“Designing Disorder”: practical guide for Open Cities

In 1970, Richard Sennett, one of the most influential voices in urban sociology, published The Uses of Disorder, a manifesto that was more than a critique of the planning and design ideals of large contemporary cities.  

Pablo Sendra, professor in planning and urban design at the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London, 50 years later published Designing Disorder, the result of his own collaboration with Sennett named one of the best books of 2020. 

The “infrastructure of disorder” is a combination of architecture, politics, urban design and activism to inspire communities to shape their own places, to unite rather than divide. 

With a city open to change, the two authors offer a handbook for flexible, living urban spaces, a guide for the collective governance of neighbourhoods in transition, unplanned and shaped by people.