Utopia

Summary

A utopia (juːˈtoʊpiə ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, which describes a fictional island society in the New World. It can also refer to an intentional community. Hypothetical utopias focus on, among other things, equality in categories such as economics, government and justice, with the method and structure of proposed implementation varying according to ideology. Lyman Tower Sargent argues that the nature of a utopia is inherently contradictory because societies are not homogeneous and have desires which conflict and therefore cannot simultaneously be satisfied. To quote: There are socialist, capitalist, monarchical, democratic, anarchist, ecological, feminist, patriarchal, egalitarian, hierarchical, racist, left-wing, right-wing, reformist, free love, nuclear family, extended family, gay, lesbian and many more utopias [ Naturis

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

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Ballymun is a satellite city developed in the 1960's as a high-rise Utopia upon green fields in the outskirts of North Dublin. This city for 15'000 people unfortunately turned out to lack the programmatic infrastructure to support a self-contained community and as a result rapidly encountered social and economical problems. In 1994 city authorities decided to demolish the estate and rebuild in its place a new low-rise housing city deserved by a dense commercial Main Street. In ten years most of the former green fields were filled with a series of housing developments. Today the old estate blocks are being demolished and a new void is appearing. The project inserts itself in this new void and proposes a series of green links in the form of two large and mirrored C's along the trace of the old buildings. These permeate from the Main Street to the neighborhoods and offer a spine onto which programs can branch themselves in a spread out manner. To counter the disjoint created by the Main Street, the green links are connected by an urban garden at the level of the existing plaza and planned Metro station. This urban garden is programmed as a multimedia library so as to address the need for community and education facilities at the heart of Ballymun.

2008

No Stop villa. Territoires périurbains de l'agglomération lausannoise

Julien Ecoffey

La problématique de base réside dans la persistance de la relation entre la maison individuelle et l'étalement urbain en Suisse. Est-il possible de changer la nature de cette relation ? Est-ce que la maison individuelle ne pourrait-elle pas combattre l'étalement urbain, plutôt que d'y contribuer ? Peut-elle devenir un outil pour une autre forme d'urbanisation des territoires périurbains ? L'utopie (ou la folie) commence avec ces questions et l'idée que la maison individuelle n'est pas vouée à nourrir perpétuellement l'étalement urbain, mais qu'elle peut agir directement et positivement sur l'urbanisation du territoire. Il faut donc commencer par repenser la maison individuelle pour proposer une nouvelle forme d'habitat en réinterprétant les différentes caractéristiques qui la distinguent d'autres formes existantes de logement et qui lui confèrent son succès actuel. Les évolutions actuelles des modes de vie (et donc des modes d'habitat) sont également la possibilité de proposer une forme d'habitat plus adaptée, diversifiée, flexible et évolutive. Réinterpréter la réalité actuelle de la maison individuelle, puis anticiper les potentiels modes de vie de demain; l'utopie se concrétise avec la volonté de proposer une forme d'habitat idéal. La contextualisation de l'utopie donne au projet une dimension réelle … possible. Cette partie est essentielle pour ne pas uniquement proposer une vision d'une potentielle forme d'habitat, mais pour la qualifier, la dimensionner et la perturber. Ainsi, selon une série de sites propres au périurbain, l'utopie va prendre des formes toujours différentes et plus ou moins adaptées au contexte. L'utopie devient réalité.

2008

The article identifies and observes critically two emblematic cases of modern utopia of 1920s: Das rote Wien and Das neue Frankfurt. These two architectural experiences correspond to two alternative but complementary spatial and social models, the courtyard block (Hof) and the settlement (Siedlung). Through the historical distance today we can observe in critical way these experiences, analyzing the effects of utopian character within the contemporary city. Referring to the theoretical concepts of “utopia” and “realism” by Tafuri, the analysis tries to show the spatial elements that characterize these examples. The comparative approach highlights that today their solutions produce spatial quality at the urban and housing scale. In this way, Höfe and Siedlungen represent a “vision”. The actuality of utopia of social housing in Vienna and Frankfurt is the starting point to reflect to the contemporary architecture and collective living.

2016