se New Bayon ot New Babylon: Outline of a Culture [ogni Dutch, New fabylan, enacts oor een alt” Rewrite of chap from an upubsed ookmanscrp, writen Germin bee i sd 196, publi a Nev Bylo (The Hage: Hans Gemeente, 74), p49. Tima by Pal Hammond “The social model “The question of knowing how one would live ina society that knows nether famine nor exploitation nor work, in a society in which, without exception, anyone coull give free ‘ein to his creativity this troubling, fundamental question awakens in us the image of an environment radially difer: tent from any that as hitherto been known, from any that hha been realized in the field of architecture or urbanism. “The history of humanity has no precedent to offer as an ‘example, because the masses havernever been fiz, that is, freely creative, As for creativity, what hast evermeant but the output of a human being? Yet let us suppose that all nonproductive work canbe com> pletely automated; that productivity increases until the world no longer knows searcty; that the land and the means of production are socialized and as a result global production rationalized that, sa consequence ofthis, the minority ceases to exercise its power over the majority; let us suppose, in other words, that the Marxist kingdom of freedom is realizable. Were itto be, we couldno longer tak the same question without instantly attempting to reply toitand to imagine, albeit inthe most schemate manner, ‘socal model in which the idea of freedom would become the real practice of freedom ~of freedom’ that for us isnot the choice between many alternatives but the optimum de- velopment of the exeative faculties of every hurnan being; because there cannot be true freedom without creativity we situate ll known forms of society under a single com: ‘mon denominator, ‘ulitaranism,’ the model tobe invent: ced will be that ofa ‘hud’ society — this term designating the sctvite that relieved ofall utility ae well all Gs fon are pure products ofthe erative imagination. Now, it {sas creator, and only a8 a creator, that the human being ‘an fulfil and attain is highest existential level Inimagining a society in which each man is free to create his life, to give it shape according to his deepest aspirations, ‘we will not have recourse tothe forms and images ofthis Jong period of history in which man has had to sarifice the _greater part of his creative energy in an unceasing struggle for existence, Our ssial del will be, indeed, fundamen- tally different from preceding models; it will also be qual tative superior Let us begin with some basics: + Automation of al‘useful repetitive activities frees, atthe ‘mats level, an energy that can henceforth be directed to ‘wards other activities + Collective ownership ofthe land andthe means of production, and rationalization ofthe production of consumer gooxls, facilitates the transformation ofthis energy into creative + With productive work disappearing, collective timekeop- ing has no more raison tre; the masses will, on the other hand, havea considerable amount of fie time. “The network Itis obvious that a person free to use his time forthe whole of hislife, fre to go where he wants, when he wants, cannot make the greatest use of his frecdom in a world ruled by the clock and the imperative of a fixed abode, Asa way of life, homo ludens will demand, firstly, that he responds to his nce for playing for adventure for mobility, a5 well all the conditions that facilitate the free creation of his own life Until then, the principle ativity of man had been the ex- ploration of his natural surroundings. Homo ludenshimself will sek to transform, to recreate, those surroundings, that world, according to his new needs, The exploration and creation of the environment will then happen to co incide because, in creating his domain to explore, homo ludens will apply himself to exploring his own creation. “Thus we willbe present at an uninterruped proceso ereation «and re-creation, sustained by a generalized creativity that i sanity all omaine of arivity Starting from this freedom in time and space, we would arrive at a new kind of urbanizatcn. Mobility, the inces: sant fluctuation of the population ~ a logical consequence ‘of this new freedom ~ creates diferent relation between town and settlement. With no timetable to respect, with no fixed abode, the human being will of necessity become acquainted witha nomadic way of He in an artificial, whol- ly ‘constructed’ environment. Let us call this environment ‘New Babylon and add that it has nothing, or almost noth- ing, about it of ‘town, inthe traditional sense ofthe term. The town sa form of urbanization characteristic of uiitar- {an society: a fortified place for protection against a hostile ‘external world, it becomes, asa mereantile center, an ‘open town’; then, with the advent of mechanization, a center of production —and a all these different stages it isthe place ‘where a stable population resides, rooted thereby a particu lar way oie. There are, ofcourse, exceptions tothe rule: ‘certain relations between towns enable a small number of individuals to change their place of residence, and