3.9.1967
On the morning of Sunday 3 September 1967, Sweden enacted one of the most ambitious infrastructural and socio-technical transformations in its history: the shift from left- to right-hand traffic, also…
Actor-Networks of Active Mobility in German Riverfront Redevelopments
This paper focuses on the integration of active mobility in German riverfront redevelopment projects through the perspective of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) (Latour, 2005). The research traces the socio…
Alptransit Ticino
In 1992, a Swiss referendum gave the green light to the Alptransit high-speed rail line, a complex infrastructural project destined to redefine travel across the Alpine region. In response to the init…
Alternative Urban Forms: The Character of Superimposition in Urban Contexts
In the context of urban studies of the second half of the twentieth century, several contributions proposed a reflection on alternative urban forms. In particular, various experiments addressed the is…
Between Utopia and History
“Any map of the world that does not include Utopia is not even worth glancing at.”— Oscar Wilde (1891) [then quoted by Lewis Mumford (1921), Bernardo Secchi (2005)] Utopia has always been adopted as a…
Circular Utopia
The paper explores Giuseppe Perugini and Uga de Plaisant’s visionary infrastructural utopia for the bridge over the Stretto di Messina, conceived for the 1969 competition. Far from conventional engine…
Keep Your Eyes on the Road Ahead
Utopian thinking has long functioned as a critical tool for testing possible futures and responding to challenges of its time. In the mid-20th century, a period marked by rapid suburban expansion and …
Tange as a Tool for Tabula Rasa
The advent of the modern metropolis unleashed innovative urban visions developed in the sixties specifically for Tokyo Bay by the architects of the Metabolism Group. Changing definitely the way of thi…
The Invention of the Carscape
Exactly a hundred years ago, the Western world was pervaded by a frenetic enthusiasm for a new invention that began to invade cities: the automobile. While poets and painters devoted their imagination…
Villa Nautilius
Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin were part of the Russian avant-garde of the 1980’s, forming the group BR:UT. Known for their numerous series of etchings produced between 1980 and 1990, they brought t…