The implicit thesis of this book posits that it is still possible to find material of interest within the written word—not only to understand architecture and the city, but also to conceive and design them. By dissecting a series of cases from contemporary literature, Enric Bou, María Fernanda de Abreu, Thomas Harris, Juan López, Rubén Muñoz, José Joaquín Parra, and Sebastián Schoennenbeck develop a critical reflection on architecture and the city. They draw upon the joyful and suffering experiences of joy and melancholy felt by the inhabitants of works projected by Charles Baudelaire, Jorge Luis Borges, Rubén Darío, José Donoso, Federico García Lorca, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Thomas Harris, Andrés Nimero, and Jorge Teillier.