Andrea Bagnato: 'Terra Infecta' [Talk]

Join us for a conversation with Andrea Bagnato, who will present his latest book Terra Infecta during the Library is Open 27 at Columbia University. 

The Library is Open is a lunchtime series featuring recently published works and their authors, curated by Bart-Jan Polman, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming and Curator of the Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery at Columbia GSAPP.

Free RSVP here

Friday 3 April 
13:00 

Columbia GSAPP
Avery Hall, 1172 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10027
United States

More about Terra Infecta 

In Terra Infecta, Andrea Bagnato tells an unfamiliar story about a well-known place. Since the early days of tourism, the cities and landscapes of Italy have been bywords for beauty and grandeur. But, at home and abroad, the same places have also been haunted by associations with disease and uncleanliness, often more to do with politics than conditions on the ground.

In this gripping narrative study, Bagnato shows how the modern quest for sanitation shaped Italy’s urban and rural landscapes, propelling major transformations from the draining of the wetlands around Venice, to demolitions and replanning in Naples, to the expulsion of the inhabitants of ancient Matera. He argues that current north–south inequalities are founded on spurious medical narratives, and focuses on the real impact on the people caught in their ministrations.

Can't make it? Order a copy here.