The utopian sixties inspired revolutionary and alternative ways to live, love, and entertain—and equally radical spaces to do it in. Stimulated by the psychedelic drug culture, rebel designers and architects distorted space to create womblike coves and isolation chambers, forging a spatial vocabulary that still reverberates today. At the same time, the tune-in-turn-on-drop-out message lured youths into far-flung communes, often under the roofs of brightly painted geodesic domes draped and tie-dyed fabric. Idealistic and anarchic enclaves with names like Drop City and Morning Star redefined the concept of community, inventing a wildly spontaneous way of building and dwelling. For the first time, these ephemeral spaces are brought together in Spaced Out. The many never-before-published photographs and an inventive text by acclaimed author Alastair Gordon show in detail the spirit and ideas of this radical period.
Alastair Gordin is an author who likes to explore urban and ex-urban spaces,
especially marginal places like airports, beach houses, hippie houses, and isolation chambers.
I was born in Scotland but have lived most of my life in or near new York City.
I have published several books including Weekend Utopia, Spaced Out, Naked Airport, Beach Houses, Romantic Modernist, Long Island Modern, The Hamptons After Pollock, American Dream, Beaux Arch, Miami:Blueprint of Eden,
I travel extensively and write for different publications including WSJ., the Wall Street Journal Magazine.
My family and I have moved to Miami for the year and we like it here beside the manatees and the iguanas.
I am finishing a book about my father and war and memory--not really about architecture at all -- but many of the same themes run throughout--and the vigelence of viewing.
