Chapter 2 — Utopias and Dystopias

– H.G. Wells Lecture on Utopias.(AlSayyad, 2006)

HG Wells’ idea behind the creation of Utopias seems to stem from a ‘wishful thinking’ perspective; that as times get worse, people begin to create more Utopias in an attempt to reassure themselves as well as others, that situations will eventually get better. Wishful thinking is a result of trying to resolve conflicts between one’s belief and desire, studies have proven that in any given situation people are more likely to predict positive outcomes rather than negative ones. (Bastardi et al., 2011) However, that is all Utopias are, a wishful predictive outcome at its best.

Sir Thomas More is credited with writing the first ‘Utopia’. More’s 1516 book, ‘Utopia’ was a fictional work of socio-political satire that takes place in the island of ‘Utopia’ in the ‘New World’.

The term ‘Utopia’ contains within itself a paradoxical interpretation of connotations.

It is based on the Greek words ού (no) and eύ (good) plus τόπος (place) which translate to either a not-place or a good-place, a not-place implying that such a place cannot actually be possible, and the connotation of the good-place implied that instead it was meant to be an allegory to an optimistic future. However, the paradoxical nature of the term justifies its dubious interpretation.

In a 2014 article for the ‘Journal of Utopian studies’, (Coleman, 2014) talks about Paul Ricoeur’s interpretation of the duality of Utopias, he says that Utopias have a dual character, a pathological one and a constitutive one. The pathological character originates from the interpretation of the etymology of Utopia from the words not and place, a not-place, it suggests that the term is “beyond redemption”. On the other hand, the constitutive interpretation utilises the good-place etymology of the word implying that Utopias allow for the articulation of ideas and ideals that make it possible to imagine a life better than they are at the moment, a ‘Utopian’ vision for the present.

In the context of Architecture, the duality of Utopia (between a pathalogical character and a constitutive character) has caused much unrest amongst those who use concepts of Utopia and interpret these usages in their entirety. The reason for this unrest is that the claims for Utopia in Architecture is usually undertheorized (Coleman, 2014). According to Coleman Utopia in the field of Architecture is presumed to not require any theoretical analysis or explanation, as Architecture is a predominantly visual and tactile medium of expression. This confusion of the terminology of architectural Utopia is once again caused due to an etymological dispute in the meaning of the word. This calls for action in defining the term Utopia in the context of Architecture as there are terms within the Architectural vocabulary that seems to be perfectly interchangeable with the concepts or (intended use) of the word Utopia.

Utopias in the context of Architecture have often been entangled with the pathological characteristics of Utopias, implying that a sense of totalitarianism follows around Utopian Architecture. This is evident in projects that call for an absolute application of the Architecture and urban design solutions at once (and failing to do so) in order to solve a social problem. Though the inherent burden of using the term Utopia might be too cumbersome in its entanglement with its pathological interpretations, no other word comes close to capturing the dynamism in the relationship between architectural form and the social process.

‘Visionary’ is one such term that gets thrown around a lot in the same context as Utopia. The term visionary is defined as “thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom” (Stevenson, 2010), but this term does not come close to encapsulating the values held within the terminology of Utopias.

While the definitions of visionary are included in the various crucial aspects of Utopia, the sentiment does not go both ways. (Coleman, 2014)

Jane Jacobs is considered by many as one of the most influential voices in urban planning philosophy and policy. Jacobs led grassroots level protests to protect neighbourhoods from overhaul and Gentrification. She is most well known for her most influential piece of work, ‘The Life and Death of American Cities’ in which she strongly argued against the ‘expert versus everyone’ notion of urban planning where an expert in the field by virtue of his expertise was more knowledgeable about the neighbourhood than its residents. Jacobs also voiced a strong critique of the urban gentrification policies floated around in the 1950’s to convert neighbourhoods into more care centric spaces. ‘Life and Death of American Cities’ is a book that looks ahead with optimism rather than cynicism.

It voices great concern for the mishandling of neighbourhoods planning strategies, but Jacobs does so with the use of common sense and anecdotes. However, towards the end of her life, Jacobs last book ‘Dark Age Ahead’ a tone of cynicism and despair shows through the writing of Jacobs as she speaks of the spiralling decline of western civilisation comparable to that of the Roman Empire.

Jacobs in her final book, almost with a tone of cynicism[1], identifies five dystopian trends that in her opinion are causing western society to spiral down a path of a dark age: the decline of family sentiments and concept of communities, the emphasis of educational institutions on credentialing over education, the abandonment of science, failure of government institutions and finally the decay of culture. (Jacobs, 2004)

Though Jacobs work is not even close to the realm of Science Fiction, it is most closely associated with dystopian literature. Jacobs predicted the housing bubble crisis as a result of western civilisations obsession with consumerism almost three years before it caused the collapse of the US economy.

