Building The “Ideal” City
by This article examines the concept of Utopia, the ideal society. Utopianism was a central motivation for the Modern Movement in architecture and design: it was the source of Modernism’s tremendous ambition, but also it colossal failures. The article explores some of the Utopian cities built during the 20th century, including Modernist ‘ideal’ cities.
The concept of Utopia was devised by the philosopher Sir Thomas More in a book published in 1516. In the book, Utopia is the name of a fictional island in the Atlantic which supports an ideal community with a seemingly perfect social, political and legal system. It is significant that Utopia was conceived as an island; the perfect society had to be isolated from the rest of the world to avoid being corrupted by it. Crucially, More did not believe that such an ideal society was possible – it was a purely philosophical concept. In fact, the word Utopia comes from the Greek term ‘no place’, indicating that for More Utopia was an impossible dream.
Thomas More’s map of Utopia
However, many architects and town planners have been preoccupied with the idea of the perfect society and devised hugely ambitious schemes, believing that a rationally planned environment could create a more rational, more efficient society. In particular, Modernism was fueled by utopian optimism for the future. However, history has proved that it is misguided, even dangerous, to build such grandiose schemes.
Modernist architects of the 20th century devised ‘ideal’ cities – completely new environments based on new social theories. They tried to create the environment of the future. An example is Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse – the Radiant City (1927). This was Le Corbusier’s Utopian dream. It consists of identical monolithic blocks located in vast greenbelts. The blocks are linked up by high speed expressways. This is a supremely rational environment, but the anonymous blocks are repetitive; they deny individuality.
The Ville Radieuse was never fully implemented, but Le Corbusier did manage to construct the Unité d’habitation in Marseilles, which embodies his concept of communal living. This is a monolithic block raised off the ground on stilts and elevated above the decay and disorder of the city. The block houses an indoor market, a school and communal recreation areas all in one building. Again, this seems ultra-efficient, but it is overly rational. It is dangerous for an architect to think he can anticipate the needs of all users. Even the name habitation unit is dehumanising.
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Post CommentFrancois Hagnere
On October 7, 2010 at 11:34 am
A great account to the subject. I prefer, by far, cities with a past, we do agree on this my friend;