Ein Stein vom Mond

Exhibition Ein Stein vom Mond, Amerika Haus, Berlin, 1970

Filmstill video installation Ecumenopolis

Ecumenopolis departs from the Cultural Cold War, in which East and West tried to extend their spheres of influence by means of export-urbanism. Within this framework, in America, modernist architecture and urban planning - as a counterpart of Soviet socialist realism - were considered to be a powerful instrument in Cold War politics. Ecumenopolis is an investigation - in and outside the context of the Cultural Cold War - into the Greek architect and urban planner Constantinos Doxiadis, his network of 262 Delians (representatives from the arts and sciences) and his ekistic mission. In the 1960s and 70s Doxiadis and the Delians were sailing the Aegean Sea, Greece, to explore the urban future. Ecumenopolis connects the island and ancient Greek city of Delos with Doxiadis’ world-encompassing city of the future Ecumenopolis. In order to envision the urban future, the Delians were to travel back in time.

Image and text by Elian Somers / Text editing by Hester van Gent / Score by Rutger Zuydervelt / Voiceover by Lori McKenzie / Voice recording by Silent M Studios