The Futurama project is an American utopia promising an urban future transformed by technical progress. This experience marks the advent of the American automotive civilization that transformed the country’s cities and territories.
Hypogeum, The Funeral Tower
The funeral tower is the result of an analysis of the hypogea found in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. The succession of different types of hypogea forms a framework where the full and empty spaces dialogue along a vertical funeral procession.
The Round House in Moscow
The Moscow round house (or Bublik) was built in a difficult context of housing crisis in the USSR. The circular shape makes it an example of Khrushchyovka structure, different from the standardized and monotonous buildings of that time.
Roger Leenhardt, l’Intelligence
The director and screenwriter Roger Leenhardt made an appearance in the film Une femme mariée by Jean-Luc Godard. Pierre, Charlotte and Leenhardt begin a succession of monologues in three sections: Pierre speaks of memory, Charlotte of the present, while Leenhardt concludes by defining intelligence and praising compromise. His monologue is partly transcribed here.
Heinz Bienefeld, Brick, Spaces and Surfaces
Heinz Bienefeld was a German architect who used brick both to give expression to his volumes and to construct his details. His work is marked by the relationship between form and surface through the use of this material.
Espai Verd, A Vegetal Urban Cathedral
The Espai Verd is a modular housing complex built in Valencia following a reflection combining vegetation and community. This example of bio-climatic architecture deals with many environmental issues in a hybrid building with a forest backbone spreading throughout the spaces.
The Brion Cemetery, Carlo Scarpa
North of Venice, Carlo Scarpa built a private mausoleum for the Brion family, a synthesis of his architectural work and his capacity for constructive invention. A manifesto project where concrete allows the sculpting of forms and decorative elements conducive to meditation.
Michael Heizer, the Post Apocalyptic Sculpture of City
Since the early 1970s, Michael Heizer has been building City, a colossal sculpture in the middle of a desert in Nevada. Inspired by ancient cities, he erects monumental geometrical structures trying to represent a culture threatened by a post-apocalyptic future.
A Future City From The Past, Clemens Gritl
In the series A Future City From The Past, Clemens Gritl builds concrete buildings inspired by the dystopian universe of J.G Ballard. These brutalist megastructures explore the influence of monumental architecture on a society and its human beings.
The Nardò Ring, a Curved Geoglyph in the Italian Landscape
The Nardò Ring is a circular track dedicated to speed tests. Built by Fiat in 1975, the 12km inclined ring allows high-speed tests up to 400km/h.