CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 10/8/2026

The Cooper Union presents 'Primers for a Handmade Utopia'

On view Thursday, October 8–Sunday, November 15, 2026, The Cooper Union presents Primers for a Handmade Utopia, an exhibition around the Northern California "back-to-the-land" architectural movement explored in Handmade Utopia, the new book by author David Jacob Kramer and photographer Michael Schmelling.

The exhibition is accompanied by a panel discussion featuring the authors in conversation with Cooper Union associate professor Irene Cheng, design critic Alexandra Lange and back-to-the-lander Chris Larson, taking place Tuesday, October 13, in Room 315F.

Photo by Michael Schmelling

Half a century ago, a legion of young idealists—disillusioned with the governance and exploding consumer culture of 1960s America—dropped out of society and went “back to the land,” in what proved to be the greatest urban-to-rural exodus in American history. The backwoods of Northern California became the movement’s epicenter, where a patchwork of utopian communes sprouted, together with a distinctly radical mode of hand-built architecture.

Most back-to-the-landers did not call themselves architects. Their experimental structures evolved according to need and available resources, their means of construction reflecting the aspirations and dissensions of the owner-builders. But each offered a reappraisal of what a home could and should be—and how it might inform the lives of its inhabitants.

Photo by Michael Schmelling

Primers for a Handmade Utopia: Back-to-the-Land Architecture in Northern California explores the ingenious, ad-hoc construction methods and solutions evident in these unique buildings, from salvaged materials and geodesic domes to shakes and shingles and privy systems. Drawing on their new book—co-published by D.A.P. and Edition Patrick Frey—Kramer and Schmelling celebrate these extraordinary (and under-documented) residences and the stories of how they came to be. Their photos and oral histories are presented alongside a selection of handmade tools, archival materials, and a reading library of influential publications from the period.

Only a fraction of these DIY pioneers stuck it out following the Summer of Love. For decades they have kept their homes hidden, fearful of building inspectors and drug squads. They are now in their seventies and eighties as the question arises of what they will leave behind, literally and figuratively. Kramer and Schmelling honor their remarkable designs as artworks in their own rights, at a moment when they risk being lost forever.

Photo by Michael Schmelling

A panel discussion featuring the authors in conversation with Cooper Union associate professor Irene Cheng, design critic Alexandra Lange and back-to-the-lander Chris Larson will take place Tuesday, October 13, 6:30–8:30 PM in Room 315F.

Primers for a Handmade Utopia
The Cooper Union
Foundation Building, Third Floor Hallway Gallery
7 East 7th Street (between 3rd and 4th Avenues)

Open to the public:
Monday–Friday, 12–7 PM
Saturday & Sunday, 12–6 PM