ENTOPIA

Almodal.Anadeo.Barcena.Miranda

Arch 162February 16, 2016

Prof. Maureen Anne Araneta

Konstantinos Apostolou Doxiadis

• One of the leading figures in Greek

modernist architecture

• Developed the theory of Ekistics and

Architecture for Mass People

• His goal: to design ideal settlements –

safe, comfortable and easily

accommodating to the people’s needs

and urban growth

http://malden.wickedlocal.com/storyimage/WL/20150115/NEWS/150118154/AR/0/AR-150118154.jpg&MaxW=315&MaxH=315

Between Dystopia and Utopia (1966)

“...this is the problem of humanity today: it builds cities which are bad, the dystopias; it dreams of cities for which there is no-place, the utopias; while it needs

good cities for which there will be a place, the entopias.”

Excerpt from Between Dystopia and Utopia by K. A. Doxiadis

Towards Dystopia

“...construction is more important than the space, the container than the content, the shell than the man, the lines of transportation than

the human values.”

-Doxiadis on technological dystopias

• The cities of the past offered a more humane life than the cities of the present

• Dystopia occurs when we face our cities ‘without reason, without dream’

Towards Dystopiathe growing city

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luc59yG9wv1qcl59b.jpg

Escape to Utopia

“The greater the pressure the more I want to avoid reality, the more I want to avoid the cause of the pressures...everybody is escaping at

every moment from something...”

-Doxiadis on utopia

• Utopia: an imaginary and indefinitely remote place; a place or state of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

• Ideal city: the utopia of those who can think in terms of spatial forms

• The dreamland ‘with dreams, but without reason’

Utopia & Eftopia

Purpose of conceptions:

Escape and Reconstruction

u-topia: no-place

eu-topia or ef-topia: good place

• degree of reality: degree of

possible realization from

‘place’ to ‘no-place’

• degree of quality: from the

bad place to the good

place

Need of Entopia

"There is only one road left - with reason and dream - which should take us out of the bad place into a good place, which

is not out of place, but in place - an entopia."Excerpt from Between Dystopia and Utopia

by Konstantinos A. Doxiadis

Entopia

• halfway between utopian

dreams and plans

• a place that satisfies the

dreamer and the scientist; where

the projections of the artist

meets with the builder's

• realization of one's own dreams

within the framework of

humanity's common dreams

• task: help people to dream and

create utopias

UTOPIA(no-place)

there is denial of the task or need to implement it or to

make it work

starts with an unrealistic premise

ENTOPIA(in-place)

inspired by dreams; can be realized through programs &

plans

relies on a scientific, systematic knowledge of the situation

Differences

Factors

MAN NATURE NETWORKS

SHELLS SOCIETY

Man

• Continuously evolving and developing psychologically and socially

• Entopia is geared to develop man intellectually based on the criteria: economy, time, and satisfaction

• Entopia also aims to create a “snail-shell” relationship with man

Nature• Supplies water, food, and raw materials

• Entopia aims to preserve as much of nature as possible

• Also aims to minimize pollution, especially in the air

• Every natural resource must be used and reused but never destroyed

• Man is envisioned as the great conservationist

Society• Re-establish greater number of contacts

and as the basic unit of social organization

• Units in an entopia: man, family and home, and the human community

• Entopia aims to properly organize society

• Freedom at all levels

• Aims to have people be free and live together, think by themselves, and contribute knowledge

Networks• Envisioned to make possible the whole

world as one neighborhood

• Faster, more efficient, more affordable transportation; all time distances are a matter of a few minutes

• All transportation should be underground so that Earth’s surface is free for man

Shells• Found at the surface of the Earth

• Aims to cover man and to guarantee connections

• Every man should have a room to his own

• Shells should allow man to move without any hindrance, like weather

Process Towards Entopia

1. Start with a concept or idea that can lead to entopia. 2. Elaborate the idea by using science to come up with

objective judgment. 3. Fight the myths and face the existing problems. 4. Think then build. 5. Dare and act. 6. Start now!

Entopia Case StudyPlace: Metro Manila

Issue: dynamic and disorganized

growth

Solution: New Centralization

-definition of structure of “ideal city”

and applying it to extended areas

Possible Consequence:

Class segregation

http://m6.i.pbase.com/o2/02/781202/1/107202656.6jhCVauZ.DivisoriaChristmasshopping2008.jpg

References

Babitskaya, I. (2015, January 15). Constantinos Doxiadis – designer of the Malden

ensemble. Malden Observer. Retrieved February 15, 2016, from

http://malden.wickedlocal.com/article/20150115/News/150118154/?Start=1

Doxiadis, K. A. (1966). Between Dystopia and Utopia. Hardford, Connecticut:

The Trinity College Press.

Savela, M. (2011, November 8). Architecture in Transition. Retrieved February 15,

2016, from http://mikasavela.tumblr.com/post/12508025515/

architecture-in-transition