Figure 1

New Babylon is presented by Nieuwenhuyst as an ideal in which the need for function and labour is no longer required. The result of this becomes a city in which one is left to create and dream without restriction; a nomad of creation. New Babylon becomes an abstraction of free thinking, each layer and section becoming itself a branch for a new idea where creativity can thrive. The idea of function is extremely opposed by Nieuwenhuyst. He repelled the idea and encouraged a new way of thinking going as far to say “Contrary to what the functionalists think, culture is situated at the point where usefulness ends”. Nieuwenhuyst explored his city through a means of many mediums, some of which were seen as abstract thoughts, and others were seen as thorough plans. To Nieuwenhuyst, New Babylon become more than a piece of art and fantasy, his drawing and maquettes so rich and detail, his work become apparent as a proposed future for humanity, an actual planned reality. 

The end of the second world war sparked Constant Nieuwenhuyst initial spark for the idea of a utopian world with limitless creative play. He watched as damaged buildings across Europe were being rebuilt and was disappointed by the functionalism being displayed before him. He produced the rational that restoration would limit creativity and enforce a boring world (Boersma, 2005). Soon after Nieuwenhuyst become involved with International Lettrism, a collective group of radical artists, who’s founder was also campaigning against functional design. Several years later, Nieuwenhuyst joined the group International Situationists, a successor group of International Lettrism. Within this group along with the assistance of other group members, he formulated the theory of ‘unitary urbanism’. These decisive factors paved the way for Nieuwenhuyst to start creation on New Babylon, his crowning project which would span well over a decade.

Constant Nieuwenhuyst’s New Babylon was reminiscent of an unfinished building, bare with its structure exposed. The sculptures sprawling platforms are stationed as spaces of creativity where ideas can grow and create. The sculpture appears to me as metaphor for our minds, as if someone mapped our creative space through a three dimensional form. The calculated mess of complexity similar to the networks within our brain reinforce this metaphor. A key aspect to the sculptures charm is its overhanging areas. These areas held up through thin structural support, endorsed my idea of a calculated mess. They appeared to me as if Nieuwenhuyst has allowed his mind to run, creating as he pleased without consideration of a plan, without consideration of function. The openness and hollowness of the sculpture signifies that there is no limit on the creativity allowed here. There are no boundaries for the nomad to create..

To create this sculpture, I was equipped with limited material; a coil of wire and balsa wood scraps. Using these two materials, I experimented with each as well as a combination of the two materials. I initially began by experimenting with a combination of both materials. I attempted to create a hybrid prism using two pieces of balsa wood as the base and 4 prongs of wire, connecting the two balsa wood bases by each corner. I constructed two of these hybrid prisms. One of the prisms utilised glue to hold the wire in place. This proved very unsuccessful as the there was not enough surface area between the wire and the balsa wood for the glue to properly secure. This made it nearly impossible for the prism to be structurally sound. The second attempt made use of the metal wire piercing through the balsa wood to hold each balsa wood base in place. This proved more successful than my first attempt, however it was particularly hard to form desired shape and the structural integrity of the prism was still unstable.

Figure 2

My second experiment saw me creating another prism except primarily out of wire. Using pliers, I carefully folded and entangled the wire to form shape. Eventually, using many pieces of wire, I was able to from a prism by following each edge with wire. However, the wire was struggling to grip and stay secure in one position. This caused it to be significantly hard to form shape. The process was also very time consuming for a small outcome.

Figure 3

My final experiment utilised exclusively balsa wood and glue. The experiment was simple and quick in convincing me balsa wood was the correct material to use. I attached two bases of balsa wood together with two smaller pieces of balsa wood. The structural integrity of the balsa wood and glue was strong which would allow me to replicate the overhanging platform within Nieuwenhuyst’s work. In additon to this, shape was easy to form because of the structural integrity. Because of these benefits, I decided to create my final sculpture from balsa wood.

Figure 4

My final product utilises the hanging platforms found in Nieuwenhuyst’s work. These hanging platforms are what I perceive as the defining feature of the New Babylon sculptures. They provide the open space for the nomads of creativity to expand and create. The delicate structure of Nieuwenhuyst’s work is also reciprocated within my own. The hanging platforms are precariously attached with disregard to function. I treated this sculpture as a project to allow my mind to flow which endorsed these hanging platforms. The sculpture became a project of mapping my creative mind. I attempted to create as I thought without consequence of function. The final result challenges how we view our surroundings. The ideology that function is destroying our creativity is a controversial topic, however it forces us to view our spaces differently. How can we encourage creativity? Does this space restrict creativity? Creativity is a defining feature of humanity and is integral in our history and our future. Therefore, we must not lose our creativity. We must endorse it.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Boersma, L. (2005, April 1) Constant. Bomb. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/constant/ 

Chardonnet, E. (2003). The History of Unitary Urbanism and Psychogeography at the Turn of the Sixties. The Anarchist Libraryhttps://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ewen-chardronnet-the-history-of-unitary-urbanism-and-psychogeography-at-the-turn-of-the-sixties

Spatial Agency. (n.d.) Constant Nieuwenhuys. Spatial Agency.