ambiguous and distant

~~~~~~~~

octagon city

"Octagon city is a utopian settlement based on the twin ideals of anti-slavery and vegetarianism. It was organised in an octagonal subdivision pattern, used for its social and spiritual potency."

That happened in Kansas, in 1854. New Yorkers put an ad in the paper, and they all moved out there. From Towards Cosmopolis, by Leonie Sandercock.

civilia

"Far from the sterile and sober best practice notes we now have from every kind of para-governmental-commission-on-urban-design, Civilia is a ribald romp of a postcard-perfect consumer paradise - complete with sex shops, vagrant beatniks, commuter yachting, impromptu Shakespearean theatre and excessively flamboyant brutalist architecture."

Scroll down the "medium" thoughts here

Norberto Lobo from Cláudio Fernandes on Vimeo.

parole!

this is a fun place to play.
A "dictionary on the contemporary city"

For instance, città analoga [definition]
City existing in the collective memory, made up from the sum of projects, even not built and the transposition of MONUMENTS. The projects as the monuments are given by the history of architecture and of the city, their composition giives birth to a city that w recognize, but that is new. To clarify this concept Rossi uses the example of the perspective of the painter Canaletto that represents a project done by palladio for the Ponte of Rialto in Venice, placed next to the basilica of Vicenza and the Palazzo Chiericati, as if it was one real urban environment. For Rossi it is possible, in the same way to, build a theory of deign in which the elements are prefixed and their combination leads way to new and original meanings.

Here's the picture they give:


It's tempting to spend my days adding to this list.
The first I would add, is Xenakis' VILLE COSMIQUE. It's listed in the dictionary as 1968 (Xenakis wrote his essay in '64) and as relating to Russian utopia ...

stability, space, drawing other lands.

One thing I miss about Caracas: the Gego room.



"Sometimes these patterns illusionistically swell into lumps or sink into pockets; occasionally, lines will suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere, skip a beat in unison, then move on, leaving a strip of unmarked space like a tear in the surface, with light showing through." from NYT.