The City in the City

“Architectural historian Amy Thomas covers every inch of the Square Mile in a study that ranges from macro urban planning, through the street & alleys, right down to the detail of desks designed to facilitate the changing needs of workplace interiors. Throughout, Thomas’ rich & clever use of archive images propels the research.”—Recessed Space“Thomas presents a wealth of noteworthy detail, ranging from the urban, form-shaping requirement that the head office of all members of The Bankers Clearing House be within a five-minute walk, to the efforts that went into balancing tradition and evolving technologies when redesigning the underwriters’ boxes (the café booth–like tables at which underwriters worked). A valuable resource for advanced students in history, planning, real estate, finance, urban design, architecture, and public administration.”—Choice“[The City in the City] is seriously smart and forces the reader to engage with the sorts of architecture and design that less enterprising and original writers have tended to pass over in silence—or worse. It is by no means an attempt to defend the City’s architecture; indeed, it is highly critical of much of what was done. It does, however, encourage us to think about it properly, perhaps for the first time.”—Literary Review“A sprawling yet comprehensive history of the changing urban planning, infrastructure, architecture and interior design of the post-war Square Mile.”—C20 Magazine“Kaleidoscopic and meticulously researched… Filled with a rich array of overlapping episodes with as many characters, twists, and subplots as one might find in a Victorian novel.”—Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians“Thomas has produced a detailed, deeply researched and highly engaging account at the intersection of architectural, political, social and economic change.”—Architectural Theory Review“Amy Thomas’s magisterial new book, The City in the City: Architecture and Change in London’s Financial District, will undoubtedly give a boost to the renewed engagement of architectural historians with the political economy of capitalism.”—Architecture Beyond Europe

Amy Thomas is Assistant Professor of Architectural History at Delft University of Technology. She has published articles in The Journal of Architecture, Grey Room, Architectural Theory Review and ARCH+.

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