Utopias

Planning the Perfect Place - From Scratch

What would you do if you could start a city from scratch? Claude Lewenz has dedicated his life to creating the perfect blueprint for a "VillageTown", combining the correct scale to create communities that care with a scale that makes economic sense for a fulfilling life. Managing Editor Tim Halbur talks with Lewenz about his vision (part 1 of 2).

28 November 2011 - 9:59am

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Fantastical Concept City Moves in Circles

Animator Roy Prol seems serious about his proposed "Clockwork City", which is made up of a series of concentric rings that keep the city always moving and supposedly making transit unnecessary.

18 July 2011 - 10:00am

The Architect's Newspaper

The Best Failed Utopias

Utopian developments often fail. This post from The Awl ranks the best and most desirable of the failed utopias throughout history.

10 July 2011 - 7:00am

The Awl

The Modern-Day Reality of New Deal Utopias

This slideshow from Design Observer takes a look at New Deal-era utopian cities as they exist today.

25 November 2010 - 1:00pm

Design Observer

World Heritage Status for Canadian "Utopia"?

A master-planned town in Quebec built by an American industrialist as a "workingman's utopia" is being touted as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site.

19 November 2010 - 12:00pm

The Globe and Mail

Can We Get Utopia Right?

Salon interviews author J.C. Hallman about his new book "In Utopia," which explores modern-day utopian projects and how they differ from those of the past.

21 August 2010 - 5:00am

Salon.com

Ebenezer Howard Lives

Victorian-style model towns from the age of Ebenezer Howard are seeing a revival in emerging urban areas, according to this piece from The Guardian.

17 August 2010 - 11:00am

The Guardian

Kazakhstan Utopia Debuts

Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa designed a utopian vision interweaving the city and nature. Three years after his death, his vision is complete. Rowan More of the Observer pays Astana, the new capital, a visit.

9 August 2010 - 12:00pm

The Guardian U.K.

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1 comment

Pedophile Island

A gubernatorial candidate in California wants to take one of the Channel Islands (a national park) and make it a place to dump pedophiles, with their own separate society.

18 May 2010 - 2:00pm

Curbed

Cruise Ship Utopia

The cruise ship Utopia will be a $1.1 billion dollar party boat that includes 200 homes for sale for $3.7 million and up. That is, if they can get enough buyers in a tough market.

12 January 2010 - 10:00am

Los Angeles Times

Top 10 Cities from the World of Comic Books

Citing the important role they tend to play in storylines, the Architects' Journal lists off the top 10 cities from comic books.

11 July 2009 - 7:00am

Architects' Journal

A Look at the Cities of the Future

This slideshow from Treehugger offers visions of the future of cities -- from decades ago and today.

7 February 2009 - 5:00am

Treehugger

Chinatown Reimagined

A Chinese architecture team has proposed a futuristic star-shaped city of 15,000 that would visit cities around the world and change the stereotypes of Chinatowns.

15 September 2008 - 12:00pm

Building

Project Lilypad: A 'Floating Ecopolis'

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has designed a floating city with the noble goal of housing displaced peoples who's homelands have been destroyed.

23 July 2008 - 7:00am

The Daily Mail

Arcosanti Revisited: The Sustainable Utopia

A short video profile shows renewed interest in Arcosanti, the utopian community founded by architect Paolo Soleri. Could Soleri's 40 yr. old utopia be the wave of the sustainable future?

3 July 2008 - 9:00am

NBC 12 News

Visions of the Future

At the World Science Festival in New York, visions of future cities mix the usual Blade Runner-esque architecture with abundant greenery.

30 May 2008 - 1:00pm

Lisa Feldstein

Equitable Utopias - Thoughts on Walking Away from Omelas

Mon, 05/14/2007 - 15:57

In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, Ursula LeGuin depicts a utopia that is made possible by the transference of all misery to a child who is kept in a cellar. Some in the community ignore the scapegoat’s existence, choosing the easy life of bliss that is offered to them. Those whose consciences do not allow them to live in willful ignorance often chose to leave Omelas and live complete, full lives that include awareness, and shouldering their own pain.

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