Utopias. Engineers and architects on progress, between Leonardo da Vinci and the A-bomb. Outreach course (2026)

Courses

The Spanish National Distance University (UNED) has organised a course entitled Utopías. Ingenieros y arquitectos frente al progreso, entre Leonardo da Vinci y la bomba atómica [Utopias. Engineers and architects on progress, between Leonardo da Vinci and the A-bomb]. The course is sponsored by Fundación Juanelo Turriano as collaborating institution and is scheduled to be held at UNED’s associated facility in Segovia on 23 to 25 October.

This course reviews some of the technical utopias that have been envisaged from the Renaissance to the present day. We examine some of the ideas and key figures, from Leonardo da Vinci's many-faceted proposals to plans calling for the use of atomic bombs in major public works. These projects, designed to transform society, range between daydream and nightmare, knowledge and folly, giving us an intriguing view of  the hopes and anxieties of power, society and the individual.

Course management:
Alicia Cámara Muñoz
Coordinator:
Enrique Gallego Lázaro

Programme:
Friday, 23 October (afternoon session): 

16:30-17:30h. Impossible cities, from Leonardo to Bacon's New Atlantis. Alicia Cámara Muñoz. Emeritus professor of art history. National Distance University (UNED)

17:30-18:30h. The modern city as utopia: From Ledoux's idealism to Napoleon's blueprints. Adrián Fernández Almoguera. Ramón y Cajal researcher. Art history. National Distance University (UNED)

18:30-19:30h. Arturo Soria's linear city: Dream and reality. Javier García-Gutiérrez Mosteiro. Full professor. Madrid School of Architecture

Saturday, 24 October: 

10:30-11:30 h. Madrid the seaport [sic}. The dream of a recurring utopia. Francisco Carreño Espinosa. Autor of the book Madrid, Puerto de Mar [sic]. El sueño de una utopía recurrente.

11:30-12:30 h. From Europe to Africa without breaking a sweat. Carlos Velasco Murviedro. PhD in economics

12:30-13:30 h. The flight of imagination. Flying machines, from Leonardo to Star Trek. Daniel Crespo Delgado. Lecturer in art history. Complutensian University. Fundación Juanelo Turriano

16:30-17:30 h. A Mussolinian utopia south of Rome: The conquest of land on which to found new cities in Agro Pontino. Carlos Navas Catalá. Predoctoral researcher. Department of the Theory and History of Architecture. Barcelona School of Architecture/Catalonia Technical University (ETSAB-UPC)

17:30-18:30 h. Cities covered for climate control, from New York to Arabia. Jorge Bernabeu Larena. PhD in civil engineering. Lecturer. Madrid Technical University

18:30-19:30 h. And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares. Bombs for peace. Bernardo Revuelta Pol. Architect. Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Fundación Juanelo Turriano

Domingo, 25 de octubre:

11:00-12:00 h. Photo carousel. Covadonga Álvarez-Quiñones del Gallego. Documentalist. Fundación Juanelo Turriano. Begoña Sánchez-Aparicio García. Documentalist. Fundación Juanelo Turriano

12:00-13:00 h.Tour of the Church of San Juan de los Caballeros.

More...  (In Spanish)