Search Results (109)

Recent transformations of utopia as a form can be followed from modernist totalizing grand narratives that depicted new socio-spatial orderings to its fragmentation, pluralization, and critical turn in the second half of the 20th century. But if we think about utopia as a critical form in our contemporary context, we often encounter it being perceived either as a pejorative term for a concept too outlandish and impossible to even be considered, or as a term used in conjunction with large-scale ideological projects which hold little regard for their socio-spatial context. Refusing to concede that utopia as a critical form has lost its relevance within the architectural discipline, the paper asks how contemporary utopian production could be identified, mapped, and interpreted after the fragmentation of modernist grand narratives. To that aim, the paper develops a three-axis analytical framework which observes contemporary forms of utopian architectural production. Viewing utopia not as a prescriptive image of an ideal future, but as a critical apparatus aimed at projection and inquiry, the framework maps utopian production according to its position between the possible and the impossible, the critical and the affirmative, and the uncovering and the projective. Building on the positions and relationships revealed through the structured three-axis framework, the paper constructs a typology of four ideal-typical protagonists: the Critical Thinker, the Speculative Designer, the Architect, and the Developer, demonstrating that contemporary utopian thought has not disappeared, but has dispersed across different forms of theory, speculative design, practice, and spatial production. Identifying through the four protagonists the potential of utopia not as a representational or prescriptive form, but rather as an operative strategy and a method of inquiry, the paper offers both a conceptual tool for analyzing architecture’s contemporary engagement with utopia as a critical method, and demonstrates how utopian thinking operates as critique, intervention, ideological projection, and a speculative scenario building within our fragmented and individualized contemporary condition. Full article

This article considers the literary exploration of women’s celibacy through the prism of science fiction, beginning with an overview of the genre’s often-retrograde engagements with the subjects of marriage, reproduction and heteronormative ideology. Alongside this genre context, a 19th-century Irish historical context is outlined, juxtaposing genre history with the ‘matrimonial’ rhetoric that arose following the 1801 Act of Union, which framed the merging of Ireland into the United Kingdom as a ‘marriage’ between Ireland and Great Britain, with Ireland represented as the bride. In the overlap between these two contexts, this article identifies several future-set Irish novels that address this rhetoric directly, while also tracing its (perhaps unconscious) impact in other texts, before moving on to consider one novel in particular: Mercia, the Astronomer Royal (1895) by Amelia Garland Mears. The article concludes by arguing that science fiction’s past missteps with regard to marriage and sex can be explained by the fact that traditional, patriarchal marriage is in fact fundamentally unsuited to a genre primarily concerned with the future, resulting in reactionary overcompensation. Full article

In recent decades, the fashion industry has attracted mounting attention due to its considerable social, environmental, and cultural impacts. A substantial corpus of academic research has examined these issues, employing terms such as “ethical,” “sustainable,” and “responsible fashion” to describe models that transcend a solely profit-driven logic. These labels, however, are not inherently fixed in meaning and are subject to continuous evolution through public and professional discourse. What, then, do these terms mean? To address this question, the study examines how responsible fashion is defined and framed, drawing on 34 qualitative biographical interviews with Italian fashion communicators. The findings indicate that they ascribe divergent meanings to the concepts of “sustainable” and “responsible” fashion. Sustainability is commonly depicted as an unattainable or utopian objective, whereas responsibility is characterized as more pragmatic and achievable. It is linked to reflexivity and gradual enhancement rather than comprehensive transformation. Even though certain critical viewpoints have called into question the compatibility of fashion with responsibility in itself, the analysis indicates that communicators predominantly construct and negotiate responsibility through specific discursive repertoires. In this regard, responsibility is framed as a compromise, that is, a way of resolving competing demands. Full article

