The Landscape of Utopia Writings on Everyday Life, Taste, Democracy, and Design

A collection of short interludes, think pieces, and critical essays on landscape, utopia, philosophy, culture, and food, all written in a highly original and engaging style by academic and theorist Tim Waterman. Exploring power and democracy, and their shaping of public space and public life, taste, etiquette, belief and ritual, and foodways in community and civic life, the book provides a much-needed critical approach to landscape imaginaries. It discusses landscape in its broadest sense, as a descriptor of the relationship between people and place that occurs everywhere on land, from cities to countryside, suburb to wilderness. With over fifty black and white illustrations interspersing the twenty-six chapters, this is a book for professionals, academics, and students to dive into and spark discussion on new modes of thinking in the wake of unfolding global crises, such as COVID-19, climate change, fascism 2.0, and beyond.

Foreword by Tom Moylan Preface: The Landscape(s) of Utopia(s) 1. Introduction: Taste, Democracy, and Everyday Life in Landscape Imaginaries 2. Thailand, Highland, and Secret Island: Landscape and Power in Bond Films 3. A Word... ‘Blang’ 4. The Flavour of the Place: Eating and Drinking in Pajottenland 5. The Global Cucumber: on the Milan Expo 2015 6. A Word... ‘Theatre’ 7. Feasting is a Project 8. At Liberty: The Place de la République 9. A Word... ‘Profession’ 10. Situating the Digital Commons: A Conversation with Ruth Catlow 11. Dining at a Distance: Performing the Commons Across Space and Time (with Ruth Catlow) 12. On Astronauts, LSD, and Landscape Architecture 13. A Word... ‘Vast’ 14. Making Meaning: Minds, Bodies, and Media in Architectural Design 15. Other Stranger’s Paths 16. Democracy and Trespass 17. A Word... ‘Habitat’ 18. It’s About Time: The Genius Temporum of Martí Franch’s Girona Landscapes 19. Despot, Martyr, and Fool: An Obituary for the Garden Bridge 20. Notes from the First Days of London’s Lockdown 21. During and After the Pandemic Our Streets Need More Democracy 22. A Word... ‘Inevitable’ 23. Two London Squares and a Theory of the Beige Hole 24. A Word... ‘Storytelling’ 25. National Progress 26. The Tasty City: Democratic Life and the Fulfilment of Desire

Tim Waterman is Associate Professor of Landscape Theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, UK. His research explores the interconnections between food, taste, place, and democratic civil society. His research addresses imaginaries: moral, political, social, ecological, radical, and utopian.