A collective exhibition that invites us to reflect on the transformative power of utopia

This is not a documentary exhibition, nor an archive that traces the history of utopias, but rather a space for contemplating the creative power of utopia, its elusive or escapist nature, as well as its regenerative and reconstructive capacity. A proposal that reveals the potential and evocative, transformative force of the creative drive, while also warning of the dangers inherent in turning these ideas into reality.

Utopia is, in itself, a way of seeing and understanding reality within the context in which the twelve works featured in this exhibition emerge. A choral exhibition that invites us to connect the thought and work of six architects and three internationally renowned artists, as well as interdisciplinary teams that propose new collective utopias through artificial intelligence or algorithms that promote collaborative design between humans and machines.

An exhibition that urges us to rethink the system of social relations and architecture, or the space that fosters or hinders them.

An exhibition that offers no answers, yet encourages us to ask questions about the future we want to build.
“The exhibition is inspired by the work The Story of Utopias by historian and urban planner Lewis Mumford. In it, the author offers a critical assessment of utopian thought, weighing both its positive contributions and its weaknesses and burdens, and reflecting on its impact on the pursuit of a better future. Mumford distinguishes two ways of understanding utopian thought: one oriented towards escape—the so-called escape utopias—and another centered on reconstruction,” explains the curator of the Basque Country International Architecture Biennial Mugak/, María Arana.

Good Places Nowhere

In 1516, Thomas More published Utopia, the work in which the term first appeared, destined to shape the political imagination of subsequent centuries. More plays on a double meaning: eutopia, the “good place,” and outopia, the “no place.” Within this tension opens a horizon where the desire for a better world intertwines with the impossibility of locating it on a map.

In New Babylon by Constant, Juan Pro revisits this duality and frames it as the very core of the utopian impulse: the projection of a better place which, precisely because it does not exist, becomes a motor of imagination and change.

This idea resonates with the historical trajectory outlined by Lewis Mumford in The Story of Utopias, where he asserts that the history of utopias is, in a certain sense, the history of the world.

According to Mumford, many utopias arise as a rejection of the social and cultural context of their time and present themselves in two main forms: escape utopias, which flee from reality, and regenerative ones, which seek to transform it. He also warns of the dangerous proximity between dystopia and realized utopia: once the ideal takes form, it runs the risk of degenerating into its opposite.

Today, utopias seem to have fallen into disrepute. The prevailing pragmatism limits the space for imagining better futures, and dystopia has become the usual backdrop of our realities. However, utopia remains a powerful critical tool, capable of inspiring transformations and motivating social change, as well as offering a field of experimentation for architecture.

We must not forget the dangers of a time unwilling to embrace the utopian. As Paul Ricoeur once reminded us, a society without utopia is a society without purpose. That is why, in the face of dystopian resignation, utopia endures as a vital exercise: a no-place from which to imagine better futures.

Access the exhibition dossier here.