UTOPIA_DYSTOPIA

ZAFIR AMEEN BA3 Architecture Student Manchester School of Architecture ROWENA ROWLAND BA3 Architecture Student Manchester School of Architecture

DYSTO PIAN IS WAT CHING YOU

CONT

06

ATOPIA -THE UN-PLACE //

By Joe Parker

08

DYSTOPIAN URBAN SPACES //

By Jose Miguel

10

FLOWING CITY //

By Daniel Chen

12

LE SETTE PARCHEGGI DI STOCKPORT //

By James Dyson

16

1980s UTOPIA //

By Jamie Loh

20

The Emergence of An Everyday Heterotopia //

By Joshua Richardson

24

DYSTOPIAN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS //

By Jiayu Yu

TENTS IS A FUTURISTIC UTOPIA IMPOSSIBLE //

By Saad Sait

26

URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY //

By James Farrant

28

UTOPIAN PUBLIC SPACES //

By Paul Cedillo

30

NOTTS SAFE SPACE //

By Amari Korpal

32

DYSTOPIAN IRISH LANDSCAPE //

By Rebecca Burns

34

HER DREAM //

By Sarah Sachs

36

ANNOUNCEMENTS + EVENTS //

40

ATOPIA - The Un-Place I'm assured by people much smarter than me that when Thomas More first coined the term 'utopia', it was intended as a pun. In ancient Greek, the prefix eu- means 'good', while ou- means 'not'.

More's Utopia was literally 'the good place, the place that doesn't exist'. To devise a utopian vision is to make a hypothetical proposal that can never be reached; an ideal, perfect form of society to aspire to.

When More first wrote Utopia this was a relatively new idea. There had been few such projections of a perfected social formula, but in the 500 years since, utopias have become old hat.

We're inundated with fictionalised accounts of future societies, ranging from rigorous academic and political discourse, to works of fantasy or science fiction, and sometimes those lines blur.

Utopian concepts may or may not still be relevant tools, but I'd like to propose a new category. I'll call these 'a-topias', spaces that defy topology, and our attempts to orient ourselves within them.

Existing in an atopia is a fundamentally anxiety inducing experience, but it is also one that demands a new way of thinking from its inhabitants. Being in such a space means having to find new mechanisms by which to situate yourself and navigate your environment.

There are both real life examples of atopias, as well as fictional ones. In Danielewski's House of Leaves, he vividly depicts an environment that completely defies all attempts to understand it, made all the more horrifying by how it intrudes into the domestic space. In Simmons' book The Terror, based on a real British expedition to find the northwest passage, an empty expanse of rock in northern Canada becomes the backdrop

for a decent into madness and desperate cannibalism. These environments bring out part of the human psyche that, perhaps, otherwise remains hidden.

They often say that the anonymity of online spaces brings out the worst in people. I suspect, rather, that it's because this space is alien to us. Its vastness, and the way that information moves through it, is beyond our ability to really comprehend. We don't have the tools to properly orient ourselves, to determine how different co-ordinates of the online space interact with each other. It is precisely an atopia, a not-space, a space without or beyond the normal.

Joe Parker BA3 Architecture (Atelier: Infra-Space) Manchester School of Architecture

Illustration by Danielle Fountain MArch 2

CURRENT PUBLIC SPACE REGULATION IN MANCHESTER - MAXIMIZE FAST CIRCULATION

HIGH TECH SYSTEMS TO CREATE PLEASANT INTERIOR BUILDING ENVIRONMENTS

THE USE AND APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC SPACE CAN GIVE CITIZENS A CULTURAL IDENTITY, A VOICE THAT CAN PROTEST AND A STYLE WITH WHICH THEY SHAPE THEIR SPACES. IF CONGREGATION IS PREVENTED THEN THE RULLING POWERS OF INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT WOULD NO LONGER FACILITATE MEANS FOR A GROUPED OPPOSITION TO EXIST, WHICH IS ESSENTIAL IN A DEMOCRATIC CITY. CLIMATE CHANGE WILL CAUSE AN INCREASE IN EXTREME WEATHER FLOODING EXTREMELY HOT SUMMERS AND COLD WINTERS

BUILDINGS IN THE CITY WOULD NEED INCREASINGLY LARGE AND COMPLEX CLIMATIZATION SYSTEMS TO CREATE PLEASANT INTERIOR ENVIRONMENTS AND PREVENT DAMADGES FROM FLOODING.

THIS EQUIPMENT WILL BE USED TO BREAKE UP PUBLIC SPACE AND FURTHER SPEED UP PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION LIMITING SPACES FOR SOCIAL GATHERING

TO EMPHASIZE THE HOSTILITY TOWARDS CITIZENS ELECTRIC WALKING BELTS WOULD BE INSTALLED CREATING A FAST PACED CORRIDOR

AS A RESULT PUBLIC SPACE WILL BE NOTHING MORE THAN A CORRIDOR ON WHICH TO GO TO WORK, OR SHOP. THE ‘LASSAIZ FAIRE’ IDEOLOGY OF DESIGN IS AT ITS MOST EXTREME AND HOSTILE STATE.

MANCHESTER’S CLIMATE ADAPTATION CREATES HOSTILE URBAN SPACES HIGH TECH ADAPTATIONS CAUSE A HOSTILE CORRIDOR PROPOSAL 1:500

JOSE MIGUEL CORNEJO BA3 ARCHITECTURE ETHNOGRAPHIES

Jose Miguel Cornejo BA3 Architecture (Atelier: Infra-Space) Manchester School of Architecture

DANIEL CHEN BA2 Architecture Student Manchester School of Architecture

FLOWING CITY.