in so doing trigger a process of acculturation in which the town quires, aside from its utilitarian Function, the function of. a cultural center, But this phenomenon i relatively ifr quent and the numberof individuals involved isnot great. ‘The culture of New Babylon does not result from isolated activities, from exceptional situations, but from the global activity of the whole world population, every human being ‘engaged in a dynamic relation with his surroundings. There are na a prior links between anyone. The frequency of each ‘man’s movements and the distances he will cover depend ‘on decisions he will make spontaneously, and which he will be able to renounce just as simultaneously, Under these conditions, social mobility suggests the image ofa kaleid: scopic whole, accentuating sudden unexpected changes — ‘an image that no longer bears any similarity to the struc tures of a community life ruled by the principle of utility, ‘whose models of behavior are always the same. In our cas, the urban must respond to social mobility, which implies, ‘nrelation tothe stable town, a more rigorous organization ‘on the macro level, and atthe same time a grater flexibility atthe micro level. which is that of an infinite complexity Freedom of creation demands in any case that we depend aslitte ae possible on material contingency It presupposes, then, a vast network of collective services, more necessary to the population in movement than to the stable popula tion of functional owns. On the other hand, automation leads toa massive concentration of production in gigantic centers, stuated outside the space of daly lie. ‘The centers of production outside this space and the col- lective facies inside it determine the general lines ofthe‘macro-structure in which, under the influence of indeter ‘minate movements, there will be defined a more differen tiated and necessarily more flexible micro-structure From these two preconditions ~ the optimum organization ‘of material conditions and the maximum development of ‘each person's sense of initiative — we can deduce the essen tials of a structure that no longer composed of nucle, a6 {nthe traditional settlement, but is organized according to the individual and collective covering of distance, of erran- ‘y:anetwork of units inked one to the othe, and so form ing chain that can develop, be extended in every ditecton, Within these chains are found the services and everything ra patatho of wll, et the network, the entirely automated unite of production, from which man is absent. “The basic cements ofthe network, the sx¢ORS, are auto- ‘nomious units of construction, which nevertheless inter- 2 of ‘communicate. The sector network is perceived from within asa continuous space. [New Babylon ends nowhere (since the cart is round) it knows no frontiers sine there are no more national econo mies) oF collectivties (since humanity is uewuating), Every place fs accessible to one andall. The whole earth becomes home tots owners Life is an endless journey acrosea world that is changing so rapidly that it seems forever other, Realization “The building of New Babylon can only begin once the econ: omy is exclusively aimed atthe satisfaction of our needs, in the widest sense of the term, Only such an economy per: mits the complete automation of non-creaive activities, and thus the free development of creativity. “The implementation of New Babylon is a slow process of {growth ofa sectoral world that progressively replaces pre- ‘existing urban structures, At first one sees, in among the conglomerates, isolated sectors appearing that become poles ‘ofattraction forthe former tothe extent that, withthe time ‘consumed in work diminishing, the settlement becomes ds ‘organized. During this time, the sectors are meting places, socio-cultural centers ofa ind; then, as their number is sugmented and the links that unite them increased, etisity within the sectors becomes specialized and ineressinghy ‘A New Babylonian way of life then begins to be defined, which take off when the regrouped sectors make up a net. work: a structure that ean compete with the settlement structures, whose significance is progressively downgraded as man ceases to take part in the production process. The same phenomenon being produced in many places, ane will see many sectors group together, unite and form a whole. From then on, fluctuation will increas, In the frst phase, the distance between sectors and groups Mies ns in relation to the residential areas, Mes ira crop aceite hs ‘motion, Crossing residential areas from one sector to an other must be as brief as possible, Later, when the sectorial world is unified and fluctuation intensifies, there isn lon _ger ned to move quickly to change milieu, The flesbility of internal space inthe sectors allows of multiple variations in environment and ambience aross relatively consraned surfaces. As tothe means of transport, they will not be so Indispensable to movement. A new function emerges to ‘expand their original function: from being a tool for work they become tools for play. ‘Topography Given the scale of socal space in the sectoral