Utopia: critica e progetto

The paper first of all proposes to distinguish between different meanings of the term utopia and to consider a certain disposition as its qualifying framework, for which the expression «utopian intentionality» is coined. By synthetically going through the reflections of some critics of utopia (Popper, von Hayek, Marx- Engels), the utopian features most exposed to the risks of possible pathologies are then pointed out. Moreover, an argument is put forward regarding the duplicity on which its performativity is nourished: critical reading of existing society and emancipatory prefiguration. Lastly, it is shown that utopian intentionality then takes up, and transcends, critical reasoning (Adorno, Jaeggi). Therefore, the practice of project design is invited to be rethought: in the order of processes to be inhabited rather than of results to be constructed.