Rather, Kanye is pulling from an overstuffed grab bag of design principles that have served as the keystones of the twentieth century’s major architectural movements. When Kanye talks about utopia, he is not holding up a generally “virtuous” or “just” way of building, à la utopia’s master theorists like Plato or Sir Thomas More. Say what you will about Kanye West’s edifice complex, but he’s not the first person to suggest that we can build our way to “utopia”-a term as imprecise as it is overused in architectural theory. He concluded on an uncharacteristically humble note: “I’m very inspired to be in this space.” For Kanye, the fantasy of total self-creation was nothing short of revolutionary. Here the imagination could run wild, unbridled by such constraints as money, politics, bad taste and the desires of other human beings. “I believe,” he continued, “that utopia is actually possible-but we’re led by the least noble, the least dignified, the least tasteful, the dumbest and the most political.” In a world cluttered by artistic and intellectual detritus, the architect’s studio emerged as one of the only free spaces for utopian thought.

“I really do believe that the world can be saved through design and everything can be architected,” he announced to his cheering audience. Standing atop a drafting table in the middle of the school’s cavernous design studio, impeccably turned out in a white bomber jacket and faux construction boots, Kanye issued a series of proclamations on creativity unbound.

Last November, Kanye West stopped by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design to deliver a three-minute manifesto on the state of architecture today.

Chris ware buildings