Le Sette Parcheggi di Stockport.

Le Sette Parcheggi di Stockport

Dystopia?

WeWe usually consider this tothis be some future, butfuture, in somebut places it’s theplaces here Dystopia? usually consider to benightmarish some nightmarish in some th multi-storey car park in Stockport. and now.

This drawing celebrates completion of the 7 it’s the here and now. This drawing celebrates completion of the 7th multi-storey car park in Stockport.

Background; a contemporary pilgrimage Background; a contemporary pilgrimage With completion of the Redrock project in 2017, Stockport now has 7 multi-storey car parks in its town centre. These are: With completion of the Redrock project in 2017, Stockport now has 7 multi-storey car parks in its town These are: • centre.

Redrock • • • • • •

Exchange  Merseyway Redrock  Co-op Exchange (until recently re-badges as Primark)  Civic Merseyway Building (below Stopford House plaza)  Heaten Co-op (until Lanerecently re-badged as Primark)  Asda Civic Buildings (below Stopford House plaza)  Heaton Lane Exchange  Asdaalso has a large surface car park and the private Millennium House multi-storey adjacent. These megastructures complement the large expanses of parking at Tesco, Decathlon, B&Q,carThe Peelthe Centre, Newbridge Matalan, the Exchange also has a large surface park and private Millennium HouseLane, multi-storey adjacent. rooftops of Merseyway, Debenhams, and the subterranean Sainsbury's, These megastructures complement the large expanses of parking at Tesco, Decathlon, B&Q, The as Centre, well Newbridge as numerous parkingthelots bothof Merseyway, out of and in conservation areas.

Peel Lane, Matalan, rooftops Debenhams, and the subterranean Sainsbury's, as well as numerous parking lots both out of and in conservation areas.

Significant public investment in tarmac continues to satisfy highways lobby with Significant public investment in tarmac continues to satisfy the highwaysthe lobby with its lazy its lazy preference forisolation the privacy, isolation and by immediacy preference for the privacy, and immediacy offered the car. Its offered cathedralsbyarethe the car. multi-Its cathedrals are supplicant the multi-storeys, which supplicant are daily drawn from storeys, to which drivers aretodaily drawn from their drivers suburban residences.

These actstheir of suburban residences.

These acts of ritual experience turn accelerating multi-storeys machines ritual experience turn multi-storeys into machines for urban decline, theinto processes of for urban decline, accelerating processes of planning blight, suburban sprawl on and planning blight, suburban sprawl andthe climate change. Any town building highway infrastructure climate change.

Anyontown building highway infrastructure thislittle scale up this scale has given up the environment.

In the town which aspireson to be morehas thangiven a on the environment.

In the town which aspires to be little more than a vehicle gyratory, vehicle gyratory, the multi-storey becomes destination, a civic landmark with monumental status. the multi-storey becomes destination, a civic landmark with monumental status.

In 1575 Antonio Lafreri published a map depicting the 7 pilgrimage churches of Rome, "Le Sette In 1575 Antoniowith Lafreri published a map depicting the 7 Brambilla. pilgrimage Chiese di Roma", a drawing attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio Thechurches map wasof Rome, "Le Sette Chiese di Roma", with a drawing attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio Brambilla. published under the umbrella title "Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae" (The Mirror of Roman The map was published under the umbrella title "Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae" Magnificence). It would have been distributed at religious festivals to assist pilgrims arriving in the (The Mirror of Roman Magnificence). It would have been distributed at religious city with their orientation and itineraries. festivals to assist pilgrims arriving in the city with their orientation and itineraries.

Le Sette Chiese are here re-imagined as Le Sette Parcheggi: the 7 multi-storeys of Stockport.

Le Sette Chiese here re-imagined as Le Sette Parcheggi: the 7 multi-storeys of Stockport.

Representation Representation In Lafreri's original, each church is depicted in its own perspective rather than a common vanishing point for all. The entrance facade is drawn orthographic to the Inviewer, Lafreri'swith original, is depicted in its own perspective rather than common vanishing oneeach sidechurch in a skewed perspective.

The churches are areoriented spatially point for all.

The entrance facade is drawn orthographic to the viewer, with one side in a skewed so that this primary facade faces the viewer, who is standing notionally West of perspective.

The churches areforeground. reoriented spatially thatathis primary light facadesource faces the viewer, the map with St Peters Each so has common from the left who is standing notionally West of the map with St Peters foreground.

Each has a common (geographical North!) with minimal throw of shadow on the ground. Shading islight single, source from the left (geographical North!) with minimal throw of shadow on the ground. Shading is

double or triple line. Materiality is suggested on orthographic facades. Hovering above the apex of 4 of the churches is an oversized figurative cross and the church dedication text. St. Peter's, chief of all churches, stands in centre foreground. There are some single, doublechurches or triple line. is suggested on orthographic facades.

Hovering secondary in Materiality view, bridges and gateways, and the Aurelian city above wall, the all of apex of are 4 of drawn the churches is an oversized figurative and the church dedication text.antiquities St. which to a smaller scale and withcross no orthographic facade; a few Peter's, chief ofinallruinous churches, stands in state. centre Scale foreground.

Thereused are some secondary churches in are depicted overgrown is clearly to define hierarchies rather view, bridgesliterally. and gateways, andtwo thechurches Aurelian city wall, of whichCity are wall drawn to cut a smaller than taken Parts of and theallVatican are by thescale picture and withRoutes no orthographic facade; few antiquities depictedscaled in ruinous overgrown Scale to is frame. are defined bya lines of piousarefigures, according to state. proximity clearly usedsaints to define hierarchies than taken literally.

