Imaginary Cities Quotes

“We would do well, as Orwell counselled, to see the traces of the dystopian around us, to find the ends of those threads and how far along we are; the most accurate prophecy being that people, and the allure of domination, never really change. We can Copenhagenise our future cities, make them as green and smart as we can, but provided we are still embedded in systems that reward cronyism, exploitation and short-term profiteering, that require poverty and degradation, it will be mere camouflage. Dystopias will have cycle lanes and host World Cups. What may save us is, in Orwell’s words, a dedication to ‘common decency’ and the perpetual knowledge that it need not be like this.”
― Darran Anderson, Imaginary Cities

“To accuse Polo of inventing fictions is to assume that perception and memory are not partially fictional to begin with.”
― Darran Anderson, Imaginary Cities

“Time is the hidden constituent to architecture and the power that is wielded through it. The awe of architecture, the intractable monumental weight, seeks to concretise authority into history forever.”
― Darran Anderson, Imaginary Cities

“Learning, in an age where it was the light to theocratic darkness, was to be feared and reviled because it threatened vested interests.”
― Darran Anderson, Imaginary Cities: A Tour of Dream Cities, Nightmare Cities, and Everywhere in Between

“The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.’3”
― Darran Anderson, Imaginary Cities: A Tour of Dream Cities, Nightmare Cities, and Everywhere in Between