This book updates and thoroughly details the most important recent trends in civic architecture and planning, but does not limit itself to this; time-honored precedents, in some cases centuries old, are referenced. This massive, encyclopedic display, drawn from over 200 international sources, has been carefully selected for use not only by trained professionals but for everyone involved in the shaping of cities and the built environment. Numerous examples culled from the works of such notable architects as Arata Isozaki, Frank Gehry, Robert A.M. Stern, Rob Krier, and many others cover all aspects of the environment, from large regional concerns down to details of the private realm.

History and art intertwine in this celebration of the San Francisco Art Commission's promotion of public art through eight decades of political, social, and economic changes. Wels specializes in history and is a resident of the city. Abundantly illustrated and will intrigue those who live in San Francisco, those who just visit and leave their heart, and anyone involved with cities and public art.

"Art and the City" explores the contentious relationship between civic politics and visual culture in Los Angeles. Struggles between civic leaders and modernist artists to define civic identity and control public space highlight the significance of the arts as a site of political contest in the twentieth century.

These essays, from leading names in the field, weave together the parallels and differences between the past and present of civic art. Offering prospects for the first decades of the twenty-first century, the authors open up a broad international dialogue on civic art, which relates historical practice to the contemporary meaning of civic art and its application to community building within today’s multi-cultural modern cities. The volume brings together the rich perspectives on the thought, practice and influence of leading figures from the great era of civic art that began in the nineteenth century and blossomed in the early twentieth century as documented in the works of Werner Hegemann and his contemporaries and considered fundamental to contemporary practice.

Published with the Harvard Graduate School of Design.