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Science fiction fans are always looking for the next big thing. For new stories with worlds and universes we never knew existed. For cutting edge ideas and places and characters unlike anything we've seen or read or contemplated.

Perhaps the oldest science fiction game is to try and predict trends in the genre. To see where humanity's science fiction dreams might take us next.

One SF trend I've noticed lately is the survival of print books, which have increased sales in the United State for each of the last three years. Despite all the doomsday predictions of e-books quickly supplanting print books, that hasn't turned out to be the case.

Even in a digital world people love their print books. That's SF trend #1.

Despite print books doing so well, the sales of science fiction books continue to lag behind fantasy titles. I don't see this changing anytime soon. The fantasy literary genre continues to be more open to new readers than science fiction, where many novels are so narrowly focused toward genre insiders that it's difficult for them to attract new readers who aren't already familiar with science fiction tropes and jargon.

An exception to this is the science fiction subgenre of space opera. The popularity of this subgenre is partly due to the success of the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises - which serve as gateways to written space operas for the general public - and partly because space operas are such exciting SF stories. As a result, more SF authors than ever seem to be writing space operas. Among the new and exciting space operas I've read this year are The Collapsing Empire by Hugo Award winner John Scalzi and The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley. In addition, The Genesis Fleet: Vanguard, a new Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell, was just released, with many more space operas due for the rest of the year.

So SF trend #2: Space opera remains hot.

That's not to say readers won't respond positively to other types of science fiction. I loved Jeff VanderMeer's new novel Borne and couldn't put it down. While VanderMeer is usually known for his New Weird fantasy stories, such as with his bestselling Southern Reach series, with Borne he reaches into science fiction. The novel delivers a weirdly futuristic wasteland filled with discarded scientific experiments and a scavenger who nurtures one of these experiments while facing off with a skyscraper-tall flying bear named Mord.

Yes, the novel features a giant flying bear. And believe me, the bear works.

Despite the flying bear, I'm still calling Borne science fiction. The novel reads as if Jeff VanderMeer has created something totally new in the science fiction universe. Call it New Weird SF. As a bonus, Borne is likely to appeal to many readers who otherwise might never consider reading a science fiction novel.

SF trend #3: Write something totally different and unique and people will read it even if they generally avoid science fiction.

Of course, we can't discuss trends in science fiction without talking about TV and films, especially since most of the world devours visual SF at much higher rates than written SF.

One TV series to definitely watch is The Expanse, which is now the best science fiction series around. The series follows the conflicts and intrigue between three factions in a future colonized Solar System: A United Nations government centered on Earth, an independent Mars federation, and the impoverished belters living on asteroids who are abused by the other two powers.

The Expanse is frequently called "Game of Thrones in space," a description which does a disservice to the SF show. Yes, The Expanse shares the same deep love of the genre as Game of Thrones, which isn't surprising considering that the authors of the original Expanse book series - Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, writing under the pseudonym James S. A. Core - are as fully immersed in the tropes and power of the SF genre as George R. R. Martin is with fantasy.

But while The Expanse features clashes among the elite and powerful just like Game of Thrones, most of the story is told through the eyes of ordinary people who suffer and survive as the powerful fight and scheme. That's where the power of The Expanse lays - with the series' characters.

SF trend #4: If people love your science fiction characters, they'll love your science fiction story.

On the film side of science fiction, Hollywood continues its trend of reimagining old film series, such as with the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the new Ridley Scott film Alien: Covenant (which I prefer to call Alien: Ridley Scott Apologizes for Making Prometheus).

But one SF film which captured attention earlier this year for the wrong reasons is Ghost in the Shell, with Scarlett Johansson as the iconic character Major Motoko Kusanagi. Except the character is only called The Major in the film, a possible attempt by the studio to sugarcoat that a white American actress was selected to play the role.

Before the release of the 2017 film I saw the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell anime during a limited run in theaters. The theater was packed was anime lovers, many of whom, like myself, had seen the anime many times but never on a large screen.

The good news is the 1995 version of Ghost in the Shell is still a great film and must be seen anyone who loves either anime or SF. Sadly, the audience was also forced to sit through multiple trailers and insider looks at the upcoming live action film. Based on the trailers it appeared Hollywood ripped off all the best scenes from the original anime and threw in a ton of angst and interpersonal drama while dumping the original film's deep philosophy.

