RMITLA10-TF3&H3: Pragmatic Utopia

COPENHAGEN HARBOUR BATH

WELFAIRYTALES,
DANISH PAVILION, SHANGHAIWORLD EXPO 2010

DARWIN'S EVOLUTIONARY BRANCH DIAGRAM

An unexplored overlapping

Rowan Dawson S3168008

The Dutch architectural firm BIG (Bjarke Ingles Group) describes the need for the current discourse to move towards a ‘pragmatic utopian architecture’¹ in order to rise to the challenges presented by today’s modern living. BIG believes that there exists a relatively unexplored overlapping between the pragmatic and utopian schools of thought where therein lies a fertile pool of ideas suitable for today’s architectural requirements.² Given that pragmatism and utopianism are essentially paradoxically opposed, are BIG’s claims for a ‘new architecture’³ the answer to our current design dilemmas or are they fundamentally floored?

Pragmatic thinking emphasizes the practicality of ideas and knowledge with their application in the real world⁴, whilst utopian thinking ‘visualizes ideals of humanity living in complete peace and harmony with the natural world’.⁵ Both diametrically oppose each other, one consists of practical solutions while the later attempts to deny the nature of our reality foremost.

Based in Copenhagen, BIG plays a substantial role in the ongoing international success of Danish architecture, a success often attributed to ‘a pragmatic approach to sustainable design and quality of life’⁶. So where does Utopianism fit into it? BIG projects such as the Copenhagen Harbour Bath utilise avant-garde styled proposals ‘to expand the public domain beyond the boundaries of dry land into a harbour with a history of heavy marine industry’⁷ for instance, the result however appears to be quite pragmatic and highly successful in the real world.

I propose that inarguably these opposed fields of philosophy could never be unified in the form of architectural realisation, however is does seem possible for them to play vital roles in the design process. Bouncing ideas back and forth between the two, evolving and mutating as they go along⁸ seems to have real potential, as the BIG portfolio so elegantly demonstrates. The result of such a process integration, when brought fourth into reality becomes firmly pragmatic yet somehow majestically inspired.

WEBSITES

¹ Taken from

http://www.big.dk/download/BIG_PROFILE.pdf [accessed 10/08/10]

² Adapted from

http://www.big.dk/download/BIG_PROFILE.pdf [accessed 10/08/10]

³ Adapted from

http://www.ted.com/talks/bjarke_ingels_3_warp_speed_architecture_tales.html [accessed 12/08/10]

⁴ Adapted from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473717/pragmatism [accessed 12/08/10]

⁵ Taken from

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC29/Kasprzyk.htm [accessed 12/08/10]

⁶ Taken from