/ / L : _ , I ...( f e S ij · k J ~ c s U \ Y C S e t c l W O O ® ® c l ~ ~ ~ ~ ® [ p e t y ~ ~ m m i1 I PREMONITIONS OF.THE MYSTICAL REBI RTH OF URBANI SM SUPERSTUDIO evoke twelve visions of ideal citles. the supreme achievement of twenty thousand years of civilization, blood, sweat an d tear s; the final haven of Ma n in pos session o f Truth, free from contradiction, equivocation and indecision; totally and fur ever replete with his OWII PERFECTION . First city 2,OOO-ton city Ev e n and perfect, the city lies amid green lawns , sunny hills an d wooded mo untains;slim, t al l sheets of co ntinuous buildings intersect in a ri go rous, s q u ar e m e sh , on e league a part. T h e b u il d in g s , ur rather the si ng le , un in terrupted building c o n sis t s o f c ubic c e ll s 5 cubits cadi w ay; the se c el ls a rc placed on e un to p of a not her in a single vertical st ack, rea ching a height o f a third of a leag u e ab ove sea-level, so that th e rel ative height uf t h e b u il d in g varies in relation to th e level o f th e ground on which it ris es . Each c el l ha s tw o ex t c r na l w al l s. Cell w al ls a rc uf opaq ue ma t er ial, porou s to air, rigid , bu t l ig ht . T he wall fa cing n orth or i f this i s an ex t ernal wall , th e wall' fac ing west) is capabl e u f e mi tt in g 3 1> ima ges , so unds an d smell s, Against th e op p osite wall is a seat capable of mould ing perfectly to th e human b ody, even of enclosing it co m pletely . Incurporated in this scat is an apparatus fur all ' .ph ysi ological ne eds. Whe n n ot in u sc, this membr an e an d all apparatu s withdraw a nd the w ll reforms . Th l1uor is a simulator, a nd can evoke all sensations of living things . Th e ceilin g isa bruin-impulse-receiver. In each cell is an individual wh o se brain i mpulses a rc co n tinually tran smitted t o a n electronic a n a l ys e r sci at the to p u f th e build ing, beneath a c ontinu ou s semi -cyli nd r ical vault . The anal yser s elects, compar es an d i nterprets th e de s ires o f ea ch indi vidual, pr ogramming t he li fe o f the entire city moment by moment . All citi zens arc in a state of per fee t equality. Death no l o n g er e x i st s. S ometimes so meone indulge s in absurd thoughts of r ebellion a gainst the p erfect a nd e ternal life g ra nted him : At fir st t he a n al yser ign or e s th e bu t if it is , the ma n wh o has s hown himself unworth y i s rejected . Th e ceiling panel descend s with a f or ce of tw o thousand tons until t reaches th e Ilour. At this point, in this marvellous economy, another life i s initiated . The panel r eturn s t o it s original height, and a ll t he individuals livin g in cells within a distance of a quarter uf a league from th e empty cell donate an ovum or a group o f spermatozoa, arc orted in c hannels c reated fo r t h is in a ma d race t o the now-empty seal. Here, an ovum is fertilized an d the seat is transformed into a uterus, protect ing t he new so n uf the city for nine munths, until his happy dawn . Second city Temporal cochlea-city 111 e f l oo r o f th e c el ls i s s oft, all ap p aratu s required f u r the sa tisfacti on o f indi vidual l iv in g n eeds arc hidden i n the c eiling an d al e T he city is an endless s c r ew , 4,5 Krn . tete-contr olled . T h e e n ti re c it y is in diameter , completing one c li rn at iz ed at a co n stant 25 °C. with r evol ution a year. 60% humidity. Each cu ll i s vons tan tly Its lower extremity, f a ci n g t he centre lit to an intensity of l5 0 lux; the o f th e earth, consists uf a n excavating roads arc illuminated 10 an intensity apparatus (a kind o f turbin e, with of 500 lux; this light contains all th e b lades) that , i n revolving . crushes wavelengths of th c visible spectrum; ro c k, forcing all matter towards the t hat of the roads als u co nt ai n s s nwll ce ntre o f th e cylinder and through a quantities o f ultra-violet l ight. d uc t up t o t h e g r o un d . Above th e 111e ce lls have n o s ystem f or t urbine is the propulsion apparatu s, ' ; clos ing o r screening . a n a tomic p o w er c e nt r e et t o last Inhabitants live on e to a cell, an d 1 0,000 years and the automatic lant . sse ss no clothes or other objects an d electronic computers that centro t .e ca us e t he c it y provides for their the city . every need . They are absolutely fr el' TIle upper extremity grows to act an d o r g an i ze t h e ir lives, both gradually , remaining co s tantly at as indiv iduals ami a s a c ommunity; to t he le vel of the ground outside , be alone ; tu gather i n group s; t G rowth i s realized through the create laws or regulat ion s; the un ly c ontinuous c onstruction o f n ew restriction is that they cann ot go se ct ions uf ci t y by means of an outside the ci t y b ecau se the up p er automatic bu ilding-site pla ced like a ends o f th e circular road s arc cl osed bridge between th e centre an d the b y th e automatic building - site . perimeter. On t hi s site , r uck detritus Each cell contains all automatic from th e excavations at the bottom is obstetrician wh ich, a p p lie d to th e used as building material. abdomen u f the future mother , Th e city is composed of extracts the foetus painlessly. Th e living-cells arranged in a double row baby is transported by pipeline to a o f concentri c circle s, Between cell i n th e new ly-built section, wh ere the two contiguous circl es o f cell s it is ted and looked utter ru n s a ruadwu y .T ach cell has a single automaticall y. Only in thi s phase i s o p e n in g , a door giving o n t o th e the door o f the c e ll sca le d b y a s tel' circular ro adway: the uther three pa nel. F u r fo ur year s the child w alls backing onto other c el ls a rc remain s in hi , c ell , during which t ime totally opaque an d so undproof. he learns t h e e t h ic s a mi working o r h is city . Thcreut tcr the me t al door slide s away and disappears forever i nt o th e wall . Malerials us ed for building the c it y rema in unalter ed for a centur y , without ma intenance ; then they b eg in to degenerate; this is also true uf tile equipment a n d m ac h in ery. Naturally, load -bearing structures a nd the general equipment of th e city arc a ll e x ception. Th e inhabitant s s pend a l ot o f time i ll the ro ads ncar their c ells; ottcn , in gr oup s or a lone, they c limb the s piral wa d , until th ey rea ch th e childre u'« zone J J hcy on d , into tile la st four d e s er t ed and si lent s pirals where the newburn bab ies li v e . Orte n, pla cing their hands an d cars a gainst the warm, v ibrat ing metal walls of tlie building-site, they try tu penetrate the mystery o f t h e o u t si d e world. But it is rare for someone to go down the r oa d b ey o nd tile z o ne of e xt rcme uld age , into the spirals o f de cay and putr efaction of t hings an d ru cu , an d ye t further int o th e uncertain light an d th e h eat , i n to th e s pirals s cattered with detritu s, dust . hones. until t h ey r ea ch the dark, s uffocating an d vibra nt zones s piralling toward s i ndefinite depths . 737
