Tripping Over Utopia: Prize of the Labyrinth

Trying to offer up a little hope for today, Mom and I scouted New Harmony, Indiana, yesterday afternoon after settling into the hotel. Although I had been to New Harmony before, Bethel's promises of a utopia had left a bitter taste, and I thought it best to just "check it out" to be sure that we wouldn't be disappointed again. Yesterday was a lovely afternoon, and the setting sun provided very nice warm tones for pictures. Since we had spent most of the day in the car, the walk around New Harmony was a welcomed stretch. Of course, the museum had closed before we arrived, but the empty village proved perfect for afternoon ambling and picture-taking. More so than my previous visit in my third year of architecture school, Richard Meier's Atheneum appeared a little ridiculous with its aggressively anti-contextual white porcelain panels. Yet, in the setting sun it was oddly stunning sitting atop the well-kept grass knoll, and I could hardly help myself taking a shot from every angle.

On my previous visit, I had not taken the opportunity to explore the town of New Harmony; so, as we wandered I realized that I had missed the best that this former utopia had to offer. Throughout the town were little structures that recalled their precedents in Harmony, PA: simple, rectangular three-story structures either clad in wood siding or exposing their original brick and wood construction. Although not a part of the Harmonists' original village-scape, New Harmony also boasts a quaint Main Street that is not too different from most mid-western, southern Main Streets with local businesses and storefronts. What I found more interesting, however, was the preserved Harmonist structures dispersed among the more modern additions. Quite functionally, the Harmonists had named their streets according to whichever important public building occupied it. For instance, the Granary was on Granary Street, the Tavern was on Tavern Street, and the Brewery would have been on Brewery Street. At the corner of the latter two streets, we came across a relic of another manifestation of New Harmony, the secular New Harmony under the guidance and leadership of English economist/industrialist, Robert Owen.

Owen purchased New Harmony from the Harmonists as they departed for Pennsylvania (what would become Old Economy) to reestablish their eastern trade economy that had flourished in Harmony but had somewhat dwindled in their second home of New Harmony. As a secular communitarian, Owen's society found the existing communal dormitories and kitchens to be quite appropriate, but, as they were a community of intellectuals rather than divinely inspired laborers, they did not experience a stable, sustainable economy like the Harmonists. Not too unexpected, the Owenite community unfortunately failed after only a few short years, letting much of the property fall into disrepair.

While this is entirely understandable as an explanation of their failures, I found the docent's (or "interpreter" as she preferred to call herself) reflections on the situation practically (I mean in logical terms) unacceptable. As we stood in the steamy attic space of a dormitory, she explained a little of the Owenites' focus on education and pursuit of a secular utopia. Quite honestly, I was a little perturbed by her "interpretation." In discussing the Owenites' choice to dematerialize the nuclear family, she nearly came to tears as she was obviously condemning this experimental choice to separate children from the family and husbands from wives. She might be surprised to find that this was not an exceptional idea of Owen but actually stemmed from a longer tradition of the French Utopian Socialists of the eighteenth century. As if celibacy was a better idea! Regardless, I would have to say that this "interpreter" was kind and more than generous with her time; therefore, it would be awfully rude of me to continue with this minor point. After everyone had departed the guided tour through the village, she offered to take Mom and me by the Granary to drop in and see the space. This was definitely worth the patience. What an extraordinary room with four-feet thick walls on the lowest level that reduced to merely wood-framing at the upper level. At one time the space had been divided into (I believe she said) four or five levels, but they had been removed since. A treat indeed!

By this time, Mom and I were about to gnaw through our own arms so we took off to find an eatery. We landed in the quaint little Yellow Tavern along Tavern Street and had a nice time (bread pudding included!) in the dank and dusky room. After spending the rest of the afternoon anticipating an enormous thunderstorm while strolling around catching other sights not included in the guided tour (Philip Johnson's Roofless Church, the original Harmonists' log cabins and sheds, and a public garden dedicated to one of Owen's descendants) we headed for the iconic Harmonist Labyrinth that lay just outside of town. I had never been in a labyrinth, but it reminded me of driving in Ohio...no road signs and a bunch of green. More seriously, though, after walking through it for only a brief time, I can better understand how it served the purpose of a meditative space. The hedges are tall enough to feel privacy and separation but low enough that you are not separated entirely from the rest of world in the sublimity of an enormous hedge-wall. What a nice analogy for the Harmonists as well as other separatist utopianists.

A typical Harmonist structure with the entrance on the side rather than the street to prevent dust from the street entering the house

Contemporary architect, Richard Meier's, Atheneum (a place of learning and education, quite appropriate in relation to both societies that occupied this "utopia" along the Wabash River)

The residence of Robert Owen on the corner of Tavern and Brewery, after moving a group of scholars and intellectuals to this former Harmonist utopia

The granary which was a common storage house used by the Harmonists. The "interpreter" did not believe that the Owenites used the Granary for such a purpose.