speed limits was born out of a series of conversations: about the temporality of architecture and urbanism; about continuities and discontinuities between the ages of industry and information with regard to the tempo of everyday life…

content speed limits is a soft-cover catalogue designed to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the canadian centre for architecture. the book presents eleven original essays by an international selection of authors. each essay focuses on notions of speed and slowness in the context of contemporary life. along with these essays is a collection of thirty six historical texts to give a sense of history to the topic. dividing these two sections is a visual essay, which draws speed themed images from the archives of the CCA and the wolfsonian.

the content of the book deals with topics that are also explored in the exhibition. ‘speed limits’ looks at the role of speed in modern life through architecture, art, design, economics and material culture. the show also ‘explores the conflicting powers and limits of the cult of speed’. the release of the show and catalogue co-inside with the hundredth anniversary of the italian futurist movement, which figures largely in both.

essays are written by timothy alborn, yve-alain bois, edward dimendberg, maria gough, antonino mastruzzo, jeffrey l. meikle, pierre niox, marjorie perloff, jeffrey t. schnapp, mark seltzer and anthony vidler. while the historical texts includes work by charles dickens, friedrich nietzche, marcel proust, marshall mcluhan and italo calvino, among others.

is it for me? speed limits is a very dense and informative text with broad range of ideas on speed. that being said, the essays are not suited for the faint of heart thanks to their esoteric subject matters. on the lighter side, the selection of images in the visual essay is a great accompaniment to the complex essays.

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designboom ratings:

……………………. interesting
………………. good read, worth a look
…………. very good
……. excellent, recommended
. must have
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