The Seduction of Place. The History and Future of the City

The modern city is a place of contradictions; inhabited by many ethnic groups, representatives of many different cultures, social strata, followers of various religions. It is full of contrasts and friction, so it has many faces, because one is not enough. Importantly, cities are constantly changing, and their shape is influenced, for example, by the development of information technology, social changes, but also the decisions of its individual users. In order to understand the city and be able to work in it and in it, we should see it as a combination of the results of human actions and will.

Joseph Rykwert – art historian and architecture critic, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Warsaw in 1926, and in 1939 he moved to England for good. He has lectured and taught at most prestigious architectural colleges around the world, and among his students are Daniel Libeskind and Alberto Pérez-Gómez. He is the author of a number of books translated into many languages. Since 1996, he has been the President of the International Committee of Architecture Critics (CICA). Laureate of, among others Bruno Zevi Awards (Architecture Biennale in Venice, 2000) and “The Gold Medal of Bellas Artes” (Spain, 2009). On September 18, 2013, he was awarded The Royal Gold Medal, which is awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) after approval by the British Queen. The Royal Gold Medal RIBA, one of the most prestigious architectural awards in the world, has been awarded since 1848 to an architect or group of architects whose activities have a significant impact on this field on an international scale.