Exploring Utopias is an interactive light installation that visualises the way in which we identify utopian cities, giving insight into what might make these cities perfect. The installation highlights the symbols, patterns and visual systems that can logically be identified throughout a series of drawn maps of utopias, creating a visual relationship between the figures. The theorised models of utopian cities drawn by philosophers including Sir Thomas More (Utopia), Sir Ebenezer Howard (Garden City) and Tommaso Campanella (City of the Sun) are compared against cities that exist today speculating whether utopian ideals and design informed the planning of these cities. The notion of a utopia is materialised with perfect laser engraved perspex capturing the shapes and negative spaces that create utopian cities. However through the illuminated LED frame, the reality of the utopia is revealed. Utopian cities can be visually drawn to be perfect however when left for humanity to build and populate flaw is inevitable, as is the case of the hand engraved maps. Exploring Utopias borders the area of informative and speculative design, providing viewers with the visual information to speculate on utopic design and the meaning of visual systems seen across the maps.
