THE CITY AND MODERNITY IN BENJAMIN AND VIRILIO

The present essay looks at the complex modern web that makes up the city and how it impacts daily life, using the works of Walter Benjamin (1892-1840) and Paul Virilio (1932-2018). The city is the center of gravity in the reflections of both authors, who examine the consequences of rapid industrialization and urbanization, the development of new technologies and the emergence of mass culture. The first part examines, through Benjamin, the transformation of the modern city into a commodity that hides its capitalist backstory. The second part presents Viriolio's provocative thesis of how the increasing acceleration and expansion of communication and information technologies have transformed the experience of daily life, which leads to the disappearance of the classical idea of the city.