The Early Hours of July 14, 1789 in Paris.

I think I first became fascinated with cities when I was 12, and it was the bicentennial of the French Revolution. The Revolution happened in Paris, and it couldn’t have happened anywhere else – all the ingredients were distinctly urban: the intellectual ferment of the cafés, the printing presses churning out inflammatory pamphlets, the public buildings that represented royal tyranny, the popular classes seething with frustration…  A year spent in Paris as an undergraduate confirmed to me that there was something special about that city that manifested itself in its cafés, street-scapes, public spaces, in the magical experience of taking the metro.

Quartier Latin, Paris
By Jordgubbe (Own work)

Since then I have lived in several European cities: Zagreb, Budapest, Belgrade, Stuttgart and Florence – and I’ve visited many more.  When I think of my favorite cities (Budapest, Belgrade, Berlin, Paris and Florence), I realize that each one is unique, and yet they all seem to possess one unifying characteristic: to borrow a term from the Soviet avant-garde, they are social condensers.  there’s something about that concentration of people that creates something extraordinary – a cultural and social effervescence that, in my opinion, is the stuff of civilization. It’s about the concerts, the festivals, the lecture series, the farmers’ markets, the art-house cinema, the obscure ethnic restaurants, the art galleries, and yes, the protest marches too.

Porto, Portugal, 2010

Kneza Mihailova, Belgrade, 2010.

Flea Market at Britanski Trg, Zagreb, 2009

Great cities also have something else in common: great spaces.  Some are no-brainers – think of the Piazza de la Signoria in Florence, the bridges over the Seine in Paris, or picturesque German old towns.

Passau, 2009

But others are less monumental, less orchestrated, more accidental: here I’m thinking of corners or fragments of residential neighborhoods that somehow coalesce into perfect three dimensional moments.  That street where the autumn afternoon light sets the rooftops aglow and trickles through the chestnut trees.  That little neighborhood square with its café terraces.

Café Ušće, Belgrade, 2009

Can you tell yet that I love European cafés?