A VISION OF AN IDEAL WORLD: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S «BROADACRE CITY» CONCEPT

SA.
2023;
: 176-184
Authors:
1
Lviv Polytechnic National University, Department of Design and Architectural Fundamentals

In the first half of the 20th century, architects and urban planners actively sought alternative models of urban life, sought to rethink the anthropogenic environment. American architect F. Lloyd Wright proposed the «Broadacre City» concept, which was described in his book «The Disappearing City». This concept is a reflection of the author's utopian vision of improving the social system, ensuring the equality of citizens and moving away from overpopulated cities.

The aim of this article is: to determine the main characteristics of F. Lloyd Wright's utopian concept «Broadacre city»; to highlight the architectural features of various types of buildings and structures; to compare his work with the works of utopians who could have an influence on the concept.

F. Lloyd Wright proposes to give each citizen of the country a plot of 1 acre for housing and farming, and the rest of the territory to be evenly distributed among public buildings and structures, namely: airfields, power plants, hotels, offices, farms, factories, hospitals, public centers, schools and universities, shopping and entertainment centers and gas stations.

The article highlighted the leading signs that demonstrate the utopian nature of the concept, namely: the presence of features of transcendentalism, egalitarianism, economic self-sufficiency of the proposed urban formations, decentralization and adaptability and flexibility of urban planning solutions. F. Lloyd Wright's work is compared with the works of utopians who could influence the concept of «Broadacre city»: R. Owen, S. Fourier, E. Cabet, E. Bellamy, W. Morris, E. Howard. This demonstrates that nominally this concept has all the features of a utopia, except for those that are not considered characteristic of architectural and urban development, namely: there is no clearly defined political ideology, no prediction of the behavioral habits of the inhabitants, and no carefully developed economic system.

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