However, Dystopias and Utopias are not always constructed as a conscious response to societal qualms. In fact, the idea of a true Utopia is almost impossible to imagine. Any Utopia that can be conceived is subjected to natural events and other inevitable realities of human life. Negativity completes positivity and positivity completes negativity, The 2013 romantic Science Fiction drama ‘Her’ (Jonze, 2014) is one of the few movies in recent times that portrays the urban setting of the narrative as a Utopia, but as it will be discussed in a detailed analysis of the movie, a true Utopia is an impossible concept. Utopias and dystopias are just extensions of one another.

Dystopian literature and concepts are the ‘canaries in our coal mines’[2] a warning beacon to society. In Science Fiction, there are two general discourses to the approach of dystopian world building, a highly ordered dystopia or a highly chaotic one. Black Mirror, a critically acclaimed miniseries written by (Brooker, 2011) is an excellent example to demonstrate the ordered dystopia. The events in the dystopian Science Fiction series take place in an extremely near future and speak volumes about how technology affects our lives in different ways.

An ordered dystopia is usually the result of a powerful corporate or totalitarian entity that seeks to promote order and obedience by controlling most aspects of the story’s narrative. It is a commentary on how large corporations in the real-world control so many aspects of everyday life without publicly acknowledging their involvement[3]. It is clearly representative of the Architecture of these dystopian mega-corporations in Science Fiction films. The architectural aesthetic of these antagonists have a characteristic style, Late Modernist, High-Tech or also known as structural expressionist. The Architecture of Black Mirror too, follows this popular tope, the modernist-influenced style of Philip Johnson, the ‘International style.’

The Architecture of the spaces that are portrayed is almost an embodiment of the narratives on the show. According to Philip Johnson and Henry Russel Hitchcock in their 1932 book ‘The International Style’, there are three identified principles of the style: an expression of volume rather than mass, emphasis on balance rather than symmetry and the expulsion of the applied ornament. (Hitchcock and Johnson, 1997)

The arrival of the international style resulted in the rejection of ornamentation, adoption of glass, steel, and concrete, symbolic of sanitised transparency and authority that dystopian corporations seek to assert onto their subjects. Infamously demonstrated in Le Corbusier’s description of houses as ‘machines for living’ (Corbusier, 1924).

It is these principles that make the international style of Architecture appropriate settings for a dystopian discourse.

The aspects that dictate the rules of the worlds in ‘Black Mirror’ are fairly consistent; the stories are set in a future that is metaphorically only a minute away from the present, technology has evolved at an expected pace and is portrayed as a ‘one-ring’[4] solution to all social problems. Essentially, these are dystopias disguised as Utopias.

Blade Runner, another landmark of cinematic achievement, on the other hand, portrays the urban fabric as a chaotic dystopia. One that is once again heavily influenced by societal anxieties of economic and political imbalances as well as a fear of malicious applications to advanced technologies. Chaotic dystopias generally carry a cynical outlook to the world. A world where all that was meant to solve problems have ended failing their objective resulting in new more complex problems. They seem to be logical conclusions of ordered dystopias once their optimism has faded out.

However, within these broad organisations of dystopia, there are common themes of totalitarian control of some form. Most works of dystopian fiction portray societies where oppressive social control and illusions of a Utopian society are established using one or more of the following types of controls. (Wright, 2006)

Corporate Control

Large Corporations use society’s dependency on consumerism and consumer culture to maintain control over the population through advertisement and media like those seen in Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) and the Minority Report (Spielberg, 2002).

Bureaucratic control

Governments control societies using a web of regulations and red tape like ‘The Trial’ (Welles, 1962)

Technological Control

Society is controlled through its dependency on technology and social media. An excellent example of this is, Netflix series Black Mirror (Brooker, 2011) and I, Robot (Proyas, 2004).

Philosophical/Religious control

Society is controlled through religious ideology enforced through totalitarian governments like The Handmaid’s Tale (Schlöndorff, 1990) and the Book of Eli (Hughes and Hughes, 2010).

The Topias of Science Fiction serves the analogous purpose of the establishing shot in film, to convey a subconscious message about the workings of a world. It is the embodiment of a novum, the guiding principle to all events that unfold within the universe of the literature.

In an attempt to clarify what Utopia and dystopias might imply in the architectural lexicon, it is worth noting the fact that the term Utopia is much older than the word dystopia. As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, More’s original intent for coining the term Utopia was to use the word to depict an imaginary island with perfect systems of social, political and legal values. As far as the relationship between Utopia and Architecture is concerned, there is no Utopia without Architecture; it requires space and forms but there also might be no Architecture without Utopia, if there is no Architecture without Utopia, this may implicate Utopia in the overriding failure of modern Architecture in its attempt to achieve Utopia. (Coleman, 2014)

Perhaps it is not Utopia to blame for the failure of modernism; it is the misconstrued understanding of Utopia. Utopia cannot be achieved only in the dimension of form and space; it has various other equally important aspects to it. Peter Blake in an interview with People magazine said Modern cities in their attempt to achieve a Utopia have produced traumas of horrendous nature (Wohlfert, 1977), this is largely due to an incomplete understanding of Utopia. It is not that the pathological characteristics of the Utopian duality have triumphed over the constitutive one, but the failure of modernism to completely understand the depth of the Utopian ideal that caused the ‘traumas of horrendous nature’ to cities.

