Exhibition Open House: Practical Utopias

A guided tour and conversation on the Center for Architecture's exhibition, Practical Utopias: Global Urbanism in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

Practical Utopias presents a body of recent work by American and other international firms in five cities across East Asia.

Practical utopias are supertall towers, multi-use megablocks, public infrastructure, revitalized historic districts, and transit-based developments with common attributes that are as philosophical as they are programmatic. They are Connected: networked to cutting-edge technological systems and infrastructure allowing rapid access to adjacent urban fabric, airports, and the rest of the world; Dense: accommodating large numbers of people in extremely efficient spaces that reflect a premium on being located in the city center; Green: conceived with explicit environmental agendas; Thick: three-dimensional and layered in their programs; and Fun: bringing together cultural and recreational elements with other programs to enhance their role as spaces of both work and leisure.