Parts of two churches and thethe Vatican standing at four of therather churches.

Rather than buildings as a context, pious City wallon aresketchy cut by theopen pictureground; frame. Routes are defined lines of pious figures, scaled stand the streets and by squares of physical fabric are not according to proximity to standing at four of the churches.

Ratherofthan buildings a right, delineated, monuments exist saints on abstracted turf.

A handful trees standastop and an the indistinct horizon line open completes top ofandthe view.ofThe overall effect context, pious stand on sketchy ground; the the streets squares physical fabric are notis of controlled organisation, with intensely detailed highlights setright, in a field. delineated, monuments exist on abstracted turf. A handful of trees stand top andneutral an indistinct horizon line completes the top of the view. The overall effect is of controlled organisation, with In "Settedetailed Parcheggi", theset pilgrims remain intensely highlights in a neutral field. in their vehicles, queued along town centre access routes in procession to the places of pilgrimage, the multi-storeys, with their floodlights, cctv rigs NCPremain logos.

Theirvehicles, principal facades south In "Sette Parcheggi", the and pilgrims in their queued alongare townpredominantly centre access routes facing, but to where necessary reoriented to enable with thetheir entrance facade to be in procession the places of pilgrimage, the multi-storeys, floodlights, cctv rigs and best appreciated.

Stopford centre south foreground as where the nerve centre of this NCP logos. Their principal House facades occupies are predominantly facing, but necessary reoriented quotidian highway-led planning.

Car parks are unoccupied; blocking the entrance to each to enable the entrance facade to be best appreciated. Stopford House occupies centre foreground is an the “molto importante” ofparks the town; there perhaps for the vital as theoverscaled nerve centrewhite of thistransit, quotidian highway-led planning. Car are unoccupied; blocking maintenance or perhaps justtransit, parked Theimportante” urban fabric around is omitted, entrance to eachwork, is an overscaled white the up. “molto of the town; there perhaps a tiresome obstacle of no interest to just the parked highway measures experiences for vital maintenance work, or perhaps up.engineer The urbanwho fabric around is and omitted, a space in mph.

As open ground is normally tarmac around Stockport's Sette Parcheggi, tiresome obstacle of no interest to the highway engineer who measures and experiences space in a suggestion parking bays become ground plane. Sette The Tiber has become the Mersey, mph.

As openofground is normally tarmacthe around Stockport's Parcheggi, a suggestion of dotted bays as itbecome passesthethrough culverts Merseyway Asda.

TheasAurelian parking ground plane.

The under Tiber has become theand Mersey, dotted it passes Wall meanwhile hasunder become a synthesis of The the Aurelian viaductWall (no meanwhile picture ofhas Stockport through culverts Merseyway and Asda. become awould be complete without this), the M60 and St Mary’s Way, each under-scaled andand rather synthesis of the viaduct (no picture of Stockport would be complete without this), the M60 St than enclosing protecting dividing it. Stockport’s is drawn Mary’s Way, each and under-scaled and space rather than enclosing and protectingpyramid space dividing it. in the same manner as isLafreri’s of Cestius, sprouting vegetation its sides, Stockport’s pyramid drawn in Pyramid the same manner as Lafreri’s Pyramid of Cestius, from sprouting and there are other antiquities in view.

The combination of overscaled structures, vegetation from its sides, and there are other antiquities in view. The combination of overscaled direction-less traffic traffic queues andand random infrastructure gives a chaotic structures, direction-less queues random infrastructure gives a chaotic general general impression appropriate to the increasingly dystopian town. The dimensions of the impression appropriate to the increasingly dystopian town. The dimensions of the drawing, 51cm x drawing, 51cm x 40cm, correspond to Lafreri’s original.

40cm, correspond to Lafreri’s original.

Inscription The original inscription reads: LE SETTE CHIESE DI ROMA. Per esser venuto l’anno del Santo Jubileo concesso da Nostro Signore Gregorio XIII second l’anticho consueto e fatto questo disegno, con il circuito de Roma, dove si vedeno dette chiese cavate dal naturale et se non sono poste nel suo l’uogo, ogni persona

Inscription The original inscription reads: LE SETTE CHIESE DI ROMA. Per esser venuto l’anno del Santo Jubileo concesso da Nostro Signore Gregorio XIII second l’anticho consueto e fatto questo disegno, con il circuito de Roma, dove si vedeno dette chiese cavate dal naturale et se non sono poste nel suo l’uogo, ogni persona iuditiosa conoscera depender la causa per non haver piu spatio. Di queste sette chiese quattro sono le pivile: giate segnate con li Santi á chi sono dedicate, et con una [cross] et in esse si piglia il Santo Jubileo, ilquale i Dio cidia sua Santa pace per poterlo acquistare nel presente. anno 1575.

ANT LAFRERII ROMAE. This reinforces the purpose of the map in terms of its title, a defined pilgrimage route, Pope Gregory XIII and the Papal Jubilee of 1575, and concludes by crediting the publisher Antonio Lafreri. It’s a 16th century sound-bite, with abundant contemporary newsworthy equivalents.

This one is taken from the press release celebrating the official opening of Exchange NCP: The MD of NCP, added: “We’re delighted to open this car park to the public. We have made sure that it is designed with the customer’s needs as our priority.

We know that effective lighting, easy to use payment facilities, and staff present on site 24:7, are all important for people parking with us. Our new cycle hub is also a great asset. We have a car park here that we can be very proud of.”

