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Anthony Raynsford San José State University Associate Professor Department of Art and Art History |
Anthony Raynsford is an architectural and urban design historian, whose interdisciplinary research interests bridge across cultural, intellectual and art history, particularly of the 20th century. His teaching seeks to develop a critical understanding of the interlocking social and aesthetic issues faced by architects and designers, both currently and historically. Professor Raynsford's current book project is entitled,Cities for an 'Open Society': The Aesthetic Politics of American Urban Design, 1940-1975 . Related to this project are also a number of papers and essays, including a recent article on the politics of the British Townscape movement. |
ResearchBook Project
Cities for an 'Open Society': The Aesthetic Politics of American Urban Design, 1940-1975 This research project explores a fundamental shift within Anglo-American urban design practices, from a relatively closed model of a hierarchically ordered, 'organic' city to a relatively indeterminate model of an open-ended, pluralistically constructed city.Explaining this shift entails posing two interrelated questions: How have Anglo-American urban planners and architects generally conceived the shapes of cities for complex, pluralistic societies in the postwar period? How were their psychological, aesthetic and political assumptions about urban citizenship shaped by the context of the Cold War? In order to frame these questions, I invoke the phrase 'open society' in its historical signification as that which opposed totalitarianism, in particular, and political utopianism more generally. This work builds on the conclusions found in my recent publications. DissertationCurrent Workthe City,", Article published in the Journal of Urban Design Planning of World War II London," Paper delivered the 1st meeting of the EAHN, Guimarães, Portugal, June, 2010 Previous WorkLedoux’s Project for the Saline de Chaux.” Article published in Chicago Art Journal. More Details
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Anthony Raynsford
E-mail: Anthony.Raynsford@sjsu.edu
Last Modified: 1/11/11