ne:work, and its continuity, the space of rapid movement no longer ‘coincides with the New Babylonian way of le, The latter {s traversed by a slow and continuous flux, displacement boeing but one ofthe forms of activity within the sectors, But undoubtedly one would stil sek to move rapidly fron time to time, by land for shorter distances, or by ai, For air transport one can imagine, on the terrace roof, alr plane runways and heliport, As to rapid circulation on th ground, we have to imagine a road networks independent as posible from the sector network. A multi-level lay-out ‘would guarantee the autonomy of networks and thorough- fares. The best solution for decongesting the ground con: sists rising the sectors on piltis, spaced as widely apart as possible, One advantage of this construction is that it permits the arrangement of an unbroken sequence of ter ace roofs In this way, second open-air level i created, 3 second artificial landscape above the natural landscape. Given their huge size the sector interiors depend on the system of distribution of encrgy needed for lighting, vent lation and air conditioning, but this‘dependency' implies Freedom from the monotonous alteration of day and night, which humanity has sought since the dawn of time. ‘Taken asa whole, New Babylon presents itself asa network of huge links, the greater part of which are raised above the ground, On the ground, a second network, trafic. The “Tinks! are areas generally devoid of build Ate exception of centers uf prolactin ad that have no place in the sectors social space; like, for in stance, transmitter antennae, and pethaps drilling rigs, historic monuments, observatories and other facilities for scientific rescarch, Pat ofthese vacant areas is given over to different working of the ground itself and to rearing livestock; another part to nature reserves, wooded parks. “The network structure facilitates access to these, the inter vening distances being each time relatively small “The topographical surveying of New Bubylon poses prob- lems that cannot be resolved by using the traditional means ‘of cartography, Given, on the one hand, it organization on ‘many levels (ground, inside the sectorial volume, terrace oof), the connections between levels, the nature of com- ‘munications and the solutions of continuity created be: ‘ween the levels can only emerge in model form. On the ‘other hand, the structures are anything but permanent. In fect it s more a question ofa micro-structure in conti though with dimension, plays a considerable part, Consequently, any three-dimensional representation would, in itself, only have the value ofa snapshot, since even admiting that the model of each sector may be reduced to several planes and se- tions ofthe diferent levels, and that one manages thereby toconstitutea sort of detailed atlas of the sectors, would still be necessary, from one instant tothe next, to record, using symbolic notations asin a ship's log, all the topogra- phical modifications that are produced. Recourse to acom-142 New Bago as puter will doubtless be necessary to resolve such a complex problem, ‘The sector The sectors the smallest clement the basic unit of the New abylonian nctwork, one of the ‘links’ in the chains dat ic up. As one might expect, its dimensions are mark ‘edly greater than the dimensions ofthe elements (buildings) that make up the towns, stich as they are known, The xa ofthese elements depencls om the syst In rural communities where human relations an! faily ‘enmeshed, the basic element is the indepen ly residenee. In industrial towns, given the social smal of socal relations, ties are ti sent fi character of production work, relationships are established at school, in the place of work or leisure, in politieal and ‘which supplement family ties, Thus cach rember ofa family creates personal ties outside of it. Un her meetings ons, larger residential units are secn to appear; blocks for many families, sometimes equipped with ‘communal services, But there asin rural commu {sdealing witha sedentary population, a regular way of He When the family group disintegrates and the division of| y pro time and space is no longer socially determined b ductive work, shen one ean decide the place and duration roken. For all that, the relations betwcen people will not Inve ‘of one's stay, the ultimate tesa more or less lst lisappeared, but restrictive socal relations will have ben replaced by more varied and changing emotional ties, More so than a stable communities, the Huctuating society ors fortuitous contacts and encounters, The sector is a basic construction (macro-structure) in te, Qua rust allow the greatest freed permanent construction (micro structure) of the space. Inits simplest form, the sector incorporates a num. ber of superimposed horizontal spaces linked to cach other and to the ground by fixed nucle for services, This space could be taken up by a structure resulting from the artiul which an enviro port, the vertical elements, and one oF more of variable smaller spaces, Av an alternative to the support structure, one can also imagine a'iloating” structure, a sus pended