This landmark collection of illustrated essays explores the vastly underappreciated history of America's other cities -- the great metropolises found south of our borders in Central and
South America.
Buenos Aires, S o Paulo, Mexico City, Caracas, Havana, Santiago, Rio, Tijuana, and Quito are just some of the subjects of this diverse collection. How have desires to create modern societies
shaped these cities, leading to both architectural masterworks (by the likes of Luis Barrag n, Juan O'Gorman, L cio Costa, Roberto Burle Marx, Carlos Ra l Villanueva, and Lina Bo Bardi) and the
most shocking favelas? How have they grappled with concepts of national identity, their colonial history, and the continued demands of a globalized economy?
Lavishly illustrated, Cruelty and Utopia features the work of such leading scholars as Carlos Fuentes, Edward Burian, Lauro Cavalcanti, Fernando Oayrz n, Roberto Segre, and Eduardo
Subirats, along with artwork ranging from colonial paintings to stills from Chantal Akerman's film From the Other Side. Also included is a revised translation of Spanish King Philip II's
influential planning treatise of 1573, the 'Laws of the Indies,' which did so much to define the form of the Latin American city.
