City of Bits : Space, Place and Infobahn

Mitchell, William J.

ISBN 10: 0262133091 / ISBN 13: 9780262133098

Published by MIT Press, USA, 1995

About this Item

Hardcover. 225 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: MIT Press, USA, 1995. First Edition. *** CONDITION: The book itself is in near fine condition and comes in near fine dust jacket. More specifically: Edges of boards have superficial wear. Dust jacket has light creasing. . Pages are clean and unmarked and in excellent condition. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: This work is a comprehensive introduction to a new type of city, a largely invisible but increasingly important system of virtual spaces interconnected by the emerging information superhighway. William Mitchell makes extensive use of concrete, practical examples and illustrations in a technically well-grounded yet accessible examination of architecture and urbanism in the context of the digital telecommunications revolution, the ongoing miniaturization of electronics, the commodification of bits and the growing domination of software over materialized form. In six chapters - "Pulling Glass", "Electronic Agoras", "Cyborg Citizens", "Recombinant Architecture", "Soft Cities" and "Building the Bitsphere" - Mitchell argues that the crucial issue before us is not one of putting in place the digital plumbing of telecommunications links and associated electronic appliances, nor even of producing content for electronic delivery, but rather one of creating electronically-mediated environments for the kinds of lives that we will want to lead. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Computers & Internet; Sociology & Culture. ISBN: 0262133091. ISBN/EAN: 9780262133098. Inventory No: 17090092. Seller Inventory # 17090092

Bibliographic Details

Title: City of Bits : Space, Place and Infobahn

Publisher: MIT Press, USA

Publication Date: 1995

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Mitchell (architecture and media arts and sciences, MIT) discusses the virtual city which, while largely invisible, serves as an increasingly important system of interconnected links which is increasingly replacing traditional centers of community activity. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Reviews:

Digital technology is turning traditional architectural theory and planning upside down, contends Mitchell, who teaches architecture and media arts at MIT. In this rigorous, highly engaging study, he charts both the architecture of cyberspace and the transformation of buildings and living space in the information age. Examining a wide range of digital phenomena, such as the Internet, encryption tools, the major online services and virtual reality, he explains that the architectural paradigms put forth by civic planners and critics, from Aristotle to Baron Haussmann and Lewis Mumford, do not apply to cyberspace. Mitchell argues that online communities, transcending geographic boundaries and social contexts, offer new ways of thinking about urban design, private and public space, the separation of work and home life and personal identity. In more speculative chapters, he walks us through the changes in civic institutions such as libraries, hospitals, museums, banks and bookstores, changes made possible by computer technology. Complete with architectural blueprints, illustrations of digital gadgetry and an index of related Internet "surf sites," this is a particularly clever and evocative look at the "soft cities" of the 21st century.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.