Have you ever watched a new skyscraper thrusting its way into a once familiar skyline and wondered what your city will look like in 50 years’ time?
Imagining the city of the future has long been a source of fascination for architects, designers, artists and filmmakers. Their visions have encompassed a wide range of fantastical possibilities from tranquil green utopias to science fiction mega-structures and machines.
Notable twentieth-century examples include Sant’Elia’s blueprints for the Futurist Città Nuova and the cinematic interpretations of Fritz Lang and Ridley Scott.
This week the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) opens a new exhibition at its London headquarters (66 Portland Place) examining how future cities have been visualised over the last 100 years.
And with changing demographics, lifestyles and technologies all having an impact on the way we live and work, it will also consider the key urban challenges facing the UK in the coming decades.
These will test not only architects and urban planners but also residential and commercial developers. Governments too must face the challenge of providing the infrastructure to meet the demands that lie ahead.
Projects featured in the exhibition include Cloud Skippers (pictured), a vision of flying machine-like cities from New York designers Architecture Office, along with the huge artificial landscaping of Singapore at One North by Zaha Hadid Architects. UK projects featured include the proposals for HS2.
“Cities are at the heart of our country’s social, cultural and economic life,” said RIBA President Stephen Hodder.
“By 2065 the UK population may rise by 25 per cent to as much as 80.5 million, making it one of the EU’s most populous countries.
“This will create many challenges for cities and it presents a great opportunity for them to evolve and reinvent themselves, fostering a better quality of life for their inhabitants.
“This exhibition provides huge inspiration for the challenges of the next 50 years.”
Alongside the exhibition RIBA is hosting a series of workshops open to 7 to 18 year olds during the half-term break (17-20 February). The workshops will look at the way architects will shape the future of our cities and feature activities including model building and paper engineering.
The Future City opens tomorrow (10 February) and continues until 31 March. Opening times are 10.00am to 5.00pm. Admission is free of charge.
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