It's been 500 years since Thomas More published his great work of social and urban philosophy, Utopia. More's vision inspired the ideal cities of the Renaissance, the garden city movement, Le Corbusier's modernist City of Tomorrow, as well as the Israeli kibbutzim and the hippie communes of the 1970s. It's also inspired the theme for this year's London Design Biennale. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley firms are thinking about future "smart cities." DnA learns about Utopian planning, future -- and past, with a visit to Arcosanti, an experimental community built in 1970 on a mesa in Yavapai County in central Arizona.
Utopia and Arcosanti
More
- Guardian: Sci-fi Socialism and Soviet Snowmobiles, the Best of the London Design Biennale
- Christopher Turner speaks to Monocle Radio about the London Design Biennale
- NY Times: An Early Eco-City Faces the Future
- Curbed: Arizona's Bio-Paradise May be the Last 1970s Utopia Standing
- WIRED: Remembering Life in Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri’s Futuristic Desert Utopia
Credits
Guests:
- Christopher Turner - London Design Biennale - @londonbiennale
- Melissa Harrison - assistant property master
- Hanne Sue Kirsch - Soleri Archives - @arcosanti
- Craig Hodgetts - Mithun | Hodgetts + Fung - @Mithun_Design
- Nick Bilton - Vanity Fair - @nickbilton
- Mary Hoadley - Arcosanti
- Jeff Stein - Arcosanti
- Andy Chao - Arcosanti
- Steve Kochinski - Arcosanti