This article reviews the development of Robert Owen's community ideas with special reference to the architecture and physical arrangements. It highlights the importance of New Lanark, Scotland as a test-bed for Owen's ideal community and explores later designs for several of the communities that were built 1825-1845. Particular attention is paid to the ideas and plans of the Owenite architect, Stedman Whitwell, who produced descriptions, plans and a model of the ideal community. Many of the proposals greatly influenced later Utopian experiments