Adopting a circular economy approach requires new business models, multi-stakeholder engagement, and tailored financial models and mechanisms as core pillars. This paper examines the conditions needed to scale circular economy initiatives in Europe by analysing insights collected from the DECISO project and conducting a comparative analysis of 38 European projects. The study adopts a mixed methods approach that integrates an online stakeholder survey with inputs generated through participatory workshops and discussions of selected use cases. This combined approach is used to identify the main structural barriers limiting the maturity and investment readiness of circular economy projects, such as regulatory complexity, difficulties in accessing funding, and weak stakeholder dialogue mechanisms. The approach was also used for enabling factors that can support development of circular economy. Particular attention is given to the role of project development assistance, modular financing strategies, and de-risking tools, which are highlighted as crucial elements for supporting the technical and economic credibility of projects and attracting public and private investors. The article also identifies and addresses seven unresolved research gaps in the literature, including the lack of interoperable policy instruments, the absence of business models capable of integrating investor expectations, the paucity of integrated methodologies for assessing technical and economic regulatory feasibility, and the need for trust-building procedures. The findings suggest that the transition to a regenerative economy requires a systemic approach based on coherent policies, de-risking financial instruments, collaborative governance, and strategic technical support throughout the project development cycle. Full article

Representations of industrial life have long been understood to be essential to the Soviet project, and this article analyzes the distinctive, but overlooked, functions of narratives and images of women workers at the factory workbench in the 1920s, and their ramifications for understanding Soviet paradigms of gender. Examining the place of mechanized labor in Aleksandra Kollontai’s theory of women’s emancipation in conjunction with the programs of labor theorist Aleksei Gastev demonstrates the establishment of mechanized labor and its tools as essential to utopian representations of Soviet social and gender relations beyond the factory. In this light, the article traces the establishment of the stanok, or factory workbench, as a metonym for new collective labor, and an interface with other nascent Soviet institutions and the new byt, or everyday life, in the mass illustrated periodical for urban women, Rabotnitsa (The Woman Worker), in the 1920s. Full article

In a context marked by the Anthropocene, the climate crisis, and the contemporary blockage of political and projective imagination, utopias and dystopias re-emerge as fundamental critical instruments for architecture. Far from constituting evasive or unrealizable exercises, these constructions operate as epistemological and projective devices capable of exploring possible futures, revealing latent tensions, and questioning the ideological frameworks that shape the built environment. This article examines speculative design as a contemporary updating of the utopian and dystopian tradition in architecture, understood not as a normative model but as a critical method for imagining radical transformations of dwelling in response to the current ecological, social, and geopolitical urgencies. Drawing on a series of projects developed within the university context, it analyses how architectural speculation, enhanced by artificial intelligence tools, enables the exploration of alternative scenarios of urbanization, adaptive habitats, and new relationships between architecture, territory, and nature. The cases analysed show that the combination of utopia, dystopia, and emerging technologies fosters an understanding of architecture as an open, dynamic, and relational system capable of responding to contexts of high uncertainty. The article argues that the return of utopian imagination, now mediated by speculative practices and digital tools, constitutes a relevant contribution to the contemporary debate on new forms of urbanization, flexible megastructures, and sustainable architectural futures. Full article

The first two decades of the twentieth century saw an unprecedented surge in scientific and technological experiments directed at the physical transformation of the human body. In Bolshevik Russia of the 1920s, science fiction and scientific and technological experiments created a nexus. The science fiction of Aleksandr Beliaev (1884–1942) turned experiments into adventure plots. Beliaev’s views on scientific experiments were informed not only by Bolshevik science but also by late-nineteenth-century pre-Revolutionary scientific theories. Nikolai Fedorov’s visionary futurity known as “Philosophy of the Common Task” bridged pre-Revolutionary utopian aspirations with the speculative thought of the 1920s across science, literature and art. My aim is to identify and analyse both intersections and differences in Beliaev’s and Fedorov’s visions of futurity in relation to body transformations in two of Beliaev’s most important yet understudied novels of the 1920s, The Amphibian Man and Professor Dowell’s Head. My approach is both synchronic and diachronic. I address features of transhumanist and posthumanist thought in Beliaev’s narratives that involve experiments in assembling hybridised human–animal, interhuman and human–machine organisms. I position Beliaev’s writing within the speculative discourse that was informed by Fedorovian aspirational futurity as well as by scientific and medical experiments involving reanimation and restoration of humans and animals. Full article

