Industrialization and the City: A new way of living - The Phalange of Charles Fourier
Phalanstère,
Charles Fourier;
1800s; Industrialization and the City
Charles
Fourier (1772-1837), full name François-Marie-Charles Fourier, was a French
social theorist who advocated a reconstruction of society based on communities
of productive individuals known as phalanges (from the Ancient Greek word phalanx – military unit).
He argued that a natural social order exists
corresponding to Newton’s ordering of the physical universe and that both
concepts evolved in eight ascending periods. At the highest stage and when in
harmony, man’s emotions would be freely expressed, and to achieve that stage society
should be divided into phalanges.
He also emphasized on adapting society to human
needs and preached on the wastefulness of the capitalist system, a
sentiment shared later on by the socialist Karl Marx.
The Phalange as An Ideal
“A
self-contained community of 500-2,000 individuals working for a shared and
mutual benefit”
The phalange was to be a cooperative agricultural community bearing
responsibility for the social welfare of the individual, characterized by
continual shifting of roles among its members. The individual member of a
phalange was to be rewarded on the basis of the total productivity of the
phalange. He felt that phalanges would distribute wealth more equally than
under capitalism and that due to its ideological flexibility they
could be introduced into any political system.
The Phalange as A Space
Fourier conceived the phalange as an organized
building designed to integrate urban and rural features.
The layout of the phalange was composed of
three parts: a central part and two lateral wings. The central part was
designed for quiet activities. It included dining rooms, meeting rooms,
libraries and studies. A lateral wing was designed for labor and noisy
activities, such as carpentry and forging. It also housed children because they
were considered noisy while playing. The other wing contained a caravansary,
with ballrooms and halls for meetings with outsiders who had to pay a fee in
order to visit and meet the people of the phalange community. This income was
thought to sustain the autonomous economy.
The phalange also included private
apartments and many social halls, which were thought as important spaces as
they were where the community could gather and its members deepen relationships
with each other.
Fourier’s Legacy
Fourier’s ideals influenced later generations of
socialists and architects, while also offering an answer to rapidly
deteriorating walfare brought by the industrial revolution.
He published many books on his ideal, but due to
the lack of funds he never realized a phalange during his career. However, cooperative
settlements based on Fourier’s ideas were started in France and
especially in the U.S., among which the best known were the short-lived Brook
Farm in Massachusetts (1841–46) and the North American Phalanx
at Red Bank, New Jersey.
Sources
Vidler,
Anthony. "The New World : The Reconstruction of Urban Utopia in Late 19Th
Century France." Perspecta, vol. 13, 1971, pp. 243-256.
Stanek, Ł. (2010). Collective luxury: architecture and populism in Charles Fourier. Hunch: The Berlage Insitute Report, (14), 128-137.
Comments
Post a Comment