The special features ended with an exclusive interview with Kazunori Itō, director of the original 1995 anime. Itō said how pleased he was that a big Hollywood director had recreated his Ghost in the Shell with Scarlett Johansson in it. I'm not sure he really meant that. And the audience around me definitely wasn't impressed with the upcoming film because people laughed at and booed the trailers.

So no surprise from me when the 2017 film bombed.

Which bring me to SF trend #5: Even big Hollywood studios must be careful before messing with classic science fiction stories because genre fans have little tolerance for those who desecrate our SF dreams.

That's one trend which will likely never change.

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Five trends in the science fiction genre

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Science fiction fans are always looking for the next big thing. For new stories with worlds and universes we never knew existed. For cutting edge ideas and places and characters unlike anything we've seen or read or contemplated. Perhaps the oldest science fiction game is to try and predict

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Science Fiction film is a genre that incorporates hypothetical, science-based themes into the plot of the film. Often, this genre incorporates futuristic elements and technologies to explore social, political, and philosophical issues. The film itself is usually set in the future, either on earth or in space. Traditionally, a Science Fiction film will incorporate heroes, villains, unexplored locations, fantastical quests, and advanced technology.

Examples of Science Fiction film:

The Matrix - The fight for the future begins when a computer hacker learns the world exists in an alternate reality and he is chosen as "The One" who can save mankind in the war against the computer agents who control it.

2001: A Space Odyssey - An artifact is discovered on the moon and humans set out on a quest, with the help of a sophisticated computer system named HAL.

Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi - Rebels rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt and go on to battle the Empire, while Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker, attempts to bring his father away from the Dark Side.

Sub-genres of Sci-Fi:

Apocalyptic Film

Apocalyptic film is a sub-genre of Science-Fiction film. The plot revolves around an impending disaster. Within this genre, the disaster is usually an alien invasion, a nuclear war, a pandemic, or a natural disaster. The development of technology plays a large role in these films and often serves as the source of conflict. While many films in this sub-genre center around the disaster, many focus on the post-apocalyptic state of the world.

Examples: Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Armageddon.

Dystopian Film

Dystopian film is a sub-genre of Science-Fiction film that focuses on the upset state of the world. These films take place in the future and feature a world that is overrun with violence, oppression, and disease. In other words, a Dystopian film explores what it would look like to achieve the opposite of an Utopian society. This sub-genre often holds the same themes and characteristics of a post-apocalyptic film. Generally, the common themes within Dystopian films include dehumanization, the repression of individuality, and uniformity at the cost of human rights.

Examples: V for Vendetta, Mad Max, Blade Runner.

Time Travel Film

As stated in its name, this sub-genre of Science-Fiction film centers around the concept of time travel. These films can explore traditional time travel through futuristic devices or space-time travel. The Time Travel sub-genre can also explore the concept of alternate histories, alternate realities, and parallel universes.

Examples: The Terminator, Back to the Future, Star Trek.

Alien Film

Alien film is perhaps the most prominent themed sub-genre in Science-Fiction film. These films can explore the existence of aliens, alien invasions, and alien abduction. Often, these movies include some sort of government conspiracy or cover-up. A common theme in this sub-genre is the coexistence between human beings and aliens.

Examples: Predator, Mars Attacks!, Alien.

Monsters and Mutants

Monsters and Mutants is a sub-genre with a long tradition within Science-Fiction film. Unlike horror films, this sub-genre contains a monster or mutant that derives from a scientific explanation or origin. These films can contain a scientific experiment or accident that produces the said monster. In many Science-Fiction films, these mutants can be created from technology and take the form of robots and technologically advanced beings.

Examples: Godzilla, Cloverfield, Tremors.

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Science Fiction film is a genre that incorporates hypothetical, science-based themes into the plot of the film. Often, this genre incorporates futuristic elements and technologies to explore social, political, and philosophical issues. The film itself is usually set in the future, either on earth or in space.