Which is translated and titled thus: LE SETTE PARCHEGGI DI STOCKPORT. Il MD del NCP ha detto: “Siamo felici di aprire questo parcheggio al pubblico. Abbiamo fatto in modo che esso è stato progettato con le esigenze del cliente come la nostra priorità. Sappiamo che l'illuminazione efficace, facile da usare servizi di pagamento, e il personale presente in loco 24: 7, siamo tutti importanti per le persone parcheggio con noi. Il nostro nuovo hub ciclo è anche una grande risorsa. Abbiamo un parcheggio qui che possiamo essere molto orgogliosi.”

Speculum Stopfordae Magnificentiae!

JAMES DYSON MA Architecture and Urbanism Tutor Manchester School of Architecture

1980s UTOPIA: THE MOD -ERNIST MINDSET

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart It's taken in Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Museum that was originally built in 1843 and redone by James Stirling in 1984. Quite something that was controversial as he was prescribing modern tendencies to classical architecture in Germany. Perhaps, this is a way of moving into the future or 'utopia-dystopia' by curating the past and having modern treatment on architecture? For the sake of conservation and history?

Stuttgart WeissenhofSiedlung

Interior and exterior of Le Corbusier's home agenda for improving the lives (or rather the era where diseases were on the rise and also festered through heavy victorian (i think) interior ornamentation and dressing). These houses built were actually part of an exhibition for the public to reimagine future homes. So modernism, I would assume, was his 'movement' toward Uptopia.

Jamie Loh BA1 Architecture Manchester School of Architecture

The Emergence of An Everyday Heterotopia.

- Learning from Film in Deconstructing the Notion of an Urban Dystopia in Western Cultural Discourse

If the urban or architectural realm is a projection of a collective or individual desire (pending scale) onto an environment to make real the once aspirational, then the study and perpetuation of the urban becomes a desire to make Utopian or divine the everyday. Firstly, what is Utopian, or more clearly, what is Utopia? Utopia derives from the Greek words ‘ou’, meaning not, and ‘topos’, meaning place, or simply in conjunction ‘no-place’ or ‘non-place’. In contemporary English, “Utopia” is 1: an imaginary island described in a book of the same name

by Sir Thomas More (1516) as having a perfect political and social system, or 2: a.) An idealised place, state, or situation of perfection; b.) Any visionary scheme or system for an ideally perfect society; c.)

A novel or other work depicting a Utopian society or place.1 Already, this raises many conflicts. By being explicit in defining Utopia as an idealised or perfect condition, the term reveals its own ambiguity; Utopia for who, where, why, and by what means?

By posing these questions, one’s Utopia may become one million’s Dystopia. The other problem inherent in considering the manifestation of a true ‘Utopia’ is that it ignores Utopias inhabitants, who, by their nature, defy the premises inherent to Utopia. People are non-utopic beings that are neither imaginary nor idealised in their behaviours, actions, or conditions. The multiplicity of the human condition is what immediately reveals the impossibility of a Utopia. Utopia, as a concept, is in a constant and ongoing struggle to make uniform the heterogenous aspects of everyday life without much reconciliation of the two, where by doing so, quickly becomes Dystopian. In this sense, Utopia and Dystopia become an impossible and false image seeking to make strange ordinary experience.

The Dystopia realised by Western cultural discourse goes by many different

names within the context of academia – If considering the manifestation of this Dystopia in the West, it becomes what Margaret Crawford has termed as an “Everyday Urbanism,”2 and if looking at these urban forms and their manifestations in the global South/Eastern hemisphere it becomes what Rahul Mehrotra has termed as “The Kinetic City”3 or what Ananya Roy refers to as a “Subaltern Urbanism.”4 If Considering Crawford’s Everyday Urbanism, the subject of study becomes post-recession yard sales, temporal marketplaces of East Los Angeles, and orange sellers working illegally on motorways to pay back their coyotes.5 In Mehrotra’s “Kinetic City” these urban notions revolve around ideas of flux, nomadism, temporal religious fairs, and bazaars.6 Lastly, if looking to Roy’s “Subaltern Urbanism,” these practices become those associated with the ‘metonymic slum’ of a presupposed under-development and the megacity of the global south.7 What becomes clear through analysing these terms is that these fields, though differing in their contextual particularities, localised narratives, degrees of intensity, and nuances are all drawing on the same idea of an unplanned or unspecialised urbanism of spontaneity and temporality characteristic of an urbanism of informality.

Informality is a widespread and discursive study beyond urbanism that takes many forms and has an inherent ambivalence in its approach.8 Without going down the rabbit-hole of anthropological informality, informality can be understood and defined in two key ways for the purposes of this dissertation: 1.) Informality is the emergence of practices that occur unofficially – a natural, or local, way of getting things done; or, 2.) Relationships that are not formalised in serving a practical role in resolving tensions between the authorised and unauthorised.9 Within this definition, it is important to address

the tendency for informality to be associated with illegality. However, despite this, informality takes various forms depending on its context, both legal and illegal – hence the multiplicity of terms coined in trying to describe its localised features.

These informal / everyday / kinetic / subaltern spaces are all discursive in their nature. Largely, these sites, whether they be kiosks, garage sales, temporal marketplaces, corner shops, or other spatial instruments of urban informality, can be treated as synonymous sites in their affect, inner/outer relationships, and dynamics. These sites can largely be understood as what Michel Foucault described as Heterotopias.10 Heterotopia is broad concept. Firstly, Heterotopias disregard Utopias as virtual realms.

