The Story
More than forty years ago, as he flew over Bogota, the writer Hernando Tellez nostalgically exclaimed: 'When you look at a city from the sky, you perceive a play of lines and volumes that are free of any base elements. The deceptive nature of this vision becomes evident when you return to earth and discover, as in the case of Bogota, that the aerial version is much better than the terrestrial one.' If Hernando Tellez were alive today and could repeat that experience, he would be pleasantly surprised to find that the city he saw through a bird's eye view in 1960 no longer has much of a resemblance to the Colombian capital as it is today, at the start of the twentyfirst century. This Bogota is better, much better, than its predecessor. It is so, not because all of its problems have been solved, but simply because its inhabitants have a growing awareness of what needs to be reformed and are beginning to do it with an unprecedented determination. The city's vitality and desire to advance have found their expression in a range of new projects that have changed its appearance and solved problems that were considered to be chronic in the past. As the city enters the new millennium and looks forward to celebrating its fifth centennial, its drive and progress become more and more apparent. The evidence is clearly seen from the air, a perspective that reveals the optimism in the heart of its inhabitants.The Bogota of today enjoys a series of attractions that would have been unthinkable in the Bogota of the past. This is the fundamental message of the splendid photography of this book, which shows all those who live in the city the enduring beauty of a capital which conserves the splendor of the past and the liveliness of the present.
Description
More than forty years ago, as he flew over Bogota, the writer Hernando Tellez nostalgically exclaimed: 'When you look at a city from the sky, you perceive a play of lines and volumes that are free of any base elements. The deceptive nature of this vision becomes evident when you return to earth and discover, as in the case of Bogota, that the aerial version is much better than the terrestrial one.' If Hernando Tellez were alive today and could repeat that experience, he would be pleasantly surprised to find that the city he saw through a bird's eye view in 1960 no longer has much of a resemblance to the Colombian capital as it is today, at the start of the twentyfirst century. This Bogota is better, much better, than its predecessor. It is so, not because all of its problems have been solved, but simply because its inhabitants have a growing awareness of what needs to be reformed and are beginning to do it with an unprecedented determination. The city's vitality and desire to advance have found their expression in a range of new projects that have changed its appearance and solved problems that were considered to be chronic in the past. As the city enters the new millennium and looks forward to celebrating its fifth centennial, its drive and progress become more and more apparent. The evidence is clearly seen from the air, a perspective that reveals the optimism in the heart of its inhabitants.The Bogota of today enjoys a series of attractions that would have been unthinkable in the Bogota of the past. This is the fundamental message of the splendid photography of this book, which shows all those who live in the city the enduring beauty of a capital which conserves the splendor of the past and the liveliness of the present.
