A ''phalanstère'' (or phalanstery) was a type of building designed for a self-contained utopian community, ideally consisting of 500–2000 people working together for mutual benefit, and developed in the early 19th century by

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical ...

. Fourier chose the name by combining the French word ''phalange'' ( phalanx, an emblematic military unit in ancient Greece), with the word ''monastère'' (

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Structure

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''.

In France and the United States

Though Fourier published several journals in Paris, among them ''Le Phalanstère'', he created no ''phalanstères'' in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

due to a lack of financial support. Several so-called

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

were founded in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Albert Brisbane Albert Brisbane (August 22, 1809 – May 1, 1890) was an American utopian socialist and is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States. Brisbane was the author of several books, notably ''Social D ...

and

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...

Examples

La Colonie ''La Colonie'' is a comedy by French playwright Pierre de Marivaux, published in 1750 in the journal ''Mercure de France''. When it was first performed at the Comédie-Italienne on June 18, 1729, ''La Nouvelle Colonie'' did not gather success and ...

of Condé-sur-Vesgre (1832) * Phalanstery of Scăieni, Wallachia (1834) * La Réunion in Dallas (1855) * Familistère of Guise (1859) *Familistère of Godin (1887) * Longo Maï Co-operatives (1973) *

Uranian Phalanstery The Uranian Phalanstery and the associated First New York Gnostic Lyceum Temple are artist collectives in New York City. The Uranian Phalanstery was established in 1974 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan by Richard Tyler and his wife, Dorothea Bae ...

(1974)

Gender roles

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.

Legacy

In the 20th century, the architect

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

adapted the concept of the ''phalanstère'' when he designed the '' Unité d'Habitation'', a self-contained commune, at

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

In 19th century publications

In the Hungarian play '' The Tragedy of Man'', first published in 1861 by

Imre Madách Imre Madách de Sztregova et Kelecsény (20 January 1823 – 5 October 1864) was a Hungarian aristocrat, writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is ''The Tragedy of Man'' (''Az ember tragédiája'', 1861). It is a dramatic poem app ...

, 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. On the other hand, 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 Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

spiritually died along with it in its pursuit of survival. In

Henri Murger Louis-Henri Murger, also known as Henri Murger and Henry Murger (27 March 1822 – 28 January 1861), was a French novelist and poet. He is chiefly distinguished as the author of the 1851 book ''Scènes de la vie de bohème'' (Scenes of Bohemi ...

's 1851 work ''

Scenes of Bohemian Life ''Scenes of Bohemian Life'' (original French title: ''Scènes de la vie de bohème'') is a work by Henri Murger, published in 1851. Although it is commonly called a novel, it does not follow standard novel form. Rather, it is a collection of lo ...

'', the source of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

'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 Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

's 1869 novel ''

Sentimental Education ''Sentimental Education'' (French: ''L'Éducation sentimentale'', 1869) is a novel by Gustave Flaubert. Considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century, it was praised by contemporaries such as George Sand and Émile Zola, bu ...

'': for example, among a list of utopian projects: "plans of phalansteria, projects for cantonal bazaars, systems of public felicity." They are mentioned in

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

' ''

News from Nowhere ''News from Nowhere'' (1890) is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris. It was first published in serial form in the ''Commonweal'' journal begin ...

'', first published in 1890, with the spelling "phalangsteries."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phalanstere Architecture related to utopias Feminism in France Fourierism Utopian socialism