"A phalanstère (or phalanstery) was a type of building designed for a self-contained [[utopian]] community, ideally consisting of [[500]]–[[2000]] people working together for [[mutual benefit]], and developed in the early [[19th century]] by [[Charles Fourier]]. Fourier chose the name by combining the French word [[phalange]] (phalanx, an emblematic military unit in ancient Greece), with the word [[monastère]] (monastery)."