Phalanstère

Phalanstère

A Phalanstère otherwise known as a phalanstery refers to a category of building that was specifically made for a self-contained utopian public. Such a building housed about 500 to 2000 individuals working harmoniously to achieve a mutual goal. The Phalanstère was developed by Charles Fourier in the early 1880s. He merged two French words to form the name Phalanstère. One of the word phalanx meant a basic division of the army, especially the ancient Greece’s. The other word was monastère meaning a monastery.         

The Phalanstère’s basic structure was made of three distinct parts. They comprised of two lateral wings and the central part. The latter part was made for all the activities that did not involve noise. It contained meeting rooms, studies, libraries and dining rooms. The lateral wing, on the other hand, was specifically made for labor. Consequently, it was the Phalanstère’s noisy wing that included all the blaring workshops such as the carpentry rooms, the forge and other workshops where all types of hammering activities were norm. This wing was also a meeting place for children’s industrial gathering because this utopian community believed children were noisy especially when working and playing.

The third wing was made for a caravansary. It had meeting halls and ballrooms. Outsiders who met in these meeting halls were charged a fee to visit members of a phalanx community. The income from such a meeting was used to sustain the Phalanstère’s independent economy. During the night, children from both the poor and rich families slept together on Phalanstère’s mezzanine. They were sent to this floor to separate them from the adults who were free to have sex during the early morning or late evening hours.

Work Cited

Baridon, Lurent. “The Fourierist Phalanstère: Building a New Society through Architecture?” Companion to the History of Architecture. 2017. 1