German Expressionism and Italian Futurism--Utopian Architecture Essay Example
Utopias, by definition, are something too good to be realized. Utopian ideas have long existed throughout the human history of civilization and they did not come from a vacuum: they carry political connotations. They are often depicted as a place like paradise in an age of gold. They have to be elsewhere and happen in the lost past or a future that is beyond reach. According to sociologist Karl Mannheim, utopias are the opposition’s means to replace an established order. He wrote: ‘[Utopias are] in condensed form the unrealized and unfulfilled tendencies which represent the needs of each age.’ Since utopias reflect the needs of common people, they have the power of orientating the masses. Although they may be the outcome of a spontaneous response to the status quo, they are subject to political manipulations.
Utopias were not favored in capitalist society because the ever-expanding individuality preempts the need for a utopian society. Neither did the socialist states endorse utopias due to the belief that Marxists’ socialism was a scientific one. The fact that Stalin’s social realism stifled all utopian avant-gardes was evident. However, utopias were a powerful force in the grey areas where the current status quo was too dissatisfying. Germany in and after the First World War and Italy from Risorgimento to Mosolini’s Fascist regime were two places of this kind. Two artistic movements emerged at this time: German Expressionism and Italian Futurism, pioneered respectively by two imaginative architects: Bruno Taut and Sant’Elia.
Although utopias seem to be discarded after World War II, they are worth examining. Both Bruno Taut and Sant’Elia’s architecture drawings were unrealistic, but they had socio-psychological reasons behind them. In Lecture on Utopia and Ideology, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur distinguished the negative and positive sides of utopias. For him, the negativity of utopias is the fact that they are social dreaming with no intention
Utopias were not favored in capitalist society because the ever-expanding individuality preempts the need for a utopian society. Neither did the socialist states endorse utopias due to the belief that Marxists’ socialism was a scientific one. The fact that Stalin’s social realism stifled all utopian avant-gardes was evident. However, utopias were a powerful force in the grey areas where the current status quo was too dissatisfying. Germany in and after the First World War and Italy from Risorgimento to Mosolini’s Fascist regime were two places of this kind. Two artistic movements emerged at this time: German Expressionism and Italian Futurism, pioneered respectively by two imaginative architects: Bruno Taut and Sant’Elia.
Although utopias seem to be discarded after World War II, they are worth examining. Both Bruno Taut and Sant’Elia’s architecture drawings were unrealistic, but they had socio-psychological reasons behind them. In Lecture on Utopia and Ideology, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur distinguished the negative and positive sides of utopias. For him, the negativity of utopias is the fact that they are social dreaming with no intention