Research Article

Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville

Volume: 13 Number: 3 September 30, 2025
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Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville

Abstract

Ecotopia, approached through the lenses of environmental ethics, systems critique, and utopian fiction, has come to define an increasingly recognized field of inquiry within architectural and urban design. It represents a multilayered construct in which ecological transformation, social imagination, cultural restructuring, technological adaptation, and economic alternatives are collectively organize moving beyond a mere environmental ideal. In this context, the study aims to critically evaluate the vision of ecotopia in relation to ecological life practices through the lens of spatial production. It identifies the contextual frameworks that constitute ecotopia, analysing the interrelations among these frameworks and how they influence spatial configurations in practice. In this study, which examines the conception of ecotopia across historical, theoretical, and practical dimensions, the first part explores its historical development and intellectual foundations; the second part defines the space-constructing contextual frameworks that shape space; and the third part examines the Auroville case within these frameworks, assessing its spatial formation with attention to its experimental aspects. Through this approach, ecotopia is repositioned as a critical and operative tool to analyse and construct nature-integrated ways of living in spatial terms. Highlighting the experimental nature of ecotopia, this perspective provides a foundation for developing locally responsive, critical, and creative design approaches, and opens new theoretical and applied research avenues in architecture and urban design

Keywords

References

  1. [1] Alberro, H. (2020). Ecotopia Rising: An Ecocritical Analysis of Radical Environmental Activists as Ecotopian Expressions Amid Anthropocene Decline (Doctoral dissertation, Nottingham Trent University).
  2. [2] Alberro, H. (2021). Eco-utopias: Reimagining ecological futures. Environmental Politics, 30(1), 1–20.
  3. [3] Bookchin, M. (1988a). The ecology of freedom: The emergence and dissolution of hierarchy. Palo Alto, CA: Cheshire Books.
  4. [4] Bookchin, M. (1988b). Toward an ecological society. Black Rose Books.
  5. [5] Callenbach, E. (1975). Ecotopia: The notebooks and reports of William Weston. Banyan Tree Books.
  6. [6] Dryzek, J. S. (2005). The politics of the earth: Environmental discourses (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
  7. [7] Gandhi, M. K. (1909). Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House.
  8. [8] Gorz, A. (1980). Écologie et liberté. Paris: Galilée.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Architectural Design, Sustainable Architecture

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

September 30, 2025

Submission Date

June 2, 2025

Acceptance Date

July 1, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 13 Number: 3

APA
Ozturk, S., & Küçük, İ. (2025). Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville. Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning, 13(3), 317-333. https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS
AMA
1.Ozturk S, Küçük İ. Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville. GUJSPB. 2025;13(3):317-333. https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS
Chicago
Ozturk, Sinem, and İrem Küçük. 2025. “Ecotopia As an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville”. Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning 13 (3): 317-33. https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS.
EndNote
Ozturk S, Küçük İ (September 1, 2025) Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville. Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning 13 3 317–333.
IEEE
[1]S. Ozturk and İ. Küçük, “Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville”, GUJSPB, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 317–333, Sept. 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS
ISNAD
Ozturk, Sinem - Küçük, İrem. “Ecotopia As an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville”. Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning 13/3 (September 1, 2025): 317-333. https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS.
JAMA
1.Ozturk S, Küçük İ. Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville. GUJSPB. 2025;13:317–333.
MLA
Ozturk, Sinem, and İrem Küçük. “Ecotopia As an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville”. Gazi University Journal of Science Part B: Art Humanities Design and Planning, vol. 13, no. 3, Sept. 2025, pp. 317-33, https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS.
Vancouver
1.Sinem Ozturk, İrem Küçük. Ecotopia as an Experimental Field in Architecture: A Socio-Spatial Analysis on Space-Constructing Contextual Frameworks in Auroville. GUJSPB [Internet]. 2025 Sep. 1;13(3):317-33. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA27UM39NS