“Looking back I see what used to be / Now freeways crawl through the suburban sprawl / As far as the eye can see / And the city lives only in my dreams” Lyrics by Ellen Harper

‘Hyper Ballad: Icelandic Suburban Landscapes 2007-3’ picture by Takashi Homma

“Some people consider utopia to be derived from nature. For some people, utopia is the city.”

Photo and text by Joel Sternfeld

Somewhere in USA

“I think the death of sprawl was probably pronounced too soon.” 

By Taylor Anderson

Houston (Texas, USA)

“The irony is that parents who assume they are only helping their kid by moving them to a suburbia, too often end up surprised when their kids fall prey its nihilistic underbelly.”

‘The OA’ created by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, 2016

“Look for your indistinguible house.”

North Texas (USA)

“…they assured Las Vegas’ future by placing it in the mainstream of American metropolitan development. But unlike the rest of urban America, Las Vegas pioneered a unique suburban industry: casino gambling.”

‘East of Eden, West of Zion: Essays on Nevada’ written by Wilbur S. Shepperson

Housing Development at Different Stages (Las Vegas, NV) by Alex MacLean, 2005

“…natural performance, one that is integral to site, to environment, to the life of the inhabitant. Into this new integrity, once there, those who live in it will take root and grow.”  

By Frank Lloyd Wright

‘Usonian Homes II’ community (Pleasantville, NY), designed by David Henken, Aaron Resnick and Frank Lloyd Wright

“An ever-expanding, subdivided tract of land, the suburbs constitute the location for a project that will connect humanity directly with outer space, with the future, and with its own emergent inner self.”

‘E.T.’ directed by Steven Spielberg, 1982

“A city for all seasons.”

Boca Raton, Palm Beach (Florida, USA)

“Suburban was the natural progression from the Home installation, expanding to become a much larger investigation into suburbia and the iconic role of the family home.”

Text and photo by Ian Strange

Collingham Drive, somewhere in Victoria (Australia)