“Blade Runner 2049” is a good example of how urban landscapes will be shaped differently in response to environmental collapse and societal stress. Designed by communities dominated by fear of losing their stability under an authoritarian social logic, the film features Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Reimagined as part of Bruce Sterling’s, What skyscrapers might look like in the future exploratory text, the following paragraphs dive into possible imaginaries of the skyscraper through the lens of Denis Villeneuve’s movie.
Islands
Las Vegas exemplifies how in partially abandoned urban spaces, re-purposed skyscrapers will survive as haunting testaments to once-thriving cities that were required to adapt to climatic disruption. These old towers will stand strong as symbols of resilience and will become the new models of islandisation: self-sufficient entities that are purposefully isolated from large, interconnected networks to withstand environmental threats driven by the climate crisis.
Fortresses
Contrastingly, Los Angeles displays fortress-like skyscrapers designed for control. As anticipated in the movie, new towers designed with an aggressive integration of national intelligence services will emerge in densely populated cities. Glossy showpieces will no longer be pursued and, instead, the spaces will be crowded with sturdy, dignified, disciplined skyscrapers, with legible architectural features that promise durability. These structures will, at the same time, act as watchtowers that surveil the city with methods borrowed from the drone industry and social-media marketing.
Under both possibilities – and any other possibilities –, future skyscrapers will exist as symbols of survival and possible tools of control, while reflecting the state of mind of the people that inhabit and design them.
References
- Sterling, B. (2015, July). What skyscrapers might look like in the future. Ideas.ted.com. https://ideas.ted.com/what-skyscrapers-might-look-like-in-the-future/
- Blade Runner 2049. (2018). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
