The Conscience of the Eye

Visionary, often brilliant." —Los Angeles Times

From the assembly halls of Athens to the Turkish baths of New York's Lower East Side, from eighteenth-century English gardens to the housing projects of Harlem—a study of the physical fabric of the city as a mirror of Western society and culture.

"Over the past 20 years, Ricahrd Sennett has been at the forefront of those generalists endeavoring to synthesize the urban insights of history, architecture, the arts and social sciences into a coherent cultural vision. . . . A wonderful, stimulating, richly thoughtful work that should add much to our debate about cities in the coming years." —Philip Lopate, Newsday

"A radical, original rethinking of our relationship to the built environment." —Publishers Weekly

"Sennett brings an immensely civilized perspective to the forms and patterns—the visual experiences—of cities, primarily New York City, interpreting how they shape, reflect, or, sadly, fail to reflect, the human beings who built and use them. . . . Provocative and learned." —Kirkus Reviews