I’ve always been intrigued by the sixties and seventies film industry, where movies like “Star Trek”, “Star Wars”, and Tv shows such as “The Thunderbirds” introduced ingenious special effects to represent what they considered the future.
The recent publications about the colonization of Mars, or projects to 3d print a base on the Moon, show how the ideas that once were considered extreme have become reality and how something considered radical has become quite conservative.
image © sam burell / Hugh Broughton Architects
Gerry Anderson, who passed away a couple of months ago , is the mastermind behind the world famous TV series of the Thunderbirds, and other shows such as Space and UFO. The imagination and ideas of pioneers like Anderson have established a generally know concept of “tomorrow´s form “. In one way or another, all these ideas we absorb, specially in our youth, have influenced on our concept of the future architecture.
http://www.gerryanderson.co.uk/
“As it was the early 70’s, the Apollo programs was still in full swing. The fact that UFO showed routine journeys to the Moon, and people living there in a small base, seemed completely plausible. At the time, the world appeared to be advancing wildly.” FutureDude Magazine
I one of those unusual days were the sun does shine in a metropolis such as London and visibility is reasonable, you´ll notice that the skyline isn’t that far away from what these movies showed us some decades ago.
That doesn’t mean that these movies are the reason of how buildings are formed, but they did have a great influence on the youth of some of today’s best architects.
Banner of recent film of Star Trek: where we can see the London skyline on the background – 24th Century – ? Do you recognize any of the buildings? Or even worse, do you recognize any tourist attraction?
Ron Heron, one of the developers of London’s Archigram in the early sixties, published the idea of Walking cities, that moved around like giant turtles searching for a nice spot on the beach to lay their eggs, and after continue as if they had never been there.
image © archigram.com
How can humans live in extreme conditions or even in outer space?
The recently completed Halley VI, designed by Hugh Broughton Architects, does not only represent major a scientific challenge , but also a case study of our subsistence under extreme conditions. The scientist stationed on the Antarctic have to survive 105 days without seeing sunlight during the endless winter period, temperatures under -50 degrees Celsius, and 100 mph( 160 kmh) snowstorms.
image © antony dubber
Neumayer III: German South Pole research station
Juan Carlos I Antarctic Station / Project info: Hugh Broughton Architects
Another interesting fact that has been all around the blogs and forums the last 2 months, of which most of you probably have already heard, is the Lunar Base designed by the European Space Agency partnered with the London-based architecture firm Foster + Partners.
Image Foster & Partner
Abandoned Star Wars film set in the Tunisian Desert
Even If we don´t know how form will evolve in the next centuries, we do know that In one way or another architecture today, yesterday and tomorrow will always be subject to the external conditions and environments.
Anyway, If you feel a overwhelming pressure to inhabit one of these extreme condition architecture examples, you can always volunteer to colonize Mars! I think I’m going to stay a bit more on this planet…but don’t worry, I will be right behind you.
Article by Team Mind the Arch
More Info Halley VI: Antartic Diaries Hugh Broughton Architects
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