Heterotopias can also be Entopias. They are “real places – places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society – which are something like counter sites, a kind of effectively enacted utopia.”11 Heterotopia is described by Foucault as a series of principles, here simplified: 1.) Heterotopias are culturally and geographically ubiquitous, 2.)

Heterotopias can oscillate in their function (act in flux), 3.) Heterotopias are capable of juxtaposition, contradiction, and mirroring, as well internal and external incompatibility, 4.) Heterotopias are linked to slices in time, 5.) Heterotopias presuppose a system of opening and closing between public and private, and 6.) Heterotopias have a distinct function in relation to the space that remains.12 If Utopia, as a concept, were to have a natural opponent, it would not be Dystopia (as they are both false realities and nonpaces of ever fluctuating and imaginary binaries), but rather Heterotopia or Entopia (an achievable good/pragmatic and optimistic realism capable of enacting change). In realising the image of a

collective Utopia in popular culture, Dystopia is frequently used as it becomes far easier to define the universally imperfect as opposed to the universally perfect. However, what becomes so interesting when considering the widespread proliferation of an urban Dystopia in the public consciousness is not its relationship to Utopia or even its relationship to contemporary planning, but rather the use of film as a media in enacting a universal image. Film, in the scope of its utility in establishing an ideological discourse, becomes a readily available, immersive, and immediately consumable sensory tool that is extremely effective in reshaping urban, ethnic, social, and cultural thinking processes.

Joshua Killoran Richardson Extract from Disseration The BartlettSchool of Architecture

The Emergence of An Everyday Heterotopia

Line of Symmetry Line of Obstruction

Line of Obstruction

figure 2.3

Line of Symmetry Line of Obstruction

figure 2.4

Line of Obstruction

STEVENSON SQUARE CURRENT URBAN ENVIRONMENT

In the urban environment which people are constantly improving, whether our society has really reached the utopia that people expect is still a question. Different things happen in the urban environment and outside, on the ground and underground.

DYSTOPIAN ENVIRONMENT

Stevenson Square is a public space in Northern Quarter Manchester. Some existing problems around this area gave me an idea. What if I continue to develop these problems and exaggerate them? ‌ If the government ignores them and does not make improvements, this image may be the future.

Jiayu Yu MA Architecture + Urbanism Manchester School of Architecture

UTOPIA - DYSTOPIA UTOPIA - DYSTOPIA

Is FuturisticUtopia Utopia Impossible?

Is a Futuristic Impossible?

Is Futuristic Utopia Impossible?

“What is the city over the mountains is the city thein mountains Cracks“What and reforms andover bursts the violet air Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air Falling towers Falling towers Jerusalem Athens Alexandria Jerusalem Athens Alexandria Vienna London Vienna London Unreal” Unreal” - T.S Eliot, in “What the Thunder Said” from The Waste Land;

1963 Land; poems, - T.S Collected Eliot, in “What theLondon: ThunderFaber Said”and fromFaber, The Waste Collected poems, London: Faber and Faber, 1963

The dark sky and ominous buildings very high, A movie “Blade Runner 2049” by Denis Villeneuve The dark skygarbage and ominous buildings very high, A movie “Blade Runnerconception 2049” by of Denis Dirty air with everywhere, depicts a near-futuristic a LosVilleneuve Angeles Dirty air with garbage everywhere, depicts a near-futuristic conception of People shun upon the last rays of the sun, through a grim depiction of the city.a Los TheAngeles film’s Peoplethe shun upon are the skyscrapers last rays of the through a grim depiction the city. The film’s Across horizon tallsun, and nothing production designer Dennisof Gassner, intended Across the horizon are skyscrapers tall and nothing Dennis Gassner, “double dystopia” effect tointended match else we imagine at all; toproduction depict a designer dystopia” to match we imagine at all;we always see to depict a “double the requirements of the makers. effect Kyle Bergman, Aelse dreadful city is what the requirements of the makers.

Kyle A dreadful city is what we always see (Author’s Own). Our minds are open to visual near founder and director of the Architecture &Bergman, Design (Author’s Own).

Our minds are open to visual near founder and (ADFF) directorsays of the Architecturein&film, Design futuristic interpretations of our planet. This doesn’t Film Festival “ ....somehow it futuristic interpretations of our planet.

This doesn’t Film Festival (ADFF) says “ ....somehow in film, mean one has to always interpret and predict scary seems like the tendency is more dystopian thanit mean one has cities. to always interpret predict seems like the tendency is more dystopian of the Even thoughand it has its scary own futures utopian”.

Are these sort of visualisations affecting than our the cities. futures ofmedia utopian”. Are these sort of visualisations affecting our reasons, and Even though it has its own imaginations, designs reasons, and imaginations, films havemedia a major and decisions? designs films have a major and decisions? impact that we have impact that we have been inherited upon.

‘No stop city’ model inherited upon.

‘No stop city’ model Inbeen films, the future made between 1969In films, the future made between 1969is always shown as 2001 by Archizoom’s is always shown as 2001 by Archizoom’s either a automated shows an evereither a automated shows an evermechanised system expanding suburban mechanised system expanding led by machines and town, withsuburban their led by or machines and town, with their robots a dreadful endlessly multiplying robotswith or a crashed dreadful endlessly In multiplying city buildings.

Michael city with buildings. In Michael towers and crashed rising MacGarry’s work 100 towers and rising MacGarry’s work 100 sea waves literally Suns series (2010), sea waves literally Suns series (2010), nothing in place. In the artists envisions a nothing in in place. the artists envisions other words, mediaIn Dubai-like landscapea other words, in media Dubai-like landscape the future cities are with multiple Burj the future cities are with multiple Burj always depicted as Khalifa towers across always whereas depictedthe as Khalifa towers across Figure 1: Entopia; halfway between Dystopia the horizon.

