City Ubiquitous: Place, Communication, and the Rise of Omnitopia (Andrew Wood)
	Quantity in Basket:none Code: 978-1-57273-885-5 Price:$24.95 Title: City Ubiquitous Sub-title: Place, Communication, and the Rise of Omnitopia Author(s): Andrew Wood Publish Date: February 2009 Pages: 232 Format: Paper
	Quantity:
This book explores an emerging mode of urban life that is both familiar and startlingly new: a continuum of places, technologies, and performances that meld disparate enclaves into a seemingly coherent whole. We may access this convergence of terminals to the same place by way of interstate highways, internet connections, and personal media devices, even as we encounter ever more unyielding barriers to meaningful human communication. City Ubiquitous is written for students and scholars of the built environment, but it is also meant for anyone who recognizes the odd and frightening pleasures of urbanity. Flowing from airport to hotel to coffee shop to chain restaurant, we glimpse the alienation and fascination of looking, consuming, and communicating in the staccato rhythms of contemporary life. The book investigates this phenomenon, this structure and perception of omnitopia, by investigating its origins in Parisian arcades, world's fairs, and military-industrial superslabs, its manifestations in airports, hotels, and shopping malls, and its potential undoing through performance, placelessness, and reverence. Contents: INTRODUCTION. On the Road Again. A Rhetoric of Ubiquity. Notes. References. OVERVIEW. ENCLAVE. Rise of the Consumer Enclave: Arcades and Department Stores. World’s Fairs as Enclaves of Civilization. Democracity. Futurama. Conclusion. Notes. References. CONSTRUCTION. From Train to Auto. Greyhound Bus Terminals. The “Only by Highway” Campaign. Conclusion. Notes. References. FRAMEWORK. Introduction to Play Time and the Terminal. Dislocation. Conflation. Fragmentation. Mobility. Mutability. Conclusion. Notes. References. OVERVIEW. AIRPORTS. The Terminal as All-Place. The Terminal and Movement. The Terminal and Atomized Interactions. Airports in the Post-9/11 Era. Conclusion. Notes. References. HOTELS. Motels. Holiday Inn. Convention Hotels. Conclusion. Notes. References. MALLS. The First Mall. The (Once) Biggest Mall. The Post-Mall. Conclusion. Notes. References. OVERVIEW. PERFORMANCE. Las Vegas as the Capital of Omnitopia. Post-Tourists in Las Vegas. Leaving Las Vegas. Conclusion. Notes. References. CONVERGENCE. Object Analysis. Analysis of iPod Advertisements. iPod Etiquette. Conclusion. Notes. References. REVERENCE. Enduring Locales. Temporary Locales. Fleeting Locales. Conclusion: Reverence for Ruins. References. Author Index. Subject Index.