stor secured to-one oF more masts, Another pos: sible alternative, the sel bearing structure, requires lim: ited number of points of support, which i an advantage, bout, since the module and the dimensions of the micro: structure depend more directly on the macrorstrwcture, the organization of interior space is no longer as lree. The choice of one or the other solution ~ascetor on pilotis, or a suspended oF sel bearing sector ~ also depends in cer rmasure on the geographical position. The macro-structur structure, Since the dimensions of the sector are then, houses a moveable interior mpor: ‘or transformation of the basic struc tant, any demolito of necessity an ambitious undertaking. However, the ludie life of the inhabitants of New Babylon pres Frequent transformation of the interior of the sectors. For this to take place ssthout problems, the containing struc J, from the point of view, the variable contained structure ture would have to be as neutral as posible ‘would have to be completely independent ofthe former. The variable structure grows out of the moveable assembly als, bridges, et.) ki therefore easy to transport, which ean be as easily mount ced as dismounted, thus re-usable, A requires both the normalization of the module and the assembly project standardization of production. The dimensions oft cvo-structure are determined by the module of standard clements, But this docs not mean, of course limiting the possible combinations or simplifying the forms, since a great mumber of standard assembly types and systems can be combined in a multiplicity of ways ides of the sector can be ‘With these Few dtay a sc arrived at. I is. mainly horizontal skeleton, extending over ten or twenty hectares at some 4-20 meters above the ground: the total height is somewhere b Jac, one o more fixed nucle com reception ida rooms, Some of thesectors are pro- les, varchowsing and les of everycay use. Others, ith libraries, scientific research centers and anything else them ccupy apart ofthe see tor; the rest the most important part of New Babylon, isa social space with moxcable articulations: the playground bbe necessary. The nuclei ‘of homo ludens A volume withthe span ofa New Habylon sector is more dependent of the external world than a construction built only penetrates a ona smaller scale. Daylight, for instan few meters there, a large part ofthe interior being arti cially it The accumulation of solar heat and the loss of heat fn cold weather occur so slvsly that the changes in am bent temperature barely influence the temperature inside, The ¢ ture, the hygrometric stl sical control Inside, 2 variable range of climates can be «cated and modified at will. Climate becomes ic eonditions the intensity of lighting, tempera sentlation) ate all under tech sin the play of ambience all the more imution) encourages certain auto: naller centers are omy ofthe sector oF group of sectors. ile center, which facilitates reproducing the most diverse climates and, why not, mwventing new ones ing them ac Jaronization accorded to preferred toa cording to a infinitely varied sy the metamorphosis of space ‘The auowisual media wil be used he same spirit, The Auctuating world ofthe sectors calls on fuiltes (a trans nitting and receiving network) that are both decentral ized and public. Given the participation ofa large number ‘of people in the transmission and reception of images and sounds, perfected telecommunicatons become an impor tant factor in lade social behavior. The New Babylonians Crointy and aggresiety "They wander through the sectors ‘of New Babylon ‘mbiences. Without the passivity tourists, but Fully aware 1s, a8 yet unknown coking new experi transform, of the power they have to act upon the word i, recreate it. They dispose of a whole arsenal of technical implements ake the desired changes without dela. Just Hi long this, thanks to which they can painter, who te variety of witha more handfl of colors creates a ini Forms, contrasts an styles, the New Babylonians ean end: lessly vary their environment, ity wing ther technical implements. Th comparison reveals fu damental dlferenee betwe the two ways of creating ‘only confronted by The painter isa solitary creator who another person's reactions once 1 Among the New Babylonians, on the ther hand, the ereative act is also a socal act a a diteet intervention in the social world, i elicits an immediate response, The artist's individual ereation scems, to other's eyes, tocxcapeall com straint and ripen in isolation, And itis only much Inter, ‘when the work acquires an undeniable realty, that i will have to confront society, At any given moment in his crea tive activity, the New Babylonian is himself indirect com- tact with his peers, Each one of hi acts fs public, each one acts on a milieu which i als that ofthe others and elicits spontaneous reactions All action, then, loses its individual character. On the other hand, cach reaction can provoke others in turn, In this way interventions form chain veac- tions that only come to an ene when a situation that has bhocome evtial ‘explodes’ and is transformed into another siwation, The process