{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.016666666666666666, 'fraction_numerical': 0.008888888888888889, 'mean_word_length': 5.390070921985815, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
A Labyrinth of Architectural Utopias

The Sphere and the Labyrinth is itself labyrinthine. First published in 1980, it is a revision of several previously-published pieces dating from 1972. The body of the text — nine chapters which traverse Western European and American architecture from Piranesi to New York — is presented as a counterpoint to the introduction on historical method. Throughout the text the discontinuities between architectural movements and styles are analyzed to illustrate the limits of Utopian predilections. Thus, for example, Tafuri documents the pragmatic American concern with the optimization of land value through the skyscraper. The allegorical variation in the skyscrapers' façades bespake a new Babylon in which form reflects zoning laws supportive of a laissez-faire economy, thereby creating an alliance of dramatic architecture and the investment needs of capital.