The Century That Never Happened:
The 20th century taught us that utopian thinking can have precarious consequences, wagering the fate of mankind on the uncertain outcome of grand intellectual speculations. But, if the course of history is dialectic, what follows? Does the 21st century mark the absence of utopias? Isn’t that equally dangerous, if not more?
What are the risks of realism? What ensues in the wake of an almost universal realization that what is good and what works are not necessarily the same? What are the dangers of a world that embraces a definitive divorce between what is just and what is effective?
Reinier de Graaf:
Reinier de Graaf is a partner of OMA. He directs the work of AMO, the research and design studio established as a counterpart to OMA’s architectural practice. De Graaf has taught research studios at Strelka, The Berlage Institute, and is currently a Visiting Critic at PennDesign, the graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania.