escapes one person's contro, but i _matters litle knowing who set t off an by whow it will be inflected in turn. In this sense, the critical moment (the cl ‘max) isan authentic collective creation. The yardstick, the space-time framework, of the New Babylonian world isthe tythm in which each moment succeeds the last From homo fabcr's point of view, New Babylon isan uncer tain universe in which the ‘normal’ man is atthe merey of every possible destructive force, every kind of aggression, oe usnote that ‘normality’ is concept Kinked to a exe ble. As for aggressvity psychoanalysis ha prantel it considerable importance, going so fara to define an ‘instinet” of aggres sion. The area of stu thus found itself reduced to the man tain historical practice; its content i therefore va ‘who struggles for his existence, tothe human being engaged in that imntemorial combat he, like other species, i ‘engaged in. The image ofa free man who docs not have to struggle for his existence is without historial basis. The Instinct of self-defense has also been postulated asthe pri- ‘mordil instinct ofthe human being, and of all that [And its to that instinct tha all the others are related, Aggressivity isa manifestation ofthe will to power which isthe attribute ofa highly developed being (man) capable of Foresight and who, ina world where his existence is threa tened, can organize in time, that is to say, according to a plan, a safe place for himself, For that reason, man's ag agressvity does not disappear with the satisfction of his ‘immediate needs. Its, apparently, inthe most industril- Jned, ‘rich’ countries that aggressive behavior regress the least aboveall among the propertied cas To shed light on ‘this apparent contradiction between material security and the persistence of aggressvity, it would perhaps be neces- sary to admit the existence of an instinct’ other than that of self-defense: the creative instnet, which appears with ‘the sublimation of primordial instinct whenever material conditions are sufficiently vorable for self-defense to be transformed into open spontaneity. ‘The objective impossibility of realizing a erative life with: ‘in utiltarian society, base onthe suppression of ercatvity but nevertheless containing all the conditions favorable to its development, permits us to understand why aggressiv ity finds itself apart from the struggle fr existence, In con temporary society, the propertied class itself cannot ac in ‘creative manner, and i is easy to understand that t Fels more frustrated than the masses, who own nothing yet struggle for thei fature Freedom, The goal ofthese strug gles being the transformation of existing society, conflict ‘itself creation, The creative intinct. In speculating on the posible advent of a Tudic society, one presupposes from the beginning that every human being feels the latent need to manifest his ‘creativity, ane that it appears in the sublimation of primary instinctual forms. This need is not satisfied in our statie so Ciety, where its accomplishment through creation can only bbe potential. All education that prepares the future adult forthe ‘useful’ role he will playin society tend to repress the creative instinct. However, it often comes about that “utility” disappears with the development of technology, even before the child arrives at the end of his studies, Un. dlr these conditions ‘education’ can only play a negative role in the repression ofall spontaneous creativity If this were not the ase, the adult would be more ereative than the child, while in reality the opposite Is true Bat ean one conceive ofan education aiming atthe devel ‘opment of creativity? Its permissible to doubt itand vo ask ‘oneself fall education, or what is designated by that term, isnot extremely limited, if its principle funetion isnot to restrain freedom, which js the andamental condition of creativity. The only education favorable to eration is that ‘hich unfetters the development of eretivity. But homo Iudens dispenses with education, He learns by playing Those who cannot adapt to the structures of utilitarian society condemn themselves to isolation. These are the ‘asocial’ types, a term often synonymous with ‘criminal’ “Criminality” presupposes transgression of constituted s0- ‘al relations, which explains the different interpretations of which it has been the object. Crime, the criminal act disturbs the orter ofthese relations and society reacts by eliminating the guilty person. Whe, froma totally diferent perspective, ‘the criminal act is considered as an expres sion ofa frustrated will to power, which s transformed into ‘creativity when sublimated, the ‘rime’ becomes no more ‘than an abortive attempt at creation. The attitude of the vis reality sno more pasive than the aris, since he too intervenes in a given situation. But sie the creative act brings together destruction and construction, Jenuling them balance, the criminal privileges destruction Yet the arts’s intervention displays atleast as regards util tarian society, an ‘asocal attitude whose effect is barely distinguishable from that ofthe crime, In New Babylon, where no ‘order’ isvespected, community lie takes shape within the dynamie of permanently chang. ing situations. This dynamic activates forces that in uilitar: {an society are repressed or at bes tolerated, Thats why it {is unthinkable tata life lke tht in New Babylon could be {imposed on contemporary society, even for the briefest length of time. When social conventions are no longer re- spected as during carnival, isnot creativity that increases but aggressivity: an aggressivty directly proportional to the pressure exerted on creativity by the society Every reason for aggressvity has been eliminated in New Babylon. The conditions of life favor sublimation, and ae tivity becomes creation. This superior form of existence is only possible ina world of total freedom where the human, being no longer struggles to maintain a certain level, but concentrates his activity on the permanent creation of his which he directs toward an even higher level The New Babylonian ‘The struggle for subsistence has divi. ced humanity into interest groups that are often competing but always opposed tothe idea of joining together in large _groups, harder to defend. The prolonged division into races, tribes, nations, social lasses also explained by the histor: ical conditions of this struggle, In a society that no longer knows the struggle for subsistence, competition disappears at both the individual and group level, Batviers and fron14 New Babylon fs tiers also disappear. The way is open tothe intermixing of populations, which results in both the disappearance of ra cial differences and the fusion of populations into a new ace, the world-wide race of New Babylonians. “The New Babylonian disposes of a complete freedom of ac ton, but this hberty i only actualized in relations of rec procity with al of his peers, A ludic society based on the ‘community of interests of all human beings knows none of the individual or collective conics that characterize ti tarian society. Conllict of interest, competition and ex ploitation are, inthis context, notions devold of eontemt. "The New Babylonian community comprises the totality of the inhabitants of New Babylon, and tis their simultaneous activity that ereates the new collective culture, Even when he covers enormous distances, hom faber mov cin a socal space limited by the obligations to return to a fixed abode, He i tied to the lad,” His socal relations define his scil space, which includes his home, place of ‘work, the home of his Family and of his friends. The New Babylonian escapes these constraining ties, His socal space {sunlimited, Because he isno longer ‘rooted’ he can circa late freely: much more freely since the space he traverses ‘endlessly changes space and atmosphere with the result that itis constantly renewed, Mobility, and the disorientation 1t produces, facilitates contacts between people. Tes are ‘made and unmade without any dificulty, endowing social relations witha perfect openness (On some elements of New Babylonian culture ‘The essence of [New Babylonian culture is playing with the elements that ‘make up the enviroment, Such play is possible duc to the Integral technical control ofall those elements, which thus become conscious creation ofthe environment, The components ofthe environment are numerous and of differen kinds, In order to imagine them in all thei divers- ity, it would be necessary to begin by distinguishing several _groups, proceeding from two separate criteria: an object ive criterion anda subjective criterion ‘A Elements of spatial construction, which determi appearance and at the objeet of prior planning They can be ‘grouped within the category of ‘architectural elements. (Examples: the form and dimensions of space, the building materials, their structure, their colors.) ements defining the quality of space, Being more mal- lable, they cannot he planned tothe same extent. These are the ‘climatic conditions (temperature, humidity, atmos- phere, ete.) ‘© Elements that, without deciding the quality of spac in fence the perception of space. Thelr utilization is aleatory and their elect of brief duration, These ate ‘psychological ‘elements? (Examples: movement, eating and drinking, the use of verbal or other communication, ete,) Another elasfcation, using more subjective criteria, dis tributes the environmental elements according to the af cence they exert on us, Here one discerns visual, sonorous, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory elements, ‘But whatever the ertera, it is dificult to isolate an ele ‘ment, to separate it from the rst. And » great number of {important elements can Form part of many dierent eate- gories. Thus, among the elements chosen secording to the first criterion, the stracture of space conaltions as well a8 to movements in space. The pleasure taken in eating and drinking i not the same in every space, whatever the climate, As to the second criterion, it enables linked to climatic uusto discover even more complex asocations. A structure, for nstance, can be perceived by the sight nd bythe touch; language is addressed equally to the hearing and to sight Food and drink to taste, but also to