The (New) Tower of Babel

The ethic of development has to be realized together with development, within development’s processes. The promise of liberation from the machine can only arise from an accurately controlled image of the future.

— Manfredo Tafuri, Architecture and Utopia (1976)

All the legends and songs that have originated in this city are filled with the longing for a prophesied day, on which the city will be smashed to pieces by five blows in rapid succession from a gigantic fist.

— Franz Kafka, The City Coat of Arms (1933)

Come, it is time to give the machine-man your face!

— Metropolis (1927)