Urban Avant-Gardes presents original research on a range of recent contemporary practices in and between art and architecture giving perspectives from a wide range of disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences that are seldom juxtaposed, it questions many assumptions and accepted positions. This book looks back to past avant-gardes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries examining the theoretical and critical terrain around avant-garde cultural interventions, and profiles a range of contemporary cases of radical cultural practices. The author brings together material from a wide range of disciplines to argue for cultural intervention as a means to radical change, while recognizing that most such efforts in the past have not delivered the dreams of their perpetrators. Distinctive in that it places works of the imagination in the political and cultural context of environmentalism, this book asks how cultural work might contribute to radical social change. It is equally concerned with theory and practice - part one providing a theoretical framework and part two illustrating such frameworks with examples. "The book begins with a reconsideration of the first avant-garde of the nineteenth century, followed by commentaries on the avant-gardes of early Modernist art and architecture. It then engages with the theories as well as cultural practices of the 1960s, and seeks to identify flaws in the concept of an avant-garde that may still disable cultural interventions. Moving on through the 1990s, the book interrogates practices between art, architecture and theory. It does not propose a new avant-garde but does find hope in emerging practices that in various ways engage with the agendas of environmentalism and social justice. At this point the terms art and architecture, as well as avant-garde, cease to be useful; what emerges is a need to re-imagine a public sphere." "Urban Avant-Gardes brings together material from a wide range of disciplines in the arts and social sciences to argue for cultural intervention as a means to radical change, while recognising that most such efforts in the past have not delivered the dreams of their perpetrators."--Jacket Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of plates......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 9 General introduction......Page 11 1871: Spitting on Bonaparte......Page 16 1912: Red flags and revolutionary anthems......Page 38 1938: Cap-Martin......Page 62 1967: Why tomorrow never dawns......Page 85 1989: After the Wall......Page 108 1993 (i): In memories of dark times......Page 134 1993 (ii): Participation and provocation......Page 162 2001 (i): Sustainabilities......Page 195 2001 (ii): Cosmopolis......Page 224 Bibliography......Page 252 Index......Page 278 1871: Spitting On Napoleon -- 1912: Red Flags And Revolutionary Anthems -- 1938: Graffiti At Cap-martin -- 1967: The End Of Utopia -- 1989: After The Wall -- (i): In Memories Of Dark Times -- (ii): Participation And Provocation -- (i): Sustainabilities -- (ii): Cosmopolis. Malcolm Miles. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [237]-262) And Index. Can art or architecture change the world? Is it possible to think of a new cultural avant-garde today? This book contributes to the debate by looking back to past avant-gardes and by profiling contemporary cases of radical cultural practices
