The expression "Pièces Urbaines" is best translated as "urban fragments", but also signifies moments of urban relations, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The approach taken by the author is to view the three-dimensional urban building as urban scenography. The book focuses on recent French urban buildings from after 1968, particularly in and around Paris, because this area offers examples of the successful development of a highly creative and useful method for more open solutions with greater emphasis on quality. The architects Henri Ciriani, Christian de Portzamparc, Henri Gaudin, and Jean-Pierre Buffi have been chosen as representatives of this development. Since the 1970s, these architects have been the leading figures in the reformulation of French architecture and urban construction