smell, to sight, to the touch. To these elements others are added, acting one on the other in close interdependence. Dissociative ana is only justified from the viewpoint of technical conral Being sensitive to an environment, to an atmosphere, one doesnot imagine distinguishing between the elements that ‘make it up, jst as when looking at a painting one docs nat separate out the diferent materials wed by the painter Forms of bebarior Its well known that behavior is strongly Influenced by environmental elements, In psychiatry the ‘manipulation ofthese elements is called “besinwashing” In New Babylon, where each person can freely use the tech nical apparatus and actively partiipate in the collective organization of space, these clements cannot be chosen according to pre-established goal, Any initiative in one direction or another can, at any moment, be detourned by erent, even opposed initiatives, Ifthe New Babylonian can transform the environment and the ambience by using the available technical materia, if in so doing he can temporarily influence the behavior of| others, he in turn undengoes the influence. In any event, the effect of his intervention doesnot lst long, since be- {nga provocation each intervention cannot remain without response, An objection could be raised, ereativity not being the same forall, hat the inlcnce ofthe most active and gifted will be stronger than that ofthe less energetic and inventive. This objection, however, is characteristic ofa utltarian mental ity, which ses in the superiority of imelligence and energy the surest ture, the individual act intermingles with general social ac tivity Ieannot be isolated and the result bears no trace of this, Collective culture fsa composite culture, a product of the close and organic interdependence of all ereative activ neans of acceding to power, Ina collective cul- ity Ie isthe contrary of the competitive culture we know, ‘which takes the absolute superforty of the strongest, of ge rive’ a the wit by which to measure al activity — which results in an unparalleled waste of creative energies Let's imagine, then, that at a given moment x number of individuals find themselves inside one of the sectors. That the sector i divided into many spaces of diferent siz, Form, and atmosphere. That each ofthese spaces at the point of being transformed: being built, destroyed, mount cd, dismounted, .. That all the individuals present aetvely participate in this incessant activity, That each person ca ‘irculate Freely from one space to another That the sector fs bing crossed incessantly from onc part to mother by new people and by those who, after having stayed there awhile, leave, Such mobile complexity of both the spatial cond tions and the composition of the “population” determines New Babylonian culture, The sectors constantly change form and atmosphere ac ‘cording tothe activities tha are taking place there, Nobody ‘can return to what was before, rediscover the place as he left, the image he'd retained in his memory. Nobody now falls nto the trap of habit Habits, the totality of which constitute a social ‘model of| Lbchavior are what in utilitarian society, privilege a static way of lf; they are so many automatisms, However, the dynamism of ife of permanent creation excludes all auto ‘matism, Justas an artist cannot and doesnot want to repeat ‘one ofhis works, so the New Babylonian who creates his life cannot exhibit repetitive behavior.‘The dynamie labyrinth ‘While in utilitarian society one strives by every means towards an optimal orientation in space, the guarantee of ‘temporal fliiency and economy, in New Babylon the dis orientation that furthers adventure, play, and. creative change is privileged. The space of New Babylon as all the characteristics ofa labyrinthine space, within which move- ‘ment no longer submits tothe constraints of given spatial or temporal organization. The labyrinthine form of New Babylonian socal space i the direct expression of saci in- dependence. ‘The ambience ofan environment posessing certain speci ‘ic plastic and acoustic characteristics depends on the indi viduals who find themselves there. A singe individual can passively submit to this ambience or change it according to his mood at the time, But with the entrance of a second person, 2 new presence is felt and the interaction of the ‘ovo presences excludes any passivity The quality ofthe en vironment and its ambience no longer depends on material factors alone, but on the manner in which they will have been perceived, appreciated and used, on the ‘new way of ooking’ at them, And when a third or fourth person comes to take his place alongside the others, the situation — being ‘more complex ~ escapes the control of any ofthe people present. As the number of vistors gradually iereates and the composition of the group alters, complexity alo i ‘creases, while the individual control of space decreases, The collective use of space entails qualitative change since ty The activity ofthe occupants of space af integral part of the ambience that, being sat ic, becomes dynamic. In a socal space where the number ittends wo reduce