A city’s urban identity is heavily influenced by film. For millions of people around the world, a film is the only way to experience the culture of a faraway world often resulting in the first and only impression of this world that they will experience, this impression goes a long way in the minds of people. (AlSayyad, 2006)

AlSayyad’s insights reflect Baudrillard's idea of the simulacra and simulation. If reality is emulating the ‘presumed reality’ from the world of film and media then active interpretation, analysis and representation of cities in film provide designers and philosophers alike an interesting lens to view the image of the city and interpret the urban fabric in ways not possible using traditional investigative approaches of social sciences (Tormey, 2013)

Baudrillard’s concept of simulation does not claim that the simulation is a false view of the world, but rather that it constructs a real world called the hyperreality. The hyperreality that much of the urban population lives in is entangled with ideas and simulations of reality that is projected by movies. (Hegarty, 2008) The projection of a place as a Utopia or a dystopia can greatly affect this hyperreality.

Urban planning and cinema share roughly the same number of years in their modern form. The urban socio-spatial dimension of the world has been featured in film from the beginning of its conception, and so have the usage of urban landscapes for backdrops of films. When considering the study of the urban, it is important to understand how it has been designed and planned, as well as how it has evolved. Crucial to this, is the understanding that a significant amount of work has been undertaken in this respect in disciplines other than that of Architecture and planning.

Italo Calvino in his 1974 book ‘Invisible Cities’, says that the eye does not see things but rather sees representations of things that mean something else, this is a reference to the philosophical idea of structuralism[5] in which entities (like words in language for instance) are not defined by the meaning they impart but from how they are different from other entities. (Calvino, 1974)

Nezar AlSayyad’s book Cinematic Urbanism starts with the premise — “Movies are an integral constituent of the urban environment”(AlSayyad, 2006) and talks about Films as an analytical tool of urban discourse. The book further goes on to the conclusion that “Cinematic technique and cinematic representation over time should reveal much about both urban theory and the urban condition”(AlSayyad, 2006). AlSayyad shares the same views as Tormey in the celluloid being an interesting lens to observe the world; where Tormey analyses the world through a lens of photography, AlSayyad proposes the usage of film.

The theory of ‘Place Identity’ suggests that the idea of place is made up through an amalgamation of space and character. A character derived from one’s self-identity, as well as “a potpourri of memories, conceptions, interpretations, ideas, and related feelings about specific physical settings as well as types of settings”. What Proshansky and his colleagues are suggesting is that the identity of a place is not simply held within the place itself but also in the self-identity of the users of that place. This idea of Place identity is heavily affected by the hyperreality of place generated through film and literature. (Proshansky et al., 1983)

AlSayyad says, “Metropolis was less a prediction of the world of 2000 AD than it was a model of the 1920’s scaled up to nightmarish proportions and overlain with a pastiche of the latest of that New York could offer”(AlSayyad, 2006). Analysing the world of movies as a means of urban discourse does not necessarily imply that the movies are purely a projection of the contemporary reality but that it is a driver for change in the hyperreality or the real world influenced by simulations. Movies in their depiction of urban reality are driven by a cycle of mimesis, wishful thinking, as well as the Oedipus effect wherein they can further drive change in the real world through their interpretations of the contemporary condition.

Urban identity is a delicate term as major sociological transformations take place (Cheshmehzangi, 2015) and the factors that shape this social identity must be analysed thoroughly in order to understand the various scales at which they operate. Identities are merely a social construct (Wendt, 1994) and often contribute to the creation and maintenance of social values in terms of urban environments, and to define these urban environments they have to be expressed in terms of their sociological values that define and redefine the activities taking place in the built environment (Wendt, 1994).

In order to understand the urban phenomenon or the macro scale of the urban identity, the elements that have the most influence or draw on this scale of the urban population must be understood. There is no other medium that has had the level of contemporary influence on culture than film.

[1] George Carlin, an incredible American stand-up comedian, author and social critic; in an interview for ‘The Progressive’, with Marc Cooper said, “If you’ll scratch a cynic, you’ll find a disappointed idealist” (The Progressive, 2001), and this sentiment resonates with the later works of Jacobs.

[2] Miners would carry down caged canaries into the mine tunnels. If dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gasses would kill the canary before killing the miners.

[3] Large social media companies like Facebook have been accused of skewing the information that would appear on a user’s screen thereby providing a biased worldview aligned with that of the user.(Granados, 2016)

[4] The ‘One Ring’ is an artefact in the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the ring was one of many presented to leaders of different kingdoms but secretly possessed the power to rule all those who wore the other rings.

[5] Structuralism is a doctrine that suggests structure is more important than function. It says that entities are defined by what they are not rather than what they are. It is widely used in linguistic and sociological studies.