Can’t a utopian dreams plan (from Between Dystopia Figure 1:and Entopia; halfway between Dystopia whereas the horizon.

Can’t a past is shown as athefairy tale Utopian future be imagined? and Utopia , by Constantinos A. Doxiadis, pg.51) utopian dreams and plan (from Between Dystopia past is shown as a fairywith tale be imagined? wonderland enhanced orUtopian Are wefuture just not prepared and Utopia, by Constantinos A. Doxiadis, pg.51) wonderland enhanced with or Are we just not prepared vibrant spectrum of processes yet? Barnett continues from vibrant spectrum of processes yet? continues from dominated by nature; the ‘Past Utopia’. his comment on topias thatBarnett “Change is inevitable dominated by nature; the ‘Past Utopia’. his comment on topias that “Change is inevitable and continuous. Rather than always prognosticate and continuous. Rather than always prognosticate

that it’s going to be a horrible future, it’s up to the person to decide if they choose to live in density or not” .

Why is it always Dystopias?

Dr Constantinos Doxiadis, one of the world’s most distinguished city builders, explains even though we have been haunted by the idea of Utopia by quite long now, ‘ ...yet in building our actual cities and, more importantly, in modernising our old cities, we consistently, despite our good intentions turn them into bad places - Dystopias’.

named ‘The Lake District’.

Doxiadis argues: ...this is the problem of humanity today: it builds cities which are bad, the dystopias; it dreams of cities for which there is no places, the utopias; while it needs good cities for which there will be a place, the entopias.

Predicting urban landscape and envisioning future in a right or atleast in a safe achievable way would help us lead towards better designs if not the perfect Dr Doxiadis questions ones. Why should utopia ‘What is wrong with us?’ be only depicted and According to his perspective imagined as a past era of , he himself answers his the planet? Why not begin question in a simplest way; our approach to futuristic ‘Here is the reality and utopia through entopia? It here are our dreams- why must not be confused that don’t they lead anywhere?’. entopia is replacing utopia Figure 2: Network on earth (from Between Dystopia Doxiadis emphasises the here, instead its a safe and Utopia, by Constantinos A. Doxiadis, pg.75) approaching sub-station which very problem lies with the is achievable and doesn’t sound disconnection of the reality impossible. with that of the dream. They both are on different ‘planes, scales and speeds’. We need a hotspot where dreams meets reality, a place which can satisfy, be accepted and built, the city which will be “in-place”- the Entopia.

A transient space or a sub-station is what I call entopia as, which then eventually leads to a perfect state of existence called utopia. Dr Doxiadis refers entopia to a place ‘somewhere between dreams and reality, between utopias and topias’ (refer figure 1). The one ‘road’ left to take us out of the bad place into a good one, is the with reality and dreams that leads to entopia, which is not out of the place but in the place. He distinguishes entopia with utopia by stating that the former will try to ensure a link between people and the world around them. He also explains how entopia could be appealing to some people like Lord Macauley who said “an acre

in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia” and to romantic English poet William Wordsworth, who was the reason National Parks of Cumbria got

- Saad Sait mss5906@gmail.com Master of Landscape Architecture, Year-2 Manchester School of Art (MSA)

SAAD SAIT mss5906@gmail.com MA Landscape Architecture Manchester School of Art (MSA)

JAMES FARRANT 2nd Year Philosophy Studen University of Manchester

The Future of Urban Politics: The Bench as an Artefact for

Hostile Architecture: a dystopian reality

Anti-homeless spikes

Bench “pig ears”

The Right to the City: the Hom

Camden Bench

Hostile architecture depicts the reality of the so-called public spaces of the modern city. A city that has become exclusive as a result of the structures of power attempting to impose their idealization of the city. Anti-homeless spikes or skate deterrents are clear examples of how subgroups that do not belong to the idealized city are segregated. Moreover, artefacts like the Camden bench are not limited to segregate, but attempt to regulate the behaviour of its users.

Inclusive Bench Precedents

36th Street, UCD, Philadelphia.

Porch Swings, UCD, Philadelphia.

The Plaza at Harvard University

Public benches have been a long-lasting example of hostile architecture. By specific design alterations such as ‘pig ears’ or odd arm rests, they prevent people from laying down (or skating on them). Thus, homeless have often been the target as they do not represent the ‘best’ face of the city. However, in response to this, new inclusive designs have arose in order to counteract this new forms of exclusion.

A space for Homeless in the Community Homelessness has been a problem deeply inscribed in society and segregating them only disguises the reality. In an utopian society, we would acknowledge the problem and we would look for solutions that bring them back to society. A long-term scheme might solve the problem. However, short-term solutions are vital. We might not be able to provide a home for everybody, but it is possible to provide shelter while the underlying problem is been tackled. Thus, an ‘utopian’ bench that attempts to connect, in the same space, the community (or the typical bench user) and homeless people has been designed. In order to prevent the bench from compromising each groups’ privacy, some sort of separation has been designed.

The separation used not as a way of segregation, but as a form of inclusiveness. The city cannot be completely open. Different groups need different spaces, so in order to be inclusive, spaces also need to remain exclusive, but in a different sense.

Sitting

Separation for privacy

Shelter

Communal Use Creating a Community Space

Spaces remain private The arrangement of the benches create communal spaces. It can combine sitting-sitting or sheltershelter. You can connect several in a row.

