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Babel and Babylon

Babel and Babylon

Aztec cities

Aztec cities

Heavenly Jerusalem

Heavenly Jerusalem

The Fujian Tulou

The Fujian Tulou

Utopia

Utopia

Romorantin, capital of a kingdom...

Romorantin, capital of a kingdom...

The city of brotherly love

The city of brotherly love

Saint Petersburg, Peter's great city

Saint Petersburg, Peter's great city

Industry, socialism and utopia

Industry, socialism and utopia

Taking technology to new heights

Taking technology to new heights

Home sweet home

Home sweet home

A towering challenge...

A towering challenge...

New towns

New towns

Conjuring capitals

Conjuring capitals

Auroville: "divine anarchy"

Auroville: "divine anarchy"

Private cities

Private cities

Dubai: miracle or mirage?

Dubai: miracle or mirage?

All eyes on the horizon

All eyes on the horizon

Heavenly Jerusalem

The legacy of a continuous occupation dating back to the Stone Age and Medieval upheaval, European city streets were often narrow, dark and winding. As elsewhere in the world, people nurtured the dream of a city protected by ramparts.

Heavenly Jerusalem is cubic!

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel...

And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass...

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Extract from the Apocalypse of John (King James Version)

Many believed the New Jerusalem—so eagerly anticipated by Christians and seen as a post-Apocalyptic utopia—was the representation of paradise.

The Apocalypse Tapestry (detail)

The Apocalypse Tapestry is an outstanding work commissioned by Louis I of Anjou, brother of King Charles V. It was designed by Hennequin de Bruges based on illuminations showing the Apocalypse of John.

A technical masterpiece, it originally comprised six panels spanning a total of 140 meters, only two thirds of which remain. It was woven in Paris between 1373 and 1389 in the workshop of the highly respected Nicolas Bataille, using a low-warp technique: the weavers were given their model and worked horizontally from the back of the tapestry (checking their position by way of a mirror set below the loom). The tapestry was designed to be viewed from both sides and was perhaps used as a mobile partition, common in the Middle Ages.

Hennequin de Bruges

Hennequin de Bruges, also known as Jan de Bruges, was a 14th century Flemish painter, whose work spans the period 1368 and 1381. Little is known about his life, though it is clear that he worked for France's royal court, where he was favored by Charles V. His most well-known pieces include an illuminated bible made for the king and his cartoons for the Apocalypse Tapestry, designed for Louis I of Anjou.

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