Eco-cities have become global initiatives in recent years. This paper aims to discuss the construction, evolution and future of eco-city movements in China, especially in areas with abundant ecological resources. Extant literature emphasizes that sustainable development is the purpose of an eco-city. However, in the spatial practice of ecological modernization, many European and American countries develop ecological construction at a slower pace, resulting in sustainable ecological outcomes. Those countries developed ecological practices at a smaller scale, aiming to achieve green towns with zero carbon emission. In contrast, the construction of China’s eco-cities typically involves building new cities in outer suburbs with a larger scale and faster speed. This has led to the rapid construction of so-called ecological cities without sustainable development. In this context, this paper starts from the perspective of political economy and conducts qualitative research on the Shanghai Dongtan Eco-city as a case study. It analyzes the motivation and practical measures of different actors by examining the planning, design and construction process of Dongtan Eco-city during 1998–2024. The results suggest that gaining national political priority through the intervention of international actors and foreign investment is the key to the local pilot ecological city project. This paper further analyzes the differences between the planning concept and the actual practice of Dongtan Eco-city, critically discussing the “Eco-city as the enclave of ecological technology.” This is driven by the integration of eco-city construction and the local government performance appraisal system. Consequently, the pursuit of economic returns redirected Dongtan’s sustainability experiment into a form of green-branded retirement real-estate development between 1998 and 2012. From 2012 to 2024, Chongming’s development model continued to evolve, as the project was reframed from a real-estate-led eco-city paradigm toward an “ecological island” agenda articulated in the language of sustainable development. Full article

Ecocentrism has emerged as a significant theoretical paradigm for addressing ecological crises and promoting sustainable development. However, while influencing the evolution of ecological governance systems, it faces fundamental criticisms including accusations of being “eco-authoritarianism”, “anti-human”, and “utopian”. This study develops a theoretical defense of ecocentrism through Daoism’s three-dimensional framework encompassing ontology, value theory, and practice theory. First, the Daoist holistic concept of living together (bingsheng 並生)—grounded in the principle of “Dao as one”—deconstructs the ontological foundations of anthropocentrism while addressing ecocentrism’s alleged “dictatorial “tendencies. Second, the Daoist value paradigm of valuing life (guisheng 貴生) challenges anthropocentrism’s value hegemony while establishing ethical justification for ecocentrism. Third, Daoist practical philosophy—particularly the concept of nurturing life (yangsheng 養生)—demonstrates how the harmonious coexistence of heaven, earth, and humanity can be achieved through balanced integration of instrumental and value rationality in ecological governance, thereby resolving accusations of “utopianism”. The findings affirm that Daoist philosophy provides not only a robust theoretical defense for ecocentrism but also insightful practical wisdom for global environmental governance and the pursuit of sustainable development. Full article

This study explores how Generation Z imagines sustainable tourism and how these imaginaries reflect values and norms associated with responsible tourism consumption. Data were collected from 59 university students in Türkiye who created written utopian narratives and AI-assisted visuals depicting their visions of sustainable destinations. Using thematic and visual content analysis, the findings reveal three dominant axes: (i) nature-integrated living practices, (ii) environmentally and community-oriented sustainability, and (iii) futuristic utopian visions. The results demonstrate that Generation Z imagines tourism not merely consumption but as a lifestyle embedded in ecological harmony, collective participation, and cultural continuity. Their dual orientation combining nostalgic “return to nature” imaginaries with techno-utopian futures illustrates how young people reconcile local identity with technological innovation. By bridging the frameworks of tourism imaginaries and responsible tourism consumption, the study introduces an “imagination–consumption bridge,” conceptualizing imaginaries as cognitive and normative mediators that translate values into practices. Methodologically, the integration of AI-assisted visualization offers an innovative approach to capturing mental models and prototyping sustainable futures. Practically, the emphasis on equity, accessibility, and participatory governance provides insights for designing more inclusive and ethically grounded tourism policies. The study thus contributes theoretically, methodologically, and practically to advancing sustainable tourism research. Full article

Sustainable mobility policies are unlikely to succeed without efforts to tackle disagreement between different social groups. In this context, we describe a participatory process based around semi-structured interviews with expert stakeholders in sustainable mobility in the city of Madrid. Information elicited from interviews was structured using the Natural Step approach, based on detailed analysis of stakeholder discourse, into four scenarios of sustainable mobility: Remote Working, The 15-min City, Electric City and Public City. Subsequently, the four scenarios were subject to critical analysis by a second group of experts during a stakeholder workshop. The Remote Working scenario was considered a partial solution applicable to only ~30% of the population and saved commuter trips might be canceled out by increased mobility elsewhere. The 15-min City was seen as desirable but utopian and dependent on political consensus and major public investment. The Electric City was thought useful for reducing emissions but hard to implement due to infrastructure limitations and cost. The Public City was seen as an integrated vision from which other solutions should flow but also politically divisive. While no single scenario was unanimously backed by all participants, different coalitions of interest tended to support different approaches. Collectively, the four scenarios reveal divergent pathways to the same goal (a more sustainable city), suggesting ways forward for policy. Full article

