaires
The Highway and the City (1963) 83 exemplaires
America and Alfred Stieglitz: A Collective Portrait (1934) — Directeur de publication — 71 exemplaires
Les transformations de l'homme (1956) 68 exemplaires
The myth of the machine (1967) 56 exemplaires
The human way out (1958) 33 exemplaires
Mumford on Modern Art in the 1930s (2007) 31 exemplaires
In the name of sanity (1954) 30 exemplaires
The human prospect (1955) 28 exemplaires
Architecture as a home for man : essays for architectural record (1975) — Avant-propos — 25 exemplaires
Faith for living (1940) 23 exemplaires
The Future Of Technics And Civilization. (1986) — Auteur — 18 exemplaires
Man as interpreter 11 exemplaires
Men must act (1939) 10 exemplaires
The Arts in Renewal (1951) 7 exemplaires
1: ‰Dal santuario alla Polis (2000) 5 exemplaires
Lewis Mumford textos escogidos (2009) 3 exemplaires
American taste (1929) 3 exemplaires
Programme for Survival (1946) 3 exemplaires
La megamáquina 2 exemplaires
The Second American Caravan A Yearbook of American Literature (1928) — Directeur de publication — 2 exemplaires
Modern architects (1980) 2 exemplaires
The city (1939) 2 exemplaires
Thorstein Veblen 1 exemplaire

Oeuvres associées

Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (1998) — Contributeur — 281 exemplaires
The 40s: The Story of a Decade (2014) — Contributeur — 277 exemplaires
Erewhon and Erewhon Revisited (1872) — Introduction, quelques éditions229 exemplaires
Garden Cities of To-Morrow (1902) — Introduction, quelques éditions155 exemplaires
Man Alone: Alienation in Modern Society (1962) — Contributeur — 141 exemplaires
The Ancient World to the Reformation (1973) — Contributeur — 84 exemplaires
Europe: A Journey With Pictures (1954) — Avant-propos, quelques éditions59 exemplaires
Whither Mankind (1928) — Contributeur — 45 exemplaires
A Quarto of Modern Literature (1935) — Contributeur — 39 exemplaires
In Search of the Simple Life: American Voices, Past and Present (1986) — Contributeur — 34 exemplaires
Lapham's Quarterly - The Future: Volume IV, Number 4, Fall 2011 (2011) — Contributeur — 23 exemplaires
Daedalus, Spring 1965: Utopia (1965) — Contributeur — 7 exemplaires
Patrick Geddes in India — Introduction — 1 exemplaire

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Critiques

I was looking for a city-planning book, but he spends most of his time on architectural aesthetics, like complaining about the "contrast of gray concrete and yellow London brick...spoiled by the housewives' passion for pink and blue curtains".

He had some interesting ideas about designing spaces that are protected from motor vehicle traffic (pointing to Rotterdam as a good example), and "mixed neighborhoods, able to sustain more than one urban function and demanding far less vehicular transportation". He also had some ideas I didn't like, such as building small "New Towns" outside large cities to draw people away and avoid the need to build tall apartments in the big cities.

With a title like "The Highway and The City" I expected there to be more about transit, zoning, governance, and the like.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
AdioRadley | Jan 21, 2024 |
Thoughtful, reflective early.account of role of technologies in cultural development. Included speculations on how societies evolve, which have fared less well in scholarly evaluations.
 
Signalé
sfj2 | 1 autre critique | Nov 30, 2023 |
Stieglitz as receiver and medium of new cultural ideas in the USA regarding photography and modern art. An odd character, but influential in artistic circles of his generation.
 
Signalé
sfj2 | Nov 25, 2023 |
The hour is late for saving the human race from the possibility of wanton extermination or biological degradation; we must plan with a human purpose springing from divine inspiration.
 
Signalé
PendleHillLibrary | 2 autres critiques | Apr 20, 2022 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
77
Aussi par
14
Membres
5,361
Popularité
#4,647
Évaluation
4.0
Critiques
26
ISBN
195
Langues
16
Favoris
9

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