Invisible Spaces: Attempts at Utopia (Thesis)
The word utopia is commonly understood to mean an ideal or perfect place, but in reality, the root of the word means ‘no place’. Utopia has long been suspended between the possible and the impossible, taking on different forms as people have attempted to create it throughout history. This thesis explores various manifestations and interpretations of utopia in art, architecture, and literature, focusing on examples that embody the idea of utopia as a nonexistent space.
The book’s contents seek to examine utopia at multiple levels, with each chapter split into an introductory section giving an overview of the particular medium, and a more nuanced secondary section focusing on a case study that showcases a manifestation of utopia. The different sections explore attempts to create utopias that are imagined, unbuilt, or otherwise impossible creations, with writings that detail these attempts and their lessons. The book itself plays with ideas of space, using the content to both create and subtract space on the page to create unconventional layouts that challenge spatial norms. Together, these elements help to heighten the impact and allure that these utopias hold. This thesis aims to show that we are continuously inspired to create our own vision of utopia, despite its impossibility.
The book’s contents seek to examine utopia at multiple levels, with each chapter split into an introductory section giving an overview of the particular medium, and a more nuanced secondary section focusing on a case study that showcases a manifestation of utopia. The different sections explore attempts to create utopias that are imagined, unbuilt, or otherwise impossible creations, with writings that detail these attempts and their lessons. The book itself plays with ideas of space, using the content to both create and subtract space on the page to create unconventional layouts that challenge spatial norms. Together, these elements help to heighten the impact and allure that these utopias hold. This thesis aims to show that we are continuously inspired to create our own vision of utopia, despite its impossibility.
This book was completed as a Communication Design BFA thesis at Washington University in St. Louis in Spring 2019.
