Paradise Lost. From Eutopia to Atopia

Abstract

At the origin of every architectural and city project, there is a nostalgia for Paradise or the aspiration to build this wonderful
place we have lost. Visions, architecture and city projects are necessarily prophetic images in search of a happy life on
Earth. Every proposal for the city, every project, and every plan is a Utopia, an ideal place which aspires to become Eutopia.
However, given the many visions and proposals, we can ask ourselves whether these Utopias have fulfilled their promise
to achieve a good place or are dystopias. In light of this unknown factor, this paper intends to reflect on some visions and
proposals of the city. Some of them constitute the foundations of urban planning – like Howar’s Garden City, Wright’s
Broadacre City, Le Corbusier’s Radiant City, the functional city of CIAM – others, elaborated by Erwin Anton Gutkind, Iannis
Xenakis, Constantinos Doxiadis, Takis Zenetos, originated from different assumptions, deluding themselves that they are
solving the problems of the contemporary city or represent its last frontier, such as the Smart City.