Learning from Invisible Cities: The Interplay and Dialogue of Order and Disorder

Vinit Mukhija
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Vinit Mukhija: Department of Urban Planning, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, 3250 Public Affairs Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656, USA

Environment and Planning A, 2015, vol. 47, issue 4, 801-815

Abstract: Just over forty years ago, Italo Calvino's masterpiece Invisible Cities was published in English. In the book, through a series of prose poems, Marco Polo describes the cities he has explored to Kublai Khan. Invisible Cities has been noticeably influential in urban studies. This paper examines the well-known playfulness, fabulism, randomness, and disorder as well as the often less acknowledged structure and order in this classic. It suggests that the conventional interpretation of Invisible Cities in urban studies literature underappreciates the complementary importance of structure and order in this novel. Based on my reading of Invisible Cities and Calvino's work, I speculatively call for emphasis on the interplay and dialogue of order and disorder in the design of cities.

Keywords: Italo Calvino; urban design; synergy; literary appreciation; flame and crystal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:47:y:2015:i:4:p:801-815

DOI: 10.1068/a130117p

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