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Hollywood has portrayed futuristic ideas better than any other visual media. Futuristic architecture has been beautifully visualized in movies like Star wars or Matrix or any other Sci Fi movie. But as an architect and a movie lover, never have I experienced a movie in which architecture had an upper hand. That was until I saw Tron Legacy.

Tron Legacy is one movie whose architecture fascinated me more than anything else. The is might be because, the director Joseph Kosinski is an architect himself. The way he had imagined the world inside the chips is mind blowings.The most fascinating of all the architectural elements though are the ones with the futuristic concepts involved. The way he brought in those interesting forms and integrated them with those neon lights are fascinating. The gaming arenas inspired from the stadiums or the tower which housed the ISO's clearly shows the mind of the architect behind the screen.

So lets look at the buildings or architectural elements of Tron one my one.
Flynn's Safehouse:
The house of Flynn(played by Jeff Bridges) inside the Grid(the programming world) has an open plan and truly resembles the works of the masters. Kosinski describes the house as " It is a safe house, neo-Victorian furniture is featured in the minimalist interior, creating a look that blends the old with the new in a provocative way."

Flynn's Safehouse is a combination of a spacious home and a bunker, disconnected from the Grid and hidden in the Outlands. It is far enough from TRON City that the prying eyes of Clu's subordinates do not reach it, yet it is also far enough that it leaves Kevin Flynn unable to offer protection to the Grid.

Established some time after Clu's betrayal in 1989, the safehouse has been developed and expanded into a well appointed subterranean complex with one expansive window opening from the main lounge and dining area out onto a viewing platform in the side of a cliff. Much of the interior features lighting throughout the floor, as well as from fittings in the ceiling, which activates in the presence of occupants and bathes the rooms in a steady white glow. Connected to the main living area are smaller personal rooms furnished with beds, and shelves for personal belongings.
Flynn's Container House:
Another house, though not so architecturally fascinating, which catches the viewers attention is the container house of Flynn junior. Seems like the architect turned director was interested in putting in some sustainable concepts in to his movie.
Input/Output Tower:
I/O tower is a location in the Computer World that programs use to communicate to their users. They regard these towers as religious places and each tower has a Tower Guardian to protect the holy place. Dumont and I-No are examples of Tower Guardians.
Game Arena:
The Game Arena is contained in a vast stadium on the edge of TRON City. It plays host to a number of different gladiatorial sports including matches for Lightcycles, and a radically redesigned Disc Arena where combatants fight inside a series of transparent modules. Stadium seating provides live viewing positions for thousands and the spectators are screened from the arena floor by a sturdy clear shield capable of withstanding the full force of a lightcycle impact without breaching.

The environment of the arena combat area can be constantly reshaped to accommodate a wide range of different game environments. Everything from rotating Disc Arena modules suspended high above the ground to a lightcycle grid with spiral tracks and other ramped structures.

SO finally lets talk about the Tron City:
TRON City
is the main city in the TRON system. It is built on the Grid, Kevin Flynn's master creation, and the pinnacle of his "digital frontier". It is constructed in a hexagonal shape, with a deep chasm surrounding its perimeter. Bridges connect it to the surrounding area and form highly defensible choke points against any surface-based aggression. The city, like the Grid around it, matches the darkened environment of the rest of the TRON system. The gloom is offset by brilliant white illumination, meandering throughout the city like circuits on on a printed circuit board.

The first beginnings of TRON City were in 1983 after the establishment of the Grid. It was expanded to accommodate a multitude of diverse programs and beyond the purely functional streets and buildings it eventually gained some of the less essential trappings of a society, such as a vast entertainment arena and nightclubs. One building in particular provides a significant point of interest; Flynn's Arcade in the real world has it's very own digital simulation in TRON City and this modest structure in the heart of the city provides the entry point into the system for users rezzing in from the real arcade.

TRON City was at one time a thriving metropolis of digital freedom where all types of programs functioned and intermingled. But ever since Clu 2 took over the control of the TRON system from Kevin Flynn, it has become a dark, oppressed place of strict, regulated functions.

Below is a talk with Joseph Kosinski, who speaks about the movie and how he started of as an engineer then an architect and finally a director.

