Utopias

What can today’s futurists learn from Disney’s unrealized utopia?

October 7, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

Charles Wolfe calls attention to similarities between contemporary urbanism and yesterday's debunked utopias. The two may differ in substance, but both tend toward a certain level of dogma that isn't necessarily helpful on the ground.

October 30, 2018 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

November 28, 2011 - Tim Halbur

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.

July 18, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

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

July 10, 2011 - The Awl

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

November 25, 2010 - Design Observer

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.

November 19, 2010 - The Globe and Mail

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.

August 21, 2010 - Salon.com

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.

August 17, 2010 - The Guardian

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.

August 9, 2010 - The Guardian U.K.

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.

May 18, 2010 - Curbed

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.

January 12, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

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

July 11, 2009 - Architects' Journal

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

February 7, 2009 - Treehugger

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.

September 15, 2008 - Building

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

July 23, 2008 - The Daily Mail

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?

July 3, 2008 - NBC 12 News

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

May 30, 2008 - Tim Halbur

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.

May 14, 2007 - Lisa Feldstein