A I P O T U
SCENARIO 1 — COMMUNITY FARMERS VS. FIGHTERS Utopia
COMMUNITY/UTOPIA REFERENCES:
committed to living and creating in n Detroit Detroit. t..
Urban Farming – International non-profit headquartered
Ivan Illich – A philosopher pher who critiqued institutions nstitutio nstitution stitut titu
SCENARIO 1 — COMMUNITY Dystopia
in Detroit which intends to eradicate hunger while
rnization nization zation and ppr promoted ote deschoo oted oling o ng and and modernization deschooling
KEYWORDS: reciprocity, bottom-up, grass-roots, self-
The experience of economic hardship creates fear
Hit hard by the breakdown of auto industry, and no
increasing diversity, motivating youth and seniors and
education. informal e edu du duc ucation.
help, anarchism, ad-hoc collaboration.
and feelings of insecurity. As a result community
reliable welfare system offering help, people take
optimizing the production of unused land for good d and and
John anarchist Joh J hn F.C. Tu TTurner Tur rn ner – An an nar n arrchistt arc arc ar architectt who whose
development slowly leads to sectarianism.
matters in their own hands and create new community
alternative energy.
research rese sea ear arc rch since nce e the 660s hhas focused sed ed on the hee sspontaneous
organizations. They start using empty spaces to
The Power House Project oject j t – An off the th grid model mod dell home
start-up autonomous collective activities like urban
National Guard intervenes but can only temporarily
by Jean-Luc Nancy stating how our attempt to
an ideal community make an ‘avowal’ of membership
KEYWORDS: gated communities, gangs, tribalism,
keep groups separated.
design society according to pre-planned definitions
which is a violation of the terms themselves.
sects, rivalry, balkanization
frequently leads to social violence and political terror.
Communitas (1998) – A book written by Roberto
COMMUNITY/DYSTOPIA REFERENCES:
He searches to approach community in a non-religious,
Esposito presenting an original counter-history of
Dogville (2003) – A film directed by Lars von Trier which
non-utilitarian and un-political exegesis.
political philosophy starting at the etymological source
Collaborative ethos is lost to petty mentalities as
explores the price of goodness in a community.
The Unavowable Community (1983) – A book written
of community: cum munus. It states that community
organization organ niza ni zaa ation of sslums and poor settlements. ttle nts Forr his h
localism, survivalism and primitivism take over.
The Truman Show (1998) – A film directed by Peter Weir
by Maurice Blanchot, which makes an inquiry into
isn’t a property, nor is it a territory to be separated and
and social supplies al art project ctt by Design 99,, w wh which supp pllieess the
praise e off poor ind individual’s capacity tto establish sself-
Communities turn aggressive to outsiders and exclude
in which Truman finds out his whole life has been false
the nature and the possibility of community by asking
defended against those who do not belong to it. Rather,
farms and they engage in charitable enterprises for the
neighborhood hb borhood rhood with elect electr electricity.
networks, enthusiastically help ne net n tworks, his workk has been en tw
‘aliens’. Building communities further fragment the
and is in fact a reality TV show.
whether there can be a community of individuals that
it is a void, a debt, a gift to the others that also reminds
weakest members of their own communities.
YES Farm arrm – A group or arti artists art and urban ban an ffarmers
appropriated World Bank as a legitimation of approp app appr prop opriate ed by the Wo
city and militia type conflicts rule everyday life. The
The Inoperative Community (1982) – A book written
is truly ‘communal’. He argues that the very terms of
us of our constitutive alterity with respect to ourselves.
SCENARIO 2 — ART HIPPIES VS. YUPPIES Utopia
ART/UTOPIA REFERENCES:
City of Amsterdam. Its role is to find and develop more
their tthe heeir consequences ons onse ns ces ess on built b environ environm environment.
affordable studios and live/work spaces for artists and
SCENARIO 2 — ART Dystopia
ART/DYSTOPIA REFERENCES:
The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) – A book written
Neil Smith - The New Urban Frontier rba Fron ontier ntier ier er (1996) - Smith Sm h
Andrew Her Herscherr - From SoHo to Det Detro? A Hersche He Detr r (2009) -
by Richard Florida asserting that metropolitan regions
alternative cultural entrepreneurs.
