1
An atopia is an empty vessel waiting to be filled (with meaning and other things). However, once filled, it ceases to be an atopia. This is the atopian paradox.
2
Continuing with this metaphor—the solution (to the paradox) is to build a flawed container, a leaky vessel. Hence, meaning is always in flux; nothing is stable.
3
This challenges design’s obsession with context. Context is informed by the total history of human activity. Atopia has no history to constrain possibility (or the imagination). No longer designing for existing rules, systems, trends, or lineages, design is (with a nod to Langdon Winner) de- instrumentalized.
4
Resist the urge to over define, to give names, make concrete, plant flags. These plug up the holes and suffocate the atopia.
5
Atopian design rejects the arrogance of design built on the fragile platform of branding, surface appearance, and weak symbolism.
6
Be careful! An atopia might present itself as a completely unconstrained world. But escaping constraints can also lead to highly ambivalent or undesirable outcomes.
7
Beware the vacuum effect. The problem with an empty vessel or post-revolutionary moment of hope is that something or someone is always rushing to fill it in, to colonize the possibilities. Atopias are anti-wall; however, there are certain ill-intentioned parties that need to be excluded (see disruptive innovation).
8
An atopia is infinitely scalable (in all directions). It is imperative that the designer or architect embraces this aspect, as it reflects the complexity of the problem.
9
Atopian boundaries are fuzzy. This includes notions of disciplinarity and necessitates the rethinking of knowledge- based interactions, knowledge-based metrics, and knowledge-based language.
10
Atopian design is nimble, unformed, and unblinkered, the master of adaptation.
Originally Published in Perspecta 54: Atopia, The Yale Architectural Journal
2022
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