The objective of this article is to provide a critical analysis of maritime heterotopia as a category for reinterpreting ships, shipwrecks and maritime landscapes between the 16th and 18th centuries. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining history, underwater archaeology, heritage theory and literary analysis, it explores the ways in which maritime spaces, especially ships and shipwrecks, functioned as ‘other spaces’–following Foucault’s concept of heterotopia–in the articulation of imperial projects, power relations, experiences of transit and narratives of memory. A particular focus has been placed on the examination of shipwreck accounts, which are regarded as microhistories of human behaviour in contexts of crisis. These accounts have been shown to offer insights into alternative social structures, dynamics of authority, and manifestations of violence or solidarity. A review of the legal framework and practices related to shipwrecks in the Spanish Carrera de Indias is also undertaken, with particular emphasis on their impact on maritime legislation and international law. This article proposes a reading of maritime heritage as a symbolic and political device in constant dispute, where material remains and associated narratives shape collective memories, geopolitical tensions and new forms of cultural appropriation. Shipwrecks thus become sites of rupture and origin, charged with utopian, dystopian and heterotopic potential. Full article

Violet Tweedale, granddaughter of the notable Scottish publisher Robert Chambers of Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, became a prominent figure in the spiritualist and subsequent theosophy movements when she formed a close association with H. P. Blavatsky. Writing in the transitionary period between Victorian spiritualism and the Edwardian popularity of the esoteric and Eastern-inspired theosophy religion, Tweedale’s writings navigate between the true apparition narratives of Ghosts I Have Seen (1919) and the Arthur Conan Doyle-endorsed Phantoms of the Dawn (1928), with their emphasis on scientific inquiry championed by 19th-century psychical researchers, and novels such as Lady Sarah’s Son (1906) and The Beautiful Mrs. Davenant (1920) that emphasise the moral and philosophical promises of Blavatsky’s doctrine of spiritual progress. Tweedale’s turn-of-the-century supernatural writings illustrate the cultural and geographical shifts—from Tweedale’s native Scotland in the last decades of the Victorian era to the legacies of a Russian mystic’s New York-founded Theosophical Society—that influenced spiritualists’ increasingly global post-WWI relationships to both scientific futures and gothic pasts. Full article

As a painter of the Dutch Golden Age and a pivotal figure in the Northern Renaissance, Vermeer’s oeuvre inaugurated a maritime modernity in the wake of the Protestant Reformation through its odes and elegies to quotidian existence. This essay centers on Vermeer’s masterpiece, Woman Holding a Balance. It scrutinizes and probes the Baroque theater of the soul as depicted by Vermeer through the lens of a post-global, post-colonial Lebenswelt. Grounded in Deleuze’s The Fold, this essay endeavors to furnish a phenomenological and genealogical hermeneutic for Vermeer’s interior scenes. It does so by dissecting Vermeer’s theater of silence, his intrinsic use of light, the female figure behind the fabric, the politics of still life, and the theology and interplay of color. In so doing, this essay aspires to unearth the dialectical, oscillating utopian potential embedded within Vermeer’s imagery. Full article

Generative AI is increasingly applied in architectural research, from automated ideation and reshaping design workflows to design education. Despite the increasing realism of synthetic imagery, several research gaps remain including alignment, plausibility, explainability, and control. This study focuses on alignment with human perceptions, specifically examining how synthetic architectural façade imagery aligns with geographical, objective, and affective text descriptors. We propose a pipeline that applies a Latent Diffusion Model to generate façade images and then evaluate this alignment through both AI-based and human-based evaluations. The results reveal that while images generated with geographical prompts are notably aligned, they also show clear biases. The results also reveal that images synthesised from objective descriptors (e.g., angular/curvy) are more aligned with human perceptions than affective descriptors (e.g., utopian/dystopian). These initial results highlight the opportunities and limits of current generative AI models, hinting at data biases and the potential lack of embodied understanding to grasp the complexity in experiencing architecture. Limitations of the study remain. Future work can expand on exploring cultural biases and semantic overlaps, and in testing more advanced embodied AI models and methods. Full article