Architecture in the Star Wars films is awe-inspiring , definitely leagues ahead of the time it was made portraying civilizations beyond the realm of 'normal' visionary architecture and like all movies of the same genre the architecture on screen really mesmerizes one and all.

Coruscant
Coruscant is a very densely populated planet, owing to the large urban history it has. No vegetation survives there and the technology has totally altered the climate too. In a way 'man' has taken complete control of 'nature'.

Stellar energy is refocused and distributed using vast orbital mirrors.Thousands of strategically placed CO² reactive dampers regulate the planet's heat and the city gets water by melting polar ice and piping it across the planet.

The architecture of the city appears eccentrically futuristic , and has been criticized for lacking a historical feel. It is rendered with a uniform silver aesthetic of the aluminum and glass aesthetic; a plastic engineered feel that looks like one person designed it and it was all created in a very short period of time.

Transportation has been elevated high into the air, weaving between the towering skyscrapers and filling the sky with the bedlam of the endless crisscrossing movement of an immensely busy traffic system displaying the vast technological development of the time.
Otoh Gunga
Coruscant extends vertical and Naboo extends horizontal with domes similar to Hegia Sophia, the underwater city of the Gungans is all spheres similar to water globules. This organically grown city appears as a cluster of jewel-like bubbles connected together in the dark waters of the deep ocean.
The architecture of Otoh Gunga is organic literally with the city material itself been grown, so as to establish a close organic relationship with the environment.

Tipoca City
Rising from the violently rough waters of the ocean-planet of Kamino is Tipoca City, a sealed air utopia mounted on strong supports that withstand the attacking winds and waves, a model of future city on stilts on water . While the city does stand challenging against the elements, a closer look at its architecture reveals graceful curves that help aerodynamically in redirecting and deflecting the winds.

For the city's interior, the designers crafted a clean, suave, ultramodern environment of glimmering white well suited to the classy alien race of genetic engineers that inhabits them.

Tatooine
Tatooine architecture is a desert architecture that appears quite rural at a first glance and it signifies a planet lacking in natural resources,so the people built villages with the last resources of the planet over a long period of time. Curved, earthen structures resemble adobe construction in India and Mexico.

Well Aeon Flux 's fictional city of Bregna would once again(Quite similar to what i had written about the movie equilibrium) remind one of the works of Albert Speer in Germany and the Soviet architects . Well, this forces one to think whether the futuristic architecture would end up like the fascist architecture. A friend of mine recently pointed out that in Hollywood it's always the villains who have the best taste in architecture and decor, and this is often specifically true for science fiction. Well it certainly seems like the architecture of the so called villains of the 20th century are inspiration for Hollywood film makers working on futuristic architecture

The future city of Bregna was built as a utopian haven but quickly reveals itself as a dark dystopia, its superb architecture suddenly taking on a more chilling nightmare feel.

Many of the buildings used in the movie are actual exisitng buildings in Germany. For example the now disused 1935 Berlin Windkanal or aerodynamic testing wind tunnel for German aircraft, built in 1932 and now designated a technical landmark is widely seen in the movie. After WWII the Soviets removed all the equipment from the building , leaving only the tunnel behind. It stands in for the "maze" and government complex in the film.

The Benjamin Franklin Conference Center Kongresshalle, above, by Hugh Stubbins with Werner Düttmann and Franz Mocken, 1957. It has been renamed House of World Culture, but Berliners call it the 'pregnant oyster'. Its roof, which has been rebuilt after a collapse in 1980, is the setting for a nighttime battle between Aeon and guards.

Numerous scenes in the film were shot in the Tierschutzheim Berlin by Dietrich Bangert, above. The building is actually a large, privately-funded animal shelter complex.

Berlin's modern concrete and glass Mexican Embassy, above, was a public marketplace in the film. It was designed by Francisco Serrano in collaboration with Teodoro González de León and completed in 2000.

The Volkspark Potsdam, 2001, popularly known as the BUGA Park, also includes the biosphere used as a tropical greenhouse in the film. Its recreation area, with standing concrete planes, appeared during the assassination mission sequence.

The scene above was shot at the Radsporthalle (Velodrom) by Dominique Perrault at the Landsberger Allee in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg. 1995-96.

