Future City?

A ridiculous amount of information crosses my desk – even more so since I starting writing this blog. Magazines, emails, letters … paper, digital, phone calls, vendors – it never stops. I actually like it, it’s like a non-stop carnival for my imagination. One thing that I see more and more these days are designs for future cities. Maybe it’s because the economy is so bad that people are trying to find some sort of creative outlet. I stumbled across this design ‘The Ark’ by Russian architect Alexander Remizov.

from Spiegel Online:

The rising sea waters caused by global warming have inspired a Russian architect to design a hotel that could be built on water as well as land. The eco-friendly “Ark” could be constructed in just a few months anywhere in the world, the designer says.

It’s called “The Ark”, but looks more like a ship sitting upside down on the water. A new design by Russian architect Alexander Remizov challenges the tradition of land-based hotel living and would provide a refuge in the future — should the world face a modern-day flood of Biblical proportions.

Remizov designed the hotel as part of a program on architecture and disaster relief through the International Union of Architects (UIA). He collaborated with a German design and engineering firm and the Moscow-based scientist Lev Britvin, who, according to Remizov, has developed energy-saving solutions for space stations. They are now searching for investors to make the design a reality.

The building of the hotel could be fast and simple, Remizov told SPIEGEL ONLINE. “Prefabricated sections could be put together in three to four months,” he said. The versatile structure could be constructed in most corners of the earth, even in earthquake-prone areas. Constructing “The Ark” — which would include 14,000 square meters (151,000 square feet) of living space — would cost roughly the same as building an energy-efficient house.

The self-sustaining structure would be built around a central pillar, connecting wind generators and heat pumps on its roof with the basement, where solar, wind, and thermal energy could be stored and turned into electricity.

Remizov has designed the building without glass, choosing instead a durable and self-cleaning foil that could withstand harsher weather conditions. That foil would be fastened to metal profiles, which would also collect rainwater. The building would also feature an indoor jungle, creating its own micro-climate.

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With reporting by Antje Blinda

Photo Credits:
Remistudio

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Other than the obvous comparison’s one could make to a slinky – seeing it made me wonder is this really the direction we are going to take in the future? If this is true, I am going to go out on a limb and make some predictions:

• We will all be wearing silver one-piece jumpsuits with a big red “v” stripe on the front
• the future of journalism will be completely paperless
• We will no longer eat prepared food on a plate – instead we will ingest capsules because they are more efficient and don’t require land to actually grow.
• Apparently we will still drive trucks and sail boats (we’re not animals after all) … but the hover car isn’t going to happen (time to deal with it)
• We will all have unique World Government ID numbers prominently displayed on all clothing (they’ll look like bar codes … duh)
• human beings will become commercial products with the development of cloning
• your clothing will store energy created by your body throughout the day (but it will still be a silver jumpsuit with the “V”)
• everbody will have short “bowl” haircuts … and your hair will be platinum white
• everyone will wear those “transition” glasses – you know the ones that change color when you go outside

If you have some ideas on how the future will be, put them in the comment section.

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even better stuff from Life of an Architect