Sign-In
Cart
The Shape of Utopia: The Architecture of Radical Reform in Nineteenth-Century America
Hardcover
19th Century United States HistoryArchitecture History
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN13: 9781517907457
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Pr
Published: Aug 1 2023
Pages: 376
Language: English
How nineteenth-century social reformers devised a new set of radical blueprints for society
In the middle of the nineteenth century, a utopian impulse flourished in the United States through the circulation of architectural and urban plans predicated on geometrically distinct designs. Though the majority of such plans remained unrealized, The Shape of Utopia emphasizes the enduring importance of these radical propositions and their ability to visualize alternatives to what was then a newly emerging capitalist nation.Drawing diagrammatic plans for structures such as octagonal houses, a hexagonal anarchist city, and circular centers of equitable commerce, these various architectural utopians applied geometric forms to envision a more just and harmonious society. Highlighting the inherent political capacity of architecture, Irene Cheng showcases how these visionary planners used their blueprints as persuasive visual rhetoric that could mobilize others to share in their aspirations for a better world.
Offering an extensive and uniquely focused view of mid-nineteenth-century America's rapidly changing cultural landscape, this book examines these utopian plans within the context of significant economic and technological transformation, encompassing movements such as phrenology, anarchism, and spiritualism. Engaging equally with architectural history, visual culture studies, and U.S. history, The Shape of Utopia documents a pivotal moment in American history when ordinary people ardently believed in the potential to reshape society.
Also from
Cheng, Irene
Also in
Architecture History
The Power of Place: Rulers and Their Palaces, Landscapes, Cities, and Holy Places
Rollason, David
Hardcover
Rural Utopia and Water Urbanism: The Modern Village in Franco's Spain
LeJeune, Jean-François
Paperback
A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture
McAlester, Virginia Savage
Paperback
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: Landscape Monuments of the Ancient Ohio Valley
Hancock, John E.
Hardcover
The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers
McKissack Daniel, Cheryl
Hardcover
The Golden Age of Normandale: An Illustrated Remembrance of Montgomery's Legendary Shopping Center
Moseley, Willie G.
Paperback
Men at Work: The Empire State Building and the Untold Story of the Craftsmen Who Built It
Kurtz, Glenn
Hardcover
Frédéric Chaubin. Cccp. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. 45th Ed.
Chaubin, Frédéric
Hardcover
The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome
Morrissey, Jake
Paperback
The Divine Blueprint: Temples, power places, and the global plan to shape the human soul.
Silva, Freddy
Paperback
Nineteen Reservoirs: On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
Sante, Lucy
Paperback
The One World Tartarians (Black and White): The Greatest Civilization Ever Erased From History
Lee, James W.
Paperback
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Hardcover
New York 2020: Architecture and Urbanism at the Beginning of a New Century
Tilove, Jacob
Stern, Robert A. M.
Fishman, David
Hardcover
The Great Miscalculation: The Race to Save New York City's Citicorp Tower
Greenburg, Michael M.
Hardcover
The Stage of Time: Secrets of the Past, The Nature of Reality, and the Ancient Gods of History
LaCroix, Matthew R.
Paperback
Cathedrals: Masterpieces of Architecture, Feats of Engineering, Icons of Faith
Jenkins, Simon
Hardcover
Antifascist Architecture: A Genealogy of Antifascist Architects, Buildings, History, and Theory
Santa Lucia, Andrew
Roche, Daniel Jonas
Paperback
Fausto & Felice Niccolini. Houses and Monuments of Pompeii. 45th Ed.
Schütze, Sebastian
Kockel, Valentin
Hardcover
Barragán Outside Barragán: A Journey Through Books, Trips, Exhibitions and Friends
Barragan, Luis
Canales, Fernanda
Paperback
Welcome to Paradox City: A Critical History of Dallas as Told Through Its Architecture
Lamster, Mark
Hardcover
Restoring Notre-Dame de Paris: Rebirth of the Legendary Gothic Cathedral
Zachmann, Patrick
de Chalus, Olivier
Hardcover
The Sea Ranch, Revised: Fifty Years of Architecture, Landscape, Place, and Community on the Northern California Coast
Lyndon, Donlyn
Alinder, Jim
Hardcover
100 Turn-Of-The-Century Brick Bungalows with Floor Plans
Rogers & Manson
Manson
Manson, Rogers &.
Paperback
A Year at Highclere: Secrets and Stories from the Real Downton Abbey
The Countess of Carnarvon
Hardcover
Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings -- Revised and Updated
Dupré, Judith
Hardcover
Historic Homes of the Old West Side: The neighborhood at the heart of the planned city of Longview, Washington
Baxter a. I. a. Emeritus, Fred J.
Paperback
Oblique Experiments: Claude Parent's Architectural Installations (1969-1975)
Siddiqui, Igor
Paperback
Frank Lloyd Wright in the Movies: Iconic California Sites on Film
Puliatti, Joel
Wilson, Mark Anthony
Paperback