2024-05-04T02:50:01-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149966331/documentary-seeks-funding-to-finish-tour-of-uk-engineered-social-utopias Julia Ingalls 2016-09-01T13:03:00-04:00 >2016-09-04T23:42:41-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f5/f5d106twaj8r6tx1.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>What are dreams made of? More importantly, how are these dreams executed, and how do we live in the corresponding gap between vision and reality? For the residents of the U.K. towns Basildon and Essex, who dwell in post-World War II "New Towns" designed to be social utopias, their struggles to thrive in a globalized reality are being chronicled in the documentary "New Town Utopias." The filmmakers, who have shot over 100 hours of footage, are currently seeking funding via <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/301810924/new-town-utopia" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> to help them complete the film.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/91/910o1gh3ddyqtt2t.jpg"></p><p>While the film centers around the creative community, it also investigates the larger historical questions of place and belonging. As the Kickstarter description notes, "It is a meditation on British social history that asks the question:&nbsp;<em>do people make the place&hellip; or does a place make the people?"</em></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/kk/kks3c7jbkd5t45od.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/oj/ojc06ztk7sl6evy4.jpg"></p><p>For more on innovative architectural documentaries:</p><ul><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149941590/b-ka-lemoine-s-cinematic-canon-acquired-by-moma" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">B&ecirc;ka &amp; Lemoine's cinematic canon acquired by MoMA</a></li><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/149965913/20-excellent-films-that-feature-cities-as-principal-characters" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">20 excellent films that feature cities as principal characters</a></li><li><a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/144590554/john-lautner-hits-the-silver-screen" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Lautner hits...</a></li></ul> https://archinect.com/news/article/149963971/the-wish-machine-by-autoban-part-of-the-london-design-biennale-invites-visitors-to-walk-through-a-tunnel-made-of-transparent-hexagonal-tubes Ellen Hancock 2016-08-18T11:38:00-04:00 >2016-08-22T00:07:14-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/fo/fo0m185kys1xjg1v.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>This September the first ever London Design Biennale will take place at Somerset House with featured projects from over thirty countries. The inaugural show is themed 'Utopia by Design' and celebrates the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More's classic,&nbsp;<em>Utopia&nbsp;</em>(1516).</p><p>Turkey's contribution to the biennale is 'The Wish Machine' designed by Istanbul-based multidisciplinary design studio, Autoban. The installation is inspired by the cultural tradition of threading a note or memento&nbsp;to the&nbsp;branch of a tree as an act of hope born out of hopelessness.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/fq/fqko8yxc9fy5mz7e.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/qg/qg29otwsz8ovve7t.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/dy/dymktt5wcjpij7wa.jpg"></p><p><em>' The installation located in West Wing G1A at Somerset House appears as an interactive pneumatic system operating in a mirrored space. Visitors will be invited to walk through a tunnel that is made of transparent hexagonal tubes. They will share their hopes and wishes,&nbsp;</em><em>vision</em><em>&nbsp;of utopias, and aspiration for the future, by writing them on paper, and feeding them to the Wish Machine through a lid at the dead end. Notes will the...</em></p>