18 / Improbable
Summer 2013

Unlikely futures envisioned in the past that never became a present. Improbable situations that, beating the odds, became the most tangible reality. Ambitious, grandiose and experimental, all these dreams and schemes radically challenged their present and envisioned a new future. They outlined principles for collective ambitions, defining new physical, political, economic and social organizations. Whether realized or not, these proposals hold valuable lessons for our present and future.
This issue explores the desires, ambitions and consequences of these unrealized futures, as well as the factors that drove the success or realization of unlikely proposals.
Contributions by Martin Abbott, Luís Santiago Baptista, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Ali Fard, Jordan Geiger, Chris Grimley, Evangelina Guerra Luján, Sparkle Hayter, Lisa Hirmer, Tom James, Elina Karanastasi, David Karle, Michael Kubo, Eva Papamargariti, Mark Pasnik, Mike Peart, Vassiliki Maria Plavou, Theo Simpson, Nikos Skoutelis, Alexander Trevi, and Stéphane Massa-Bidal, who is the guest cover designer.
Issue 18 Introduction
Issue statement by Iker Gil and Paul Mougey, editor in chief and editor of MAS Context respectively.Futures: Expo Boston ‘76
Text and chronology by Michael Kubo, Chris Grimley, and Mark PasnikTakis Zenetos: Unbuilt Tropes
Essay by Ethel Baraona Pohl, Elina Karanastasi, and Nikos Skoutelis. Based on a text by Nikos Skoutelis.Dissolving the City Preliminary Notes on Spatial Ideologies of Information and Communication Technologies
Essay by Ali FardThe Advanced Passenger Train
Short Essay by Tom James. Photography by Theo Simpson.Modern Masterpieces Revisited
Text and images by Luís Santiago BaptistaA Bridge Way Too Far
Text and photographs by Lisa HirmerYou are One Lucky Son of a Bitch
Short Essay by Sparkle HayterNotausgang 73
Essay by Evangelina Guerra LujánNetopias: Premonitions of Past Futures
Essay by Eva Papamargariti and Vassiliki-Maria PlavouExit Strategy: From Improbable to Impossible
Essay by David KarleBeyond Index and Over the Limit Gasping for Air in the Megacities of Asia
Essay by Martin AbbottThe Possibility of a Purpose
Short Essay by Mike PeartRadiation and Telecom: Émission
Project by Jordan Geiger(Im)possible Chicagos
Hallucinatory joyrides through one hundred and twenty-five asynchronous Chicagos envisioned by Alexander Trevi