Bauhaus Archiv, which served as the exterior of the building where Aeon and her sister Una live.

So now lets conclude with some world's from the Bauhaus archive": "The museum building is a late work of Walter Gropius [1883-1969], the founder of the Bauhaus. It was planned in 1964 for Darmstadt and was built 1976-79 in modified form in Berlin. Today, its characteristic silhouette is one of Berlin's landmarks."

Well in my pursuit for futuristic architecture in movies, I stumbled upon this not so famous Hollywood flick by Luc Besson, The Fifth Element. But surprisingly this movie manages to portray a rich multi layered world world that talks extensively on the possibilities of future architectural developments within existing cities. The film certainly offers a thought provoking vision of the future of Manhattan two hundred and fifty years from now.

The movies plot starts with Earth's water reserve falling drastically as a result of the planetary exportation in order to serve distant planets following the colonization of the Solar System.

As a result, following a logic similar to the one we saw in Gilliam's cult sci-fi movie Blade Runner, real-estate developers excavated down the earth, slicing the island into vertical canyons and instead of replacing structures constructed new additions to the existing ones not only on top but also below the old buildings. This changed the notion of a single street and ground plane for circulation, so hovering craft were envisioned to roam into stratified layers throughout the verticality. With the street layer stripped back, once-hidden infrastructures of subway shafts and city utilities are suddenly revealed giving the city a sometimes chaotic machine-like appearance .

The movie also manages to portray Zorg's powerful capitalist status through the elements of architecture. The tower he lives in is like a literal translation of being at the top of the hierarchy. The building is one of the tallest in the city but not the most prominent. Well as a matter of fact, the New York of 2259 seems to lack such a central vertical element.

Fifth element vertical growth is indeed a distinct trait of 20th century New York, due to the physical constraint of the land and the ever growing population of this city. In the year 2259, the viewer is told, the world has a population of over 200 billion and New York City has become the capital of the world. The city has, like in the past, been forced to grow taller, as a result, the metro transportation system is forced to be integrated vertically into the building .

What is important about the Luc Besson's future New York is that no matter how much it has changed, it still remains visibly recognizable as New York.

Well cult movies have a way of their own in explaining things and Director Terry Gilliam's Brazil is now different. Brazil was a sci-fi comedy cult movie released in 1985. Through this movie Terry intends to create an eclectic style. The film was shot on location at various places in Europe to create this mood. The architecture of the movie Brazil is as varied as its themes. Architectural expression takes on various forms and styles. Styles range from the decadence of Ida Lowry's house to the brutalist interrogation space of the 'Ministry of Information'. Gilliam sequences the plot of Brazil to move through these spaces and distinguish the intensity of the film. The spatiality of the sets highlight the themes of the movie.

During the time Brazil was released Post Modernism was a significant architectural style and had influence on Brazil's set design. The courtyard in front of the Ministry of Information can be linked to Arata Isozaki's design of MOCA in Los Angeles. MOCA has characteristically large monumental public spaces and over-scaled urban artifacts similar to the space in front of the Ministry of Information building. Robert Venturi and the post modernists of the 1970's and 1980's coined the phrase that 'function follows form'. With the use of post modern architecture, artificiality is integrated as a subplot within Brazil. Mrs. Ida Lowry's apartment is an exhibition of her wealth and caste within society. Her apartment was filmed in the Liberal Club located next to London's old Scotland Yard, a wealthy and well protected area of the city. Similar to Ida's apartment Dr. Jaffe's surgery room, where Ida Lowry receives her cosmetic treatment, exudes a certain decadence as well. The scene was shot in the home of Lord Leighton, a Victorian artist and collector, and is extravagantly decorated.

In the scene where Sam visits Mrs. Buttle to return her receipt for her husband, we see the difference between the aristocratic society and the working class society. Modern economical building types are used to depict the living conditions of the society that are poor. For example, the modernist courtyard that Sam visits before going to Mrs. Buttle's apartment is testimony to this idea. The courtyard is derelict and inhabited by impoverished children. The architectural form of these buildings shares some resemblance to Le Corbusier's Unite de Habitation. The hard concrete façade is characteristic of both apartments in Brazil and the Unite de Habitation.

