CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 1/2/2016

Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia

Archigram's "Enviro-Pill—It's My Choice" (1969, attributed to Ron Herron) is reproduced from Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia, the catalog to the sensational exhibition opening this weekend at the Walker Art Center. "The ability of a substance such as LSD to powerfully alter perceptions and conjure alternate realities in the mind's eye set the tone for the exploration of 'inner space' by architects. Archigram's fantastical Enviro-Pill proposal induces virtual or imaginary environments in the user's mind. As industrialized societies increasingly embraced the use of pills to heal a variety of maladies, it is perhaps not surprising to find the metaphor embraced by architects who expanded the definition of their practice beyond the design of physical buildings to the creation of new worlds, spaces and environments. Read more cynically, it might be far easier to modify one's perception of the environment than to physically change it."