The art hype attracts new investments – bars,
challenges wisdom, ess the conven convent conventional conventio wi w iisdom, sdom, dom, which holds
speculates intentions of artists Hersher spec pec tes es wetherr good g intent
Attracted by easy access to housing property, creative
with high concentrations of high-tech workers, artists,
galleries, foreign art agencies – in specific pockets of
gentrification gentrification gentrifi gentrific tion to be e th the simple ooutcome utcome tcome of changing changin
forces gentrification. are able to hol hhold ho d off the force
individuals from all over the world settle down in
musicians, lesbians and gay men, and a group he
KEYWORDS: creativity, bohemian, intellectual,
the city. Land rent rises and the oldcomers are push pushed us d
growing middle-class e c e-cl tastess and an a growi ing ngg demand for urban urba urb
Detroit to a new type of engaged art focused on the city’s
describes as ‘high bohemians’, correlate with a higher
freedom, liberal
out of their neighborhoods. Young, ng, g, urban professio professi professionalss
gentrification living, and emphasizes ess iin instead gen entrification ntrification rification ification as ppar part art of
KEY KEYWORDS: simulacra, fake, kitsch, camp, trompe
injustices. Artists prove themselves altruistic community
level of economic development. Florida posits the
are interested in buying ying g pprop propertyy in n this culturall culturally
larger a much large rger shift in the he ppolitical economy onomy nomyy and and culture
l’oeil, nostalgia, gentrification, culture industry
leaders who were committed to the socio-economic
theory that this creative class fosters an open, dynamic,
dynamic neighborhood. ghhborhood. orhood. Finally Finally, the th original iginal ginal artis artists who
of the late twe tw ttwentieth entieth century. ntu ntur
uplifting of their communities and others. General
personal and professional environment.
settled in the neighborhoods pushed ne eighborhoods ighborhoods ghborhoods are pu ushed out utt and an the
David Harv Harvey (2001) - Harvey explores D arvey rveyy - The Art rt of Rent (200
standard of living rises via jobs in a new service sector.
Bureau Broedplaatsen – Department set up by the
neighborhood be becomes ecomes comes omes uniform an aand d wealthy.
the global gglobalization globalization i and ccommodification of culture and
SCENARIO 3 — SPECTACLE WILDLIFE PARK VS. THEME PARK Utopia
imagination of Detroit as the city of wilderness enables
structure of linked transformable structures raised
legendary idyllic beach, untouched by tourism.
won World War II and now occupy the US seaboards.
KEYWORDS: the sublime, nihilism, nostalgia,
above the metropolis and populated by home ludens
Into the Wild (2007) – A film directed by Sean Penn in
SCENARIO 3 — SPECTACLE Dystopia
SPECTACLE/DYSTOPIA REFERENCES:
the birth of new forms of playful game park-life.
Unabomber Manifesto (1995) – A book written by
Midland America has been devaluated to a souvenir
melancholy, disneyfication, paranoia
(playing man), who had discarded the bourgeois
which a young man leaves his middle class existence
KEYWORDS: arcadia, noble savage, primitivism,
Counter-aesthetics of Detroit as the ruined or deserted
Theodore John Kaczynski a.k.a The Unabomber
shop; a historical reserve of a passing civilization.
The long-lasting economic crisis produces a most
SPECTACLE/UTOPIA REFERENCES:
shackles of work, family life, and civic responsibility.
in pursuit of freedom from relationships and obligation.
romanticism, new age, existentialism
city prove to be marketable. The city becomes branded.
asserting that the Industrial Revolution and its
Giovanni Battista Piranesi – Italian artist famous for
peculiar environment: a spectacular aesthetic of ruins
Homo Ludens (1938) – A book written by Johan Huizinga
This post-revolutionary individual would wander from
Giving up his home, family and all his possessions;
The environment and the history of the city are marketed
consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
his etchings of Rome’s ruins and his own fictitious
and wilderness. Some leaders in the city decide to strive
discussing the importance of the element of play in
one leisure environment to another in search of new
he embarks on a journey throughout America and his
and offered to film studios against reduced taxed.
Thus, we should revolt and discard all technology and
renderings, which are dominated by a sublime esthetic
for a new balance between housing and ecology, the
culture and society.
sensations.
eventual aim of Alaska to spend time with nature, with
Eventually, Detroit ruins are preserved or created
return to nature.
of monumentality and decay.
green city. Animals reclaim parts of the city; underground
New Babylon (1959-1974) – A utopian art project by
The Beach (2000) – A film directed by Danny Boyle
‘real’ existence and away from the trappings of the
artificially. Less impressive areas are turned into parking
The Man in the High Castle (1962) – A book written by
rivers and wetlands are recreated. An artistic re-
Constant Nieuwenhuys; New Babylon was a mega
following the adventures of a young man in search of a
lots. The city becomes a playground for tourists.
Philip K. Dick in which the Nazis and Japanese have
welfare state abolition policies in third world countries.
A I P O T S Y D
modern world.