Constructing Utopia

The 20th century imposed a traumatic burden on the concept of utopia: it represents the attempt to realize ideal state models and the subsequent failure to do so. Utopian thinking is therefore in a crisis following the so-called end of utopia, and the utopian thinker has since been under a professional ban (Slavoj Žižek). For this reason, it is time to question utopias anew: in the engagement with the constructions of artificial worlds from art, literature, film, and architecture, the developments of utopian models and the constructions of these better worlds are reflected upon. Contributions from the fields of art, film, architecture, media, literature, and cultural studies unfold a spectrum of different thematic approaches that provide answers to the question of the constitution of utopian spaces in a broader sense.