“You Can’t Build Clouds”*

Ranjit Hoskote sees utopia as "a leitmotif of modern architectural thinking." How do built utopias live up to their expectations? In this lecture he explores this question from a critical perspective.

“To build is to give concrete form to a dream,” writes Hoskote in his essay for the book Abundance Not Capital, which accompanies the exhibition ‘Abundance Not Capital. Anupama Kundoo.’ Projects such as Chandigarh or Auroville can be seen as different ‘wagers’ placed on the future, where the architect would become “the saviour of suffering humankind” — if reality were not in the way. After his lecture Hoskote discusses the possibilities of a transformative architectural practice with the editors, Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny, and architect Anupama Kundoo. Can architecture change the world for the better and, if so, how?

*Ludwig Wittgenstein

Introduction: Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny, exhibition curators
Lecture: Ranjit Hoskote, culture theorist and poet
Followed by a discussion with Anupama Kundoo