Additionally we see that these influences of architecture affect the mood of the scenes. Architecture is used to express cinematic ideas. The restaurant where Sam, Ida, Mrs. Terrain, and Shirley eat lunch was filmed in Buckinghamshire's Mentmore Towers. The restaurant scene portrays the lack of sensibility of the upper class in Brazil. A terrorist bomb detonates while the group is dining and not a single person acknowledges that the event takes place or attempts to help the people injured.

Continuing that architecture is used to express cinematic ideas, Sam's apartment filmed at the Marne la Vallee in France, a huge apartment complex designed by Ricardo Bofil, depicts the problems of functionality. Sam's house is functional to the point that it is inept for living. The extreme functionality of the house actually negatively affects Sam's life. This is the case when his alarm clock neglects to go off, his toast is burnt, and his coffee is spilled. Similarly, the enormous space where Sam is lobotomized depicts the over-bearing strength of mechanized industrial society on the human psyche. The scene was shot on location in a cooling tower at a South London power station. During Sam's escape scene the stunt man who rescue Sam descend a distance of 170 feet onto 9 inch wide metal bridges that are 40 feet above the ground. The enormous space emphasizes the scale to which society has succumbed to total dominance over the individual. The space is empowering and extremely intimidating. The Records Department where Sam works is the 'container' where he becomes a 'cog' in the machine of society. Filming of this scene took place at an abandoned grain mill in the Docklands of London. The mill was painted gray to create a dull and uneventful space. The giant holes in the ceiling are the bottoms of giant twelve story grain silos. The significance of Sam's work place shows that the worker's humanity is mediocre within the realm of Brazil's bureaucracy.

Minority Report is probably the one film that attempts to portray not only an exciting narrative set in a futuristic milieu, but also visualizes a credible future based on the predictions of today. Based on themes like 'free will' vs 'determinism' , 'utopian' vs 'dystopian' - the movie tries to predict the plausible dominant norms of a future society that would exist in 2054.

Washington of 2054 has evolved into three distinct zones: the Washington Capitol area where the monuments are present; the "bedroom community" across the river that has developed vertically ; and the decaying part of the city that has not kept up with the technological advances afforded by the rich.

While government buildings are hostile, and metallic; the grass in the city is still green, and historic row houses still stand proud presenting the post-modernist possibility of harmony between the old and the new.

The integration of infrastructure and cityscape presented so well by such films as Metropolis (1927) and The Fifth Element (1997) has been perfected here. A transport network of magnetic levitation vehicles is seamlessly built into the facades of most of the new buildings . It seems that the buildings and the vehicles exist to complement each other. Inclining highways form part of the façades dropped like waterfalls and merging with horizontal roads. The network of highways functions in all three dimensions , as the road surface totally abandons its dependence on gravity.Such seamless flow of traffic would be able to take care of any amount of traffic judiciously because of limitless possibilities in the use of the third dimension of space.One must however question the feasibility of such vehicles when considering the rest of the still horizontal city, where the viewer is clearly shown that the old road network still exists. A point to ponder for the future for Urban Planners, eh??

The Oscar winning director, Ridley Scott's 1982 cult sci fi movie, Blade Runner, has become the most credible cinematic futuristic manifesto of the 20th century. The film potrays a future Los Angeles and offers a deep insight into the future of architecture and urbanism, while also providing information on contemporary realities and trends.

The film devicts that by the year 2019, Los Angeles will be a city that supports a population of over 90 million people. The colonization of the elite to utopian "off-world" planets has resulted in the large scale immigration of the upper class, leaving the city populated by a mainly ethnic underclass( mainly Chinese people). The cityscape is in a state of urban decay and has become totally synthetic. The middle-class suburbs have been overtaken by the city administration, transforming them into a huge industrial zone, while huge mega-structures now dominate the center of the city.

Syd mead, production designer of Blade Runner talks about the motive and inspiration behind the set design:
"I took the two world trade towers in New York City and the New York street proportions as a .today' model, and expanded everything vertically about two and a half times. This inspired me to make the bases of the buildings sloping to cover aboutsix city blocks, on the premise that you needed more ground access to the building mass."

