The Last Utopians
The late 1960s saw the last surge of utopian thinking in the 20th century. Visionaries on both sides of the Cold War envisaged new ways of living.
Radical design groups in the West, with names and images like rock bands, used architecture to challenge social conformity. In the Eastern Bloc, a new generation brought a cosmic sensibility to design.
Many of the most startling schemes reworked Cold War technologies. Inflatable buildings, geodesic domes and electronic media, once conscripted for military use, were now re-imagined as tools for nomadic life or instruments to liberate mind and body.
However idealistic, these schemes were often marked by a dark undertone of irony. At a time of accelerating concern with the effects of militarism and consumerism on the earth, uncritical celebration of technology was increasingly hard to sustain.
A Blow-up World
The US military deployed inflatable buildings as protective covering for radar installations in the 1950s. In the 1960s, young architects and designers were inspired by these pneumatic structures. Light and portable, they were adopted as a critique of the inertia and monumentality of conventional architecture and furnishings.
Soft Machines
In 1960, NASA scientists predicted the rise of the 'cyborg', a man-machine hybrid. In the late 1960s, artists and designers adapted this idea by augmenting the body with sensory devices and communication tools. Unlike the life-supporting spacesuits worn by astronauts in deep space, these designs were to be tools for expanding the consciousness and the sensory capacities of the wearer.
Critical Utopias
Cold War competition had seen design and architecture deployed to demonstrate the superiority of either Soviet-style socialism or Western capitalism.
In the late 1960s, architects and designers came to reflect on the impact of this contest on the planet. Utopian schemes of the age were often underscored by critical attitudes. How, they asked, can we exploit new technology for the benefit of humanity without producing inhuman effects? How might it be possible to live modern lives without spoiling our planet?
These questions remain just as pressing today.
Using the timeline
- Click and drag the grey slider below the dates to advance the timeline.
- Click any yellow dot to see information about an object.
- Click one of the yellow exhibition section titles below the timeline to filter the visible objects.
- Click the same section title a second time to clear the filter.
Your Comments
i came to visit this exhibition yesterday and wondered if you could help with naming a piece from this 'the last utopian' section, it was on the left hand side as soon as walked in, it was a set of two pieces of work, both photo montages. thanks
Hi Louise, If I've followed your directions correctly I think the two pieces you are referring to are 'Instant City, Tuned Suburb' (parts 1 & 2), 1968, by Archigram (Ron Herron, 1930-94)
What an excellent exhibition. One of the most stimulating and informative that I have visited in a long time.
I visited the exhibition today and found it fascinating, thought-provoking, and maybe just a little disturbing as well. The Home of the Future, which could almost have been buried in the ground, in which everything was artificial or synthetic, looked truly horrible and I'm glad nothing like that has come to pass! Great range of exhibits showing both the best and the worst of man's endeavours in a fascinating period.
You make a comment about the effects of militarism and consumerism on the Earth. These are two words connected more with America in the mind of the general public. For the sake of correct information and education of the young visitors, something should be said about the effect of planned communist economy and forced industrialization on the environment in Eastern Europe and Russia. Also, no images of the 'beautiful' socialist architecture, endless rows of grey blocks of flats where people suffered cold and hunger? So much for the communist governments to compete to better their citizens' lives!
This was a brilliantly curated exhibtion, I loved the range of thought provoking, frightening and sometimes hilarious objects that characterised cold war paranoia. Just wondering if the film ¨¨Supersurface¨¨ (Supersurficie) is available online anywhere? I´ve had no luck finding it on youtube... I love crazy Italian 70´s utopianism with long unpunctuated sentences and pseudo mathematical voice overs giving me intense feelings of psychosexual liberation and well being!