Idea by
Ian Erickson
ian erickson
Call for ideas 2020
Modeling Utopia
Modeling Utopia
- Site-specific cases
Through an investigation of the social, psychological, and architectural spaces of the Other World Kingdom (OWK)—a femdom micronation occupying a renovated 16th century castle in the rural Czech Republic (1998-2006, 2018-present)—this paper will explore the future of utopian projects based around alternative socio-spatial practices in Europe. As a simultaneously digital and physical environment—both an immersive website and a castle complex—the techno-spatiality of the OWK prefigures and dramatizes our increasing digital mediation. As a self-described female utopia the OWK is ruled as an “absolute matriarchy” according to ritualistic BDSM principles. Alongside an explication and investigation of these tenants and their spatial effects, the paper will pay attention to the mechanisms which were used to actualize and legitimize the OWK—legal, economic, and otherwise—relating the project to other micronations and utopian experiments since Thomas More looking forward to the future.
Modeling Utopia
Modeling Utopia
- Site-specific cases
Through an investigation of the social, psychological, and architectural spaces of the Other World Kingdom (OWK)—a femdom micronation occupying a renovated 16th century castle in the rural Czech Republic (1998-2006, 2018-present)—this paper will explore the future of utopian projects based around alternative socio-spatial practices in Europe. As a simultaneously digital and physical environment—both an immersive website and a castle complex—the techno-spatiality of the OWK prefigures and dramatizes our increasing digital mediation. As a self-described female utopia the OWK is ruled as an “absolute matriarchy” according to ritualistic BDSM principles. Alongside an explication and investigation of these tenants and their spatial effects, the paper will pay attention to the mechanisms which were used to actualize and legitimize the OWK—legal, economic, and otherwise—relating the project to other micronations and utopian experiments since Thomas More looking forward to the future.