The Exhibition “City Inc.” shows the legacy of anutopian city of the early 20th century. Inspired by Fordist theories, gardencity principles and socialist ideals, the Czech shoe company Bata went on amission to “shoe the world“.In Zlin, in the Czech Republic, Bata built a first company town according tomodernist architectural precepts, testing the ideaof a model town that could be efficiently replicated.
TheseBata cities, soon to be exported all over the world, all combined the samecomponents: architecture, urban planning, management, social engineering andcommunication. Soon enough the Bata empire formed an international corporatenetwork of 80 Bata cities as places of production as well as a modern way oflife.
The exhibition introduces two Bata satellite towns,Batanagar (India) and East Tilbury (Great Britain); two places which havedeveloped in opposite directions depending on the remaining presence or finalabsence of the Bata production in the city. Not only does the showgive an insight into the complexities
TheseBata cities, soon to be exported all over the world, all combined the samecomponents: architecture, urban planning, management, social engineering andcommunication. Soon enough the Bata empire formed an international corporatenetwork of 80 Bata cities as places of production as well as a modern way oflife.
The exhibition introduces two Bata satellite towns,Batanagar (India) and East Tilbury (Great Britain); two places which havedeveloped in opposite directions depending on the remaining presence or finalabsence of the Bata production in the city. Not only does the showgive an insight into the complexities
