If you begin looking into the history of vegetarianism, you’ll find that Kansas pops up over and over again. The state, now much better known for BBQ, was once the planned site for a particularly striking vegetarian utopia: Octagon City. Its strict geometric plan was a grand, city-scale expression of a mid-18th century fad for octagon houses.
The colonization of Earth’s orbit, the Moon, Mars, and other planets still promises a kind of space utopia for Homo sapiens. Since the second half of the 20th century, more and more concepts have imagined how it could be possible for humans to live in permanent habitats beyond our planet. The following 28 images show some of the boldest, most utopian dreams we could have.
There are all kinds of different utopian visions in the world. But which ones are the best? Today we have the definitive (and comprehensive) list of utopias ranked from least amazing to most amazing.
Has civilization got you down? Ever wanted to leave this culture behind and start over? Now you can. Producers have issued a casting call for Utopia, a new reality show that is pretty much exactly what you think it is—15 strangers, picked to live on a farm and build their own society from scratch.
Frank Lloyd Wright was arrogant, stubborn, and brilliant. But above all, he was a shrewd businessman who understood the importance of spectacle in keeping his business afloat. Wright put on many shows over the course of his lifetime, but arguably no performance was greater than his utopian plan to create the perfect community: Broadacre City.
In 1970, George Lucas needed dozens of actors with shaved heads for his sci-fi dystopian movie THX 1138. He had trouble filling the roles at first, since so few actresses wanted to cut their locks, but Lucas eventually found the extras he needed in a strange utopian community where everyone worshipped sobriety and expressed solidarity by shaving their heads. It was called Synanon, and over the course of three decades it would become one of the weirdest and most vindictive cults of the 20th century.
Utopia is one of the most loaded words in the English language. Utopia is perfection; utopia is unachievable; utopia is no place. Which is precisely what makes it so interesting. And why this week Gizmodo is taking a look at all things utopian.
Touring around California, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re living in the future, and not just because of the Silicon Valley wizardry that surrounds us all. We also have to thank Hollywood’s movie magic, which has turned the state into a backdrop for countless science fiction films presenting futures both terrible and wondrous. It’s not just that so many are filmed here—writers and filmmakers have been exploring the future through California sets for decades.
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Some of the most famous cities in history were never built. These 10 Utopian cities may have been failures, but they expressed our ideas about what the future of human civilization could look like. And many ideas contained in them continue to influence us today.
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There’s nothing like staring at the onset of a new year and making predictions on what the next 150 years will look like. Silly predictions are the best! BBC cooked up some ideas and gave odds on what they think will happen in the next 150 years ranging from most likely to least likely and if it’ll lead to utopia or dystopia. More »
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