Italo Calvino was one of many literary inspirations for Platial. While a notable journalist, writer, revolutionary, his work Invisible Cities, draws on elegant mathematics and hyper-personalized place observation through the eyes of main character, Marco Polo about the exploration of the Mongol Empire. There are few examples this rich in place-based storytelling. The mastery was in understanding that the impression of a place is far more noteworthy than the physical make-up.
One Metafilter post even mentions something called the Calvino Effect which has artists, engineers, writers, designers all trying to give form to the elusive, form fleeing Invisible Cities.
Happy Birthday!
Posted by: Ed | October 17, 2007 at 02:07 PM