Utopian driven architecture (however defined) is essentially driven by the ideal that the physical space of the designed environment can (and should) instigate and control social reaction. The lasting influence of utopianism on architecture, one could argue, is one of an almost anti-utopian worldview characterized by subjective interpretations of social constructs and the questioning of the ability (or even appropriateness) of architecture to distill and influence such conditions.
What is impressive, though, is that
this schism appears across styles and modes of utopian employment—even those
which are almost antipodal, such as Arcrosanti, AZ, and Seaside, FL, which are
examined here.
Perhaps there exists an obfuscated
code deep within these architectures which may either render insight into the
utopian schism or provide a valuable blueprint for the ‘proper’ execution of
the utopian ideal.
Distilling these developments into
their respective iconic simplicities (arc array, vernacular home silhouette)
may generate a foundation for reconstruction—This can never be truly a-priori,
of course, as the act of deconstruction renders residue which cannot be removed
from the re-aggregating act. Nor can this be playfully stochastic, for the same
reasons.
Perhaps one may begin to remove the tactus hominis of this
exercise by employing parametric tools (Grasshopper) to unlock wonderfully
unpredictable behavior in the programming overlap between these two case
studies, which has been done here.
