As humanity evolves the parts of their history emerge to rapidly engross more dynamism and evolve relatively as well. The gaps created by the progression dwell in concepts and terms unbeknownst to the simple minds. As we progress, it unknowingly so occurs that we dwell on our history to reprimand and understand our slip-ups to shape a better future; this term is futurism for any perspective. In architecture, artistic movements emerge into new trends and styles signifying the people’s ideas and perspectives. The futuristic architecture was one such movement that emerged at the dawn of the 20th century in Italy.
The visionary perspective laid by Architects, majorly influenced by revolutions, become part of the futuristic architecture’s origins
Motivated by the anti-historicism and shaped by the long, streamlined forms replicating speed, dynamism, and movement, the march to futurism was plainly put in a simple idea. It was to create a significantly modernized and sleeker appeal for the edifice.
The current trends shape our future, as architects the visions of creating an efficient future and the pride in creating something that would withstand time and serve the imminent is what they try to achieve. As the world keeps up the pace to become more and more tech-savvy, the field of architecture grows along with it adapting to the needs. The futuristic architecture is a peephole to what lies ahead for the next generation as handed by the ancestors and their thinking.
Depicted as the “cult of machine age”, the notion of futuristic movement penned by the poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti aimed clearly at the new age of technology and its advancements. At the early stages of the futurism movement, Antonio Sant’Elia and Mario Chiattone published their sketches depicting what the future advancements in the architecture field would possibly look like, although contemporary still grasped the dynamism that seems to be dictated in the modern buildings.
The futuristic architecture is the end product of the intrinsically emerged protest art movement. It mainly aims to scrutinize the future sociologically, psychologically, ecologically, and technologically to aim at a more sustainable and innovative end for humanity.
Architecture is pliable to how the circumstances arise, as it moulds to the context the purpose of flexibility and compliance becomes a major turn point for the field. The spatial surrounding of any context is influenced by various other factors than ergonomics. Social norms and values, culture divergence, as well as disparity in philosophy, contribute significantly to any uprising in the trends of any field. Architecture is no stranger to this compliance and it is quite obvious to see the profession actually serve the growing changes.
Another major impact comes along with these social norms, the real hidden quest is why does social belief change in general? The answer is quite simple, the impact of growing numbers in terms of population. The key demographics play a major role in mediating a vast spread of a newer ideology that could change the perspective of the audience. Architecture inhabits these changes to serve the future needs pragmatically approaching it with a bolder and more humane system. Futuristic architecture tends to acclimate these changes of numbers in a more sustainable format with the hindsight towards threats to the population.
As we tend to ‘modernize’ our ways of living, the idea can single-handedly impact various domains factoring into our daily lives. The crossing of our past to shape our future by numbing and taking these ideas into action in the present forms the complete circle of how we as humans evolve.
It pioneers revolutionary modern opportunities by learning from the past and understanding the present
Futuristic Architecture evolves along with the people. The style resonates with movement seen clearly by visible sharp and lean lines with more straight cut angles and edges. This take is an inspiration that dwells with the kind of sustained impression left by nature shown by the continuity formed through dynamism. The prominent theory behind futuristic architecture was to actually experiment with various construction methods and materials still pertaining to the ideology and culture of the people.
This style has seen its growth with the thoughts as well. Initially, just a mere concept its past speaks on much more “spacey” and “star trek” vibes created in the early post World War II. Architects began to create an impression of a much more highly advanced community living catering to the inter terrestrial living scenarios.
The design theory spread like wildfire and thinkers, philosophers and architects began their take on futurism. As the war ended and the revolution of modernism took forward, many notable architects proposed a future that was beyond imagination. However, one such work that stood out was by London-based Archigram. Described as an avant-garde stylist during the ’70s, they published a series of futuristic drawings that was an underrated concept of space living.
As the mindset of the people is put to test by the growing lifestyle, the revolution is just the climb, The 21st century is a predicament to this theory. What was once thought of as a mere concept can now be visualized, displayed, and interpreted. The growth of the digital revolution takes by the storm to create some of the most diverse projects and spaces. Parametricism, sustainable designs, and skyscrapers were just a fiction of the imagination. Now, it is dominating the world. As more parts of the world see this modernization, technological advancement adds on like a chemical agent to this.
3D printing, one of the revolutionary steps in visualizing media stories that can be achieved in the near future. As the definition of futuristic architecture changes according to the changing times, many factors do play an impact on how it propagates. As we learn from our past and continue to evolve at a growing pace, the knowledge we gain from our real-life experience continues to exhibit the nature and direction architecture leads on to.
The mere idea of growth is a path leading us to stumble across newer much more advanced procurements. The futuristic architecture now resonates with the unlikely design ideas that can be seen quite easily due to the advancement in what mankind has been able to achieve.
Futuristic Architecture is not just a style but more importantly a worldly take on how we perceive the kind of environment we could end up in. Buildings resonating with this have been seen to take the world by storm, spreading across the globe. Examples like Cybertecture Egg, the Futuroscope, or the proposal for the underwater hotel Water Discus Hotel, all replicate the irony of how the future would probably look in another 20 years. The irony of the word futuristic is a probability that one cannot predict but can still be defined as an alien path to a better future.
References
TEDx Talks. (2016). Architecture and the Science of the Senses | Stefan Behling | TEDxGoodenoughCollege. [YouTube Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbfPWalO_ss. [Accessed: 08/ 05/ 2021].
