Book reviews : Sekhniashvili Nino – Bostanashvili David : Shota Bostanashvili poetics of architecture

Abstract

The concise bilingual (in Georgian and English) monograph co-edited by artist Nino Sekhniashvili and architect, academic David Bostanashvili entitled Shota Bostanashvili Poetics of Architecture, was launched a year after the 2018 Tbilisi Architecture Biennial. This was the first Biennial held since Georgia regained its independence in 1991, but a previous Biennial had been organized by Soviet Georgia in 1988. The 2018 Biennial had the objective of analyzing and understanding the architectural process, characterized by rapid construction, which reshaped the urban landscape of the Georgian capital following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in the context of broader global changes. One can contend that the aftermath of the post-Soviet transformation was characterized by the first influx of capitalism, wherein the wellbeing of society was disregarded, and the city dwellers were induced to adapt their living patterns to cope with the new realities resulting from socio-economic urban chaos.