Metropolitics

Photographing Prison

2020-10-02T05:00:00Z

The photographs presented here were taken by Andrea Eichenberger at the former men's and women's prison in Beauvais, in northern France, during its final year of operation and after its closure. Located in the heart of the city, the prison was originally run by the local bishopric under the Ancien Régime. It was briefly transformed into a hospital between 1813 and 1819, before becoming a prison départementale (county prison) in 1858. It closed in 2015, replaced by a new prison on the outskirts

- From the Field / prison, incarceration, France, Hauts-de-France, Northern France, Beauvais, image, photography, inmates, carceral space, experience of imprisonment, prison administration

From “Black City” to “Slum City”: The Importance of Image in Saint-Étienne

2017-09-20T05:00:00Z

In December 2014, an article in the French daily newspaper Le Monde painted a highly negative portrait of the city of Saint-Étienne, in south-eastern France, generating considerable controversy and intense mobilization. Vincent Béal, Christelle Morel Journel and Valérie Sala Pala place these reactions within the context of a long history of image-related stakes in local society and politics, and highlight the contrasting approaches adopted by inhabitants and local elites in response to the

- From the Field / France, media, image, Saint-Étienne, mobilization, shrinking cities, post-fordisme, urban decline, urban shrinkage, degrowth, shrinkage, stigma, stigmatization, post-Fordism

Another Vision of the Suburbs

Jean-Christophe Bardot & Laurent Devisme & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-05-07T04:55:00Z

Images of the urban fringes of French cities often tend either to condemn their ugliness or to revel in a strange fascination for these geometric spaces. Here, Laurent Devisme comments upon Jean-Christophe Bardot's photographs, and shows how they give a visible form to the imagined perceptions of these urban spaces.
It is often said that the French suburbs – the banlieues – get a bad press; what is more rarely pointed out is that urban spaces in general are often portrayed in a poor light,

- Essays / periurban, suburbs, image, photography, Le Bar Floréal, banlieue

The poetry of the urban landscape

Émeline Bailly & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-10-09T04:50:00Z

The ideal of “nature in the city” is a key characteristic of many urban projects. Émeline Bailly shows that the creation of landscaped spaces in urban areas can transform not just the city's image but also people's relationship with their environment, and in particular their mental perception of places.
---- Series: Nature in the CityLandscaping: a new form of urban creation?
The current enthusiasm for “landscapes” is evident in urban projects under way in both France and the United States

- Debates / urban planning, sustainable development, nature, image, landscape

History of Modern Architecture Revisited

Karla Britton — 2012-10-03T04:55:00Z

The latest work by Jean-Louis Cohen is an original contribution to the history of modern architecture. His fresh approach brings together various issues seldom studied until recently, such as the importance of images and the role of colonization.
Grasping the History…
In this commandingly written and richly illustrated new book, Jean-Louis Cohen presents a comprehensive history of twentieth-century architecture that encourages a wide audience to reflect on the built environment as a primary

- Reviews / architecture, history, colonization, image, modernization