Day & Night Use Unique Use (restricted)

The heights difference in the dividing wall is the key to provide privacy in each side, and allocate specificity for its use.

Primary Use

Secondary Use

Sitting

Sitting

Sleeping

Sitting (unlikely)

Sleeping

Sitting

Shelter Space Privacy

The only use in the shorter side is sleeping as it is too short to allow sleeping on it.

However, the shelter space can be used for sitting or sleeping. It is important to note that homeless often tend to sleep during the day to avoid the cold of the night. Thus, they will be using the space to sleep during the day as well as the night.

Is absolute inclusiveness possible?

Different subgroups have different necessities, and these necessities sometimes conflict with each other. Thus, whenever specificity is added to a space, it inevitably compromises the ‘requirements’ of other subgroups. For example, if the bench were made of wood strips, as opposed to concrete, it will add comfort, ease of construction, flexibility, and warmness to the bench, which is desirable given the nature of the artefact. However, it will prevent skaters from using it as the voids in-between the wood strips would make skating impossible.

Therefore, a completely inclusive space is unattainable.

The shelter space will give an option to homeless pe a safe space to inhabit. This will prevent them form portals of private buildings. The space can also be u sitting space, but it is probable that homeless will sta day as well because of their difficult routine.

r an Utopian Public Space

Paul Cedillo BA3 Architecture (Atelier: Praxxis) Manchester School of Architecture

meless & the Community

eople to have sleeping in used as a ay during the

Sitting Space

This space deliberatively small so people cannot sleep on it, as it is designed as a temporal gathering space. A space for the community to congregate momentarily. This is not a space to inhabit. The low separation gives a feeling of openness.

Architectural Views

Top

Front

Left

Back

Right

It has been uses wood as a material in order to allow mobility, and given that it is an easy material to construct with which is important if the project has a social deep. This will allow charities to build them with volunteers for example. There is not clear material division between both sides in order to imply equality of both groups above their different conditions.

NOTTS SAFE SPACE - keeping students safe -

Amari Korpal 3rd Year Politics + International Relations University of Nottingham

Living away from home with your friends is a social landscape that a lot of students thrive in. University seems like this ideal environment of complete freedom where you have the independence to predominantly do what you want, completely how you want and whenever you like.

But such freedom can lead to a daunting, unpleasant and uncomfortable university experience when you don’t feel safe living away from home.

One of the most compelling issues arousing debate in many universities in the UK is that of student safety. Being in my final year of my degree at the University of Nottingham, the alarming number of burglaries, accounts of harassment and disturbing incidents occurring on my doorstep seemed to severely escalate in this academic year. Lenton, which is the off-campus student accommodation hub of the University of Nottingham has now become infamous for such incidents.

Inevitably aggravated by the darkness which dawns on us so early during the British winter, walking home after a regular day at Uni seemed like a daunting task – this should not be the case at any university.

It felt like we didn’t go a day without seeing a post on Facebook relating to an incident in Nottingham, whether it was rape, sexual harassment, stabbings, attempted and carried out burglaries, muggings or even aggression from club bouncers.

It was then by no surprise that when students openly expressed their biggest concerns in the city, girls in particular, were severely worried for their safety.

University had somewhat become an unsafe space for students and it became apparent that something needed to be actively done in order to minimize the risk of crime and harassment in Nottingham.

From this, third year University of

Nottingham Economics student, Eugene Nakuti, and I, created ‘Notts Safe Space’.

‘Notts Safe Space’ is a Facebook group that we launched, with the hope of creating an online community, where university students, girls in particular, can feel guarded from online trolls when posting about any incidents that occur in Nottingham. Additionally, we want the page to be a platform for students to find people, who are also part of our community, to walk home with, should they ever find themselves alone, scared or fearful, particularly after a night out.

The support received since Eugene and I launched the group has been overwhelming and we are thrilled to see the vast number of students across Nottingham resonating with the idea. The page received in excess of 1000 members within the first 24 hours of its launch. After having spoken to our Student’s Union, as well as Nottingham Citizens’ lead community organisers, we are hopeful that we can progress the group further in the New Year, so it can be officially affiliated with the University of Nottingham. As a result, we hope that ‘Notts Safe Space’ will continue to help students feel like everyone part of the group is there to help each other in a face to combat crime and harassment in Nottingham, whilst creating a greater awareness for student safety at university.

The saying goes that university is the best few years of your life. We sincerely hope that the platform we have created is just one of a plethora of measures across the country that will be implemented to ensure no hindrance in the form of crime gets in the way of this.

Dystopian Irish Landscape.

- the result of a hard border

Rebecca Burns is a conceptual photographer, who bases her practise on in-depth research about topics, which usually relate to her past experiences and childhood. Being born in Ireland had a profound impact on her work, as she explores her background and surroundings. Her latest work focuses on the Irish border, which in the wake of Brexit might change from a soft to hard border.

With tensions rising, fears are spiking about history repeating itself and bringing about farreaching changes to a country still recovery from recent troubles. Rebecca aims to visualise these uncertainties through her collages. The work aims to encourage discussion and create dialogue around contentious topics, especially within the Irish community, which she describes as “often unwilling to open up and too quick to repress.�

Rebecca Emily Burns MA Architecture + Urbanism Manchester School of Architecture

HER DREAM

Her Dream.

