Today, the earth faces two looming threats: ecological collapse from resource depletion and widespread unemployment due to automation. Although these concerns are seemingly opposites, they share a common root – inequality. Both contributing heavily to the future of labour, and humanity. The skyscraper,stands as a testament to this inequality. Its very existence codifies the power structures and class divides within our urban environments.
To explore the potential consequences of this disparity, we can turn to science fiction. Similar to Denise Villeneuve’s approach in “Blade Runner 2049,” the second skyscraper future thought experiment tries to understand the types of environments that we might create if a resurgent left succeeds, and the coping mechanisms we might need if it does not.
In our envisioned future of the skyscraper, we encounter contrasting scenarios that reflect divergent trajectories amidst the challenges of the Anthropocene. While one scenario depicts a bleak and dystopian urban landscape, the other is one of resilience and strategic adaptation.
The newer style of the skyscraper is therefore fortress-like, embodying the essence of resilient urbanism. These urban castles take on a no-nonsense, mil-spec aesthetic, exuding a sense of sturdiness and discipline. They are a resultant of a sterner and more authoritarian social ethos, where anxiety and the looming threats of violent weather dictate architectural imperatives.
Yet, resilience in this context transcends mere technical fortification. Integrated with city police and national intelligence services, these panoptic towers are the new high-ground. No longer mere architectural marvels, these structures are watchtowers that are surveilling the cityscape meticulously. Thus, the skyscraper therefore emerges not merely as a symbol of opulence or technological prowess, but as a certainty against the uncertainties of the urbicidal anthropocene.
References
- Sterling, B. (2018). Unbuilt Towers of Futurity. In P. Nobel (Ed.), The Future of the Skyscraper. SOM.
- P. Frase (Version, 2016). ‘Technology and Ecology as Apocalypse and Utopia’, in Four Futures
- Villeneuve, D. (Director). (2017). Blade Runner 2049 [Film]. Alcon Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Torquil Studios, Blade Runner Partners.
