A phalanstère (or phalanstery) was a type of building designed for a self-contained utopian community, ideally consisting of 500–2,000 people working together for mutual benefit, and developed in the early 19th century by Charles Fourier. Fourier chose the name by combining the French word phalange (phalanx, an emblematic military unit in ancient Greece), with the word monastère (monastery).[1]
Fourier conceived the phalanstère as an organized building designed to integrate urban and rural features.
The structure of the phalanstère was composed of three parts: a central part and two lateral wings. The central part was designed for quiet activities. It included dining rooms, meeting rooms, libraries and studies. A lateral wing was designed for labour and noisy activities, such as carpentry, hammering and forging. It also hosted children because they were considered noisy while playing. The other wing contained a caravansary, with ballrooms and halls for meetings with outsiders who had to pay a fee to visit and meet the people of the Phalanx community. This income was thought to sustain the autonomous economy of the phalanstère. The phalanstère also included private apartments and many social halls. A social hall was defined by Fourier as a seristère.
Fourier believed that the traditional house was a place of exile and oppression of women. He believed gender roles could progress by shaping them within community, more than by pursuits of sexual freedom or other Simonian concepts.[2]
In the Hungarian play The Tragedy of Man, first published in 1861 by Imre Madách, one of the later scenes takes place in a phalanstery, in a utopian future where the entirety of humanity lives in phalansteries. There are no borders, no nations, and civilization is dominated by science. However, there is no individuality or creativity, emotions are considered an irregularity, and humans are branded with numbers. Four thousand years later, the Sun is dead and Mankind spiritually died along with it in its pursuit of survival.
The residents of Mars live in a phalanstère in the Ecuadorian science fiction story A Voyage to Saturn by Francisco Campos Coello, published in 1900.[4]
In Henri Murger's 1851 work Scenes of Bohemian Life, the source of Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème and other musical works, Rodolphe meets a young man described as a phalansterian as he is scouring the streets of Paris to borrow five francs in order to entertain a young woman he plans to make his mistress.
The Phalanstères are mentioned several times in Gustave Flaubert's 1869 novel Sentimental Education: for example, among a list of utopian projects: "plans of phalansteria, projects for cantonal bazaars, systems of public felicity."[5]
^Coleman, Nathaniel (2007). Utopias and Architecture. Routledge. p. 137. ISBN978-1-135-99395-5.
^Editorial El Fakir. Ciencia Ficción Ecuatoriana. Volume One, p. 46. ISBN 978-9942-8740-0-9.
^Flaubert, Gustave (January 2, 2011). "Sentimental Education; Or, The History of a Young Man. Volume 1" – via Project Gutenberg.
December 15, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Phalanstere news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message A phalanstere or phalanstery was a type of building designed for a self contained utopian community ideally consisting of 500 2 000 people working together for mutual benefit and developed in the early 19th century by Charles Fourier Fourier chose the name by combining the French word phalange phalanx an emblematic military unit in ancient Greece with the word monastere monastery 1 Perspective view of the urban area of Fourier s Phalanstere Rural area is not shown in the drawing North American Phalanx building in Monmouth County New Jersey inspired by Fourier s concept Contents 1 Structure 2 In France and the United States 3 Examples 4 Gender roles 5 Legacy 6 In 19th century publications 7 See also 8 ReferencesStructure editFourier conceived the phalanstere as an organized building designed to integrate urban and rural features The structure of the phalanstere was composed of three parts a central part and two lateral wings The central part was designed for quiet activities It included dining rooms meeting rooms libraries and studies A lateral wing was designed for labour and noisy activities such as carpentry hammering and forging It also hosted children because they were considered noisy while playing The other wing contained a caravansary with ballrooms and halls for meetings with outsiders who had to pay a fee to visit and meet the people of the Phalanx community This income was thought to sustain the autonomous economy of the phalanstere The phalanstere also included private apartments and many social halls A social hall was defined by Fourier as a seristere In France and the United States editThough Fourier published several journals in Paris among them Le Phalanstere he created no phalansteres in Europe due to a lack of financial support Several so called colonies were founded in the United States of America by Albert Brisbane and Horace Greeley Examples editLa Colonie of Conde sur Vesgre 1832 Phalanstery of Scăieni Wallachia 1834 La Reunion in Dallas 1855 Familistere of Guise 1859 Familistere of Godin 1887 Longo Mai Co operatives 1973 Uranian Phalanstery 1974 Gender roles editFourier believed that the traditional house was a place of exile and oppression of women He believed gender roles could progress by shaping them within community more than by pursuits of sexual freedom or other Simonian concepts 2 Legacy editIn the 20th century the architect Le Corbusier adapted the concept of the phalanstere when he designed the Unite d Habitation a self contained commune at Marseilles 3 In 19th century publications editIn the Hungarian play The Tragedy of Man first published in 1861 by Imre Madach one of the later scenes takes place in a phalanstery in a utopian future where the entirety of humanity lives in phalansteries There are no borders no nations and civilization is dominated by science However there is no individuality or creativity emotions are considered an irregularity and humans are branded with numbers Four thousand years later the Sun is dead and Mankind spiritually died along with it in its pursuit of survival The residents of Mars live in a phalanstere in the Ecuadorian science fiction story A Voyage to Saturn by Francisco Campos Coello published in 1900 4 In Henri Murger s 1851 work Scenes of Bohemian Life the source of Giacomo Puccini s opera La Boheme and other musical works Rodolphe meets a young man described as a phalansterian as he is scouring the streets of Paris to borrow five francs in order to entertain a young woman he plans to make his mistress The Phalansteres are mentioned several times in Gustave Flaubert s 1869 novel Sentimental Education for example among a list of utopian projects plans of phalansteria projects for cantonal bazaars systems of public felicity 5 They are mentioned in William Morris News from Nowhere first published in 1890 with the spelling phalangsteries See also editFeminism in France Kibbutzim Oyasato yakata Victor Prosper Considerant Felix MillietReferences edit Harper Douglas phalanstery Online Etymology Dictionary Retrieved 2016 08 11 Feminism Archived from the original on April 25 2005 Coleman Nathaniel 2007 Utopias and Architecture Routledge p 137 ISBN 978 1 135 99395 5 Editorial El Fakir Ciencia Ficcion Ecuatoriana Volume One p 46 ISBN 978 9942 8740 0 9 Flaubert Gustave January 2 2011 Sentimental Education Or The History of a Young Man Volume 1 via Project Gutenberg Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Phalanstere amp oldid 1182451768, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