Sarah Sachs Masters in Urban Informatics New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress Room of glass, no windows, their eyes glaring at me. I speak. “The majority of citizens have responded well to the new system. This allows us to experiment with boundless opportunity. However, we have found key points of vulnerability leftover from the former management. Our updated health sensors show a significant disparity within our previous data.” Next slide, “this chart depicts the proportion of citizens engaged. Our latest degree of total transparency shows the percentage of the population that is still reluctant to converge. There is a significant increase within the threshold. We tested several models, potential bias and weighed outliers and–”, “Enough” My boss interrupts, stiffens and with a direct monotone says, “I am appalled to think this is how you believe we portray our government. You have embarrassed me and our agency’s reputation. Please have a seat.”

Well fuck, I was not expecting that.

Finally we have unlimited access to our body of citizens. Now our agency provides incredible service and works to ensure maximum health. Comprehension of human habit is the secret. Traditional healthcare was no longer optimal, and like the other government agencies, they were acquired. Driven by innovation and data, our citizens have never been healthier. We have the ability to create change, to truly understand the needs of the nation. The old system of slow and ineffective government is dead.

Uber acquired the Department of Transportation, Airbnb acquired the

Ministry of Housing, Amazon runs the Federal Reserve System and Facebook manages content and upholds the Federal Communications Commission. Everything is seamlessly connected and controlled.

Cars can predict surrounding risk, housing is optimized to individual needs, and the economy is balanced. Our agency has found that the people are happy. Smart cities, smart houses, smart sewers, smart cars.

Why the fuck did my boss humiliate me like that in front of the entire team. We have tirelessly worked on this network analysis to visualize the connection of health condition between citizens. Part of our new platform that can cluster individuals with similar health status. You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together... and they are likely to share the same type of flu. Our plan was to use this information to identify the crux of sickness symptoms throughout the population. The FDA, now a subsidiary of General Mills, was a large partner in this development and we were just starting to make progress.

I sunk back into my chair, I could feel my cheeks flushed. I shouldn’t have been so direct with our statistics. Maybe I could have adjusted the proportion intervals or redesigned the axis. I should have known our boss would react that way. This could result in a demote. I’ve been working so hard on my ranking. I can’t afford a drop. I needed this to go over well. I haven’t slept in days.

In my peripheral, a white noise notification began to blare at me. Large pale numbers blinked across my retina, counting down from 10. I must’ve been holding my breath.

I made myself picture a line of nails, one by one hammering into a plank of wood. This trick usually helped to restore my stress settings.

The meeting ended, I cowered back to my desk. A ping to meet with Taylor for coffee shook me out of my empty gaze. She probably knew I needed a friend right now.

thoughts and emotions. Our brain goes into hyperdrive when the body is offline.

The people would go nuts for it. We could market it as a way to see your dreams.”

I grabbed my tablet and headed to the 72nd floor for our usual spot. Energetically, she spoke about her current project.

Recently Taylor was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer and was working to integrate the layers of content management across several government agencies.

She caught word of what happened at the meeting. She had a reputation for working hard and caring about people.

That is part of why she is so great at her job.

I thought for a moment, “like a window into the citizen’s subconscious? I like it.”

I began to process the necessary steps to production. “Remember Elon Musk’s old Neuralink? We could use their antiquated recording devices and pair it with our new interface. We would probably need to partner with DARPA or something, but I think your idea could have some serious potential.” She playfully scoffed at me, “yeah, of course, thank me later.”

“Well, what if you come up with a new idea that would please Mr. Bossman?

You know, get back into good standing and blow their socks off. Something big and exciting.” My brain was fried, new i deas don’t just arrive when it’s convenient.

I stayed up that night sketching out a framework and mapping our strategic partners. A tremendous amount of information is articulated in a dream.

And such timely data too. I could develop a model to interpret a decision that was entirely predicated on subconscious thought. I could bring clarity to chaos.

I felt that I had to at least appease her suggestion. We toyed with a few benign ideas. I could tell her head was immersed in her new role. Our brainstorming would consistently circle back to Facebook’s new citizen content engine.

She seemed to be excited their direct interface with the people. “I think it would be valuable to understand why people do the things they do.” She poured another packet of sugar into the black cup of coffee. “You know, by now, we should be able to bring total clarity to the chaos that is human. Our little brains have potential.” I imagined a squishy pink blob congealed in grey matter. I didn’t feel too intellectually mindful at the moment. I blinked away my glowing message box of reminders.

“What if you could record dreams?” I must’ve zoned out a again, “Don’t look at me like that, I’m serious” she said. “You already know their conscious decisions, but think about how people actually organize their

I explained to my supervisor the idea. She was skeptical at first, but the potential adoption rate was persuasive on its own. She called for a team meeting that afternoon.

Word travels quickly here, by the time of lunch I received 17 new emotes and 89 engagements. Apparently most people had something to say about the ability to record and interpret a dream. I couldn’t help but inflate with pride. The thought of my idea, my legacy.

A litany of meetings took over the remaining work hours. As captain of the project I began immediately.

I couldn’t think about anything else for the following weeks. The agency wanted a prototype by December. I was going to blow their socks off this time.

The days flew by. I noticed my health status change color slightly. When yellow, it would continuously chirp at me until I met the threshold of protein and vitamins.

I never realized how annoying that could be when you are trying to focus. Luckily, I had access to our sample stockpile of supplements that were waiting for approval from General Mills and the FDA. Two weeks until our prototype was due and the proof of concept was running and ready for trial. I insisted on being the first to test the software in vivo. We designed the programming to be compatible with our agency’s pre-installed biochips. The adoption rate for our microchip implants was growing steadily, especially since the rollout to require it from our network of loyal insurance companies.

Before the connection was established between my wetware and the device, a door flooded with darkness. Opening beneath me – everything vanished.

issue06

WATER?