The idea of the Noble Savage is ridiculous. In the attempt to have a ‘control’ variable to create a perfect Utopian society, stripping one’s identity down to one that has not been “corrupted” by human nature is counter intuitive. Fumihiko Maki’s group form focused on the opposite, with observing how “corrupted” humans today live, to design space that properly links their lives. Going as far as to not only ignore societal functions but to look through a lens with everyone completely stripped is going many steps backwards towards the creation of a utopia. The idea of the noble savage aids the creation of science fiction utopia/ dystopia movies where utopias appear well because of the political corruption which forces people to subdue their emotions and rights. Rowe and Koetter’s statement that in a society of noble savages, they “should be destined to a brilliant career” is only confirming the sorrows which science fiction already addressed and fails to look at the larger issue of seeing if the people themselves are actually happy and how they view their city like what Jane Jacobs studied (Rowe and Koetter, 2009).
Rowe, Colin, and Fred Koetter. Collage City. Basel, Basel-Stadt: Birkhäuser, 2009.