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Loading... If Venice Diesby Salvatore Settis
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A spirited defense of the need to think of Venice as a permanent treasured home of its longtime residents and not a destination for tourism and commercial interests. The modern day Venice is already threatened by the rising sea, but driving further threats are the massive cruise ships now allowed to dock there and bring thousands of daytrippers at a time. The author is unapologetic in his criticism of the Italian government's failures, lending a distinctly local expertise to a city that for me is far-flung and that I previously have only known through the lens of other foreigners. ( ) Venezia come laboratorio del destino delle altre città storiche. Il turismo la consuma, enormi masse di persone la attraversano senza capire nulla di lei. Un libro che descrive una situazione, tragica. "La bellezza non è una merce, ma un patrimonio spirituale". Avrà una vita, questa spiritualità , o rimarranno soltanto la merce ed il denaro? Excellent examination of a number of issues facing the future of the historic city of Venice (and by extension other historic cities in the rest of Italy and the world). Tourism, declining population, political graft, corporate irresponsibility, and lack of architectural ethics are among the issues discussed. Settis also speaks on what it means to be a city. My copy through a subscription to New Vessel Press. no reviews | add a review
Architecture.
Sociology.
Nonfiction.
HTML:"This powerful book of cultural criticism" by the renowned art historian "shines a harsh light on" a historic city's destruction in the name of profit (The Washington Post). What is Venice worth? To whom do its irreplaceable treasures belong? This eloquent book by art historian Salvatore Settis urgently poses these questions, igniting a new debate about urban stewardship and cultural patrimony at large. As Venice grows increasingly unaffordable and inhospitable to its own residents, Venetians are abandoning their hometown at an alarming rate. At last count, there was only one local for every 140 visitors. As it capitulates to tourists and those who profit from them, Venice's transformation into a lifeless shell of itself has become emblematic of the future of historic cities everywhere. In this blend of history and cultural analysis, written with wide-ranging erudition and élan, Settis makes a passionate plea to secure the soul of Venice. "Anyone interested in learning what is really going on in Venice should read this book." —Donna Leon, author of My Venice and Other Essays and Death at La Fenice. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)945.311History and Geography Europe Italy and region VenetiaLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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