Heterotopia

Heterotopia

what i disagreed with / disliked:
- the 'Peter Pan illusion' - "i never work a day in my life!" - get real... an existentialist criticism would be that you are creating an illusion to neglect the responsibilities of life. i agree that you must enjoy what you do and live happily, never enslaved to monetary things too much.
- the emphasis on 'defending' heterotopia
- the ambiguity and inability to get one's point across in a concise way

heterotopia = mythic and real contestation of how we live
='other place'; nowhere; good place
= perfect mirror of society (utopia is fictional, therefore imperfect)
= spaces that mirror (and contradict) other spaces (the reconstruction of a village in the slum; irish bar in amsterdam - more homely; the theatre and other theatrical representations of other spaces)
= extraordinary spaces and transcendance - interrupt everyday life, power to mirror the ordinary (eg sacred space like the Gesu above - heavens and us; birthdays in the house)
= space where other rules apply
= an experience - do you work/play? (no economic rationale: artists and footballers)

for me heterotopia = the blurring, undefinable, transcendant space that is phyisical and mental.
the slum itself is not a heterotopia, but there are heterotopias within it.