path of individuals is ceaselessly changing, along withthe rela tions between them, cach and every person is prompted to ‘change his personal ambience. All these impulses, brought together, represent a force that manifestly sets on the oF- {ering of space, and in New Babylon, where spaceis public, ‘tacts continuously. Space in its entirety will thus submit {0 the most unexpeeted influences, and one can imagine that a similar process unfolds simultaneously in infinitely verse ways ina multitude of spaces, whose number i as variable as the links ereated between them. One arrives, then, at the image of an immense socal space that is forever ‘other: dynamic labyrinth inthe widest sense of the term, Technology ‘Technology isthe indispensable tool for realizing an expe: imental collectivism. To seek to dominate nature without the help of technique is pure fiction, As is collective cre: ation without the appropriate means of communication, A renewed, reinvented audiovisual media ian indispensable aid, Ina fluctuating community, without a fixed base, con taets can only be maintained by intensive telecommunica tions. Each sector willbe provided with the latest equip ment, accesible to everyone, whose use, we should note, ‘is never strictly functional. In New Babylon air condition- ing does not only serve to reeeate, asin utltarian socety, an‘ideal’ climate, bt to vary ambience tothe greatest pos- sible degree, As for telecommunicatons, it does not only, ‘or principally, serve interests ofa practical kind, Isat the service of ludic activity it isa form of play Inorder to grasp this, lus take the example ofa local cafe, avery quiet cafe whose atmosphere would suddenly heeome fn the juke- bbox. In New Babylon, each person ean at any moment, in any place, alter the ambience by adjusting the sound vol- animated when some new arrival puts mon ‘ume, the brightness ofthe light, the olfictive ambience or the temperature. Shoulda small group enter a space, then the ordering ofthat space ean become something else. By articulating many small spaces, one can creates space of ‘more ample dimensions, or vice versa. One can also change the form ofa space with new entrances, oby blocking the old ones; by adding or removing stairs bridges, ladders, ramps, ete. With a minimum of effort, one can arrive at any desired modification, Moreover, one has a hand a var {ed range of partitions of diferent materials textures and colors; different too in their thermo-acoustic qualities, ‘The stars, bridges and pipes are themselves of varied con struction and form. Through the combination of irregular, barely practicable surfaces, of smooth ramps, narrow pas sages, acute angles, ete, certain spaces become selective ‘This would be the ease with those one gets toby arape la ‘deror pole, and which willbe the favorite places of children and young people, The marginal sectors, which perch on the side ofa mountain or along the coastline and which are, given thelr situation, less frequented, willbe the preferred choice of retired oF sick po The sectors must be as independent as possible from the viewpoint of their construction and thelr technical fail- Isles. This is important, since any sector must be abe to be reconstructed without damage to the neighboring sectors {o which it is linked by mobile bridges. The large electric or nuclear power stations that supply the sectors are sited, ‘of course, a far as possible from the network. ‘The intensification of space In New Babylon, where the nature and structure of space changes frequently, one will make much more intensive _use of global space. The volume of socal space and of socal activity in space has two consequences: the space available for individual use is greater than in a society wit a seden tary population; yet there is no more empty space, space ‘unused even for a brie time, and, as one makes erative ‘use of it, its aspect changes so much and so often that a reat atrip around the world, Distance covered, speed, are no longer the yardsticks of movement; and sp 1y, seem to dilate, But ths inten cly small surface offers as many variations olive more intense ton of space is only possible due tothe creative use of technical means —a wse that we, who live Ina society where wse has a finality, can hardly imagine To succeed in life it to create and re-create it incessantly Man can only have a life worthy of himself f he himself ‘creates, When the struggle for existence is no more than a ‘memory, he will be able, forthe frst time in history, to freely dispose ofthe whole of his life. He-will be able, in complete freedom, to give hi sires, Far from remaining passive toward a world in which he is content to adapt himself, for better or worse, to.ex ence the form ofhis de: ternal circumstances, he would aspire to creating another fone in which his Hberty is realized In order that he may «create is life, is incumbent on him to ereate that world And that creation, like the other, entails the same uninter: rupted succession ofre-ereations New Babylon is the work of the New Babylonians alone, ‘the produc ofthelr culture, For us, sts only a model ofr Aection and pay.