Topologies: The urban utopia in France, 1960--1970.

摘要

This dissertation examines the utopian architectural and urban designs of a specific group of practitioners in France during the decade of the 1960s. The study focuses on the architects, artists, critics, and theorists associated with the Groupe International d'Architecture Prospective, founded by the critic Michel Ragon in 1965. The diverse work of the individuals associated with the GIAP is described in relation to the socio-political context of France and the world during this period. Specifically, the dissertation discusses the debates about urban design in Paris during the mid-sixties, developments in scientific technology and the social sciences, as well as contemporaneous developments in architectural and artistic practice. The term “topology” is discussed as it related to both the mathematical determination of structures in engineering and space frame design, as well as its popular dissemination in architectural, urban, and artistic discourse. The aim of the study is to describe the complex cultural and ideological issues that faced this avant-garde during a period of intense social change.