Should we celebrate or mourn the demise of architectural utopianism Essay

Should we celebrate or mourn the demise of architectural utopianism - Essay Example Tafuri and La Penta identify with the benefits of elimination of utopia particularly due the fact that architecture will be purified and devoid of worthlessness occasioned by utopia. The position of the authors is a celebration of elimination of utopia since there will be more contributions to wholesome and quality architecture. â€Å"It’s possible to argue over the appropriate terminology for this stuff. Some have floated Iconism, Neo-Modernism, and Bilbaoism. I prefer to call it Pseudomodernism, a modernism of concealment, a stylistic shell left after all the original social and moral ideas have been stripped out.†2 In the words of Hatherley, the architectural world ought to be saddened and grieved by the marked loss of vital content to design amid elimination of utopianism. The author laments of the emptiness of ideas that rather capture the society moral and social values in architectural style. Since antiquity, utopia has characterized art in almost every sphere, oral and verbal as well as literal and intellectual. A conglomeration of idealist design from various sectors of the human society for over two millennia now has replaced design with utopia. The description of something as utopian in ordinary language implies some level of impossibility. This is mainly because utopia is likened to unrealistic dream whose actualization remains remote. Over a considerable duration of time, utopian designs have been actualized due to desperation regarding urban space utilization. Calvino likens modern cities to actualized dreams that have evolved in the utopian perspective. The author labels the cities’ design as a fabrication of desires which usually gets accompaniment from unfounded fears. Imagination is the main power behind creativity in utopian designs, which has developed over time to constitute some form of an acceptable practice. Perhaps, the architectural fraternity o ught to make merry on the