As metropolis and blade runner work on similar themes, a comparison between them seems appropriate. Metropolis (1927) and Blade Runner share a sense of urban gigantism and geometrical form. While the "New Tower of Babel" dominates the skyline of Metropolis, here it is the pyramid of the Tyrell Corporation headquarters that serves as the city's nucleus. The building's presence is overpowering, in it evokes a strong sense of financial power. Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) like Metropolis (1927) reveals class structure through its vertical architecture.

The Los Angeles of 2019 is essentially a city of contradiction; high rises, pyramids and glass towers intermingle with revival architecture, historical buildings, and the debris of past urban sprawl. The visual layering of architectural typologies from various cultural pasts creates a post-modern image of a globalized world.

Due to the drain of wealth that accompanied the mass immigration, the city becomes a place where the whole economic process is slowed down. The removal of old buildings begins to cost far more than the construction of a new ones. Instead of tearing down buildings or dismantling established technologies, modifications and additions are thus added to existing structures. What results is a deeply layered city, where new use has grown over and subsumed Los Angeles' architectural history (the film utilizes such historical Los Angeles buildings as the Bradbury Building, Union Station and the Yukon Hotel for several of its most important scenes).

New structural elements extend through old buildings to support new construction above; while ducts, signs and service pipes run, snake like, over the old façades . As the cables and generator tubes delivering air and waste go up the old buildings, the street level becomes nothing more than a service alley to the Megastructures above.

"Things are retrofitted after the fact of the original manufacture because the old, consumer-based technology wasn't keeping up with demand. Things have to work on a day-to-day basis and you do whatever necessary to make it work. So you let go of the style and it becomes pure function. The whole visual philosophy of the film is based on this social idea" Syd Mead.

The aesthetic of retrofitting is very similar to the adaptive façade concept of Archigram's Peter Cook. His 1978 Trickling Tower project [Fig. 10] starts its existence as a polished steel Megastructure. Over time, the appearance of the building changes as new elements are added, and uses changed. Also, the externalization of infrastructural services (heating, cooling, water, gas) brings to mind Richard Rogers' and Renzo Piano's Pompidou centre, 1977 .

The thoughtfulness of the underlying concept, and the layering of images and associations, makes Blade Runner one of the most discussed and influential films of our times.
The film remains a compelling reminder of just how nasty life in the twenty-first century may eventually become. It depicts a road humanity is heading down now : class separation, the growing gulf between rich and poor, and the population explosion; but as such, offers no solutions.

Futuristic movies of Hollywood have always given great focus on the architecture of the mentioned era. Equilibrium is different from all those conventional futuristic imaginations, because the core of the architectural concepts of the movie lies in Soviet or fascist style of architecture.

Equilibrium presents a vision of a world at peace, with a tremendous human cost. This is a world where war is a distant memory, yet where there is no music, no art, no poetry, where anyone who partakes in such banned activities is guilty of a "Sense Offense," a crime that carries a death sentence. It is a world where the age-old question "How do you feel?" can never be answered because all feelings have been shut out.

Libria, the main focal point of the movie is a stark, black-and-white metropolis, which is run by a tyrannous dictator named the Father who wields power through a group of Ninja-like "clerics" who enforce his vision of peace through the chemical control of all emotion.

The city of Libria in Equilibrium presents a controlled state taken to its extremes. The emotion suppressing state's agenda is clearly expressed through the city's architecture. Buildings, like the people that inhabit them are faceless and devoid of any feeling. The fascist's states media manipulative machine is inbuilt into the infrastructure of the city: giant billboards overtake whole build facades, and loud speakers that air a constant stream of propaganda are located at every corner.

Visual effects supervisor Tim McGovern worked alongside Kurt Wimmer and Wolf Kroeger to formulate the look of the walled Librian metropolis. McGovern, who won an Oscar for "Total Recall," started with a theme of grandiosity. He explains: "The whole idea of fascist architecture is to make the individual feel small and insignificant so the government seems more powerful and I continued that design ethic in the visual effects. For example, Libria is surrounded by a seventy-five feet high wall, the walls just keep going on and on and use vertical and horizontal lines in a Mondrian-type way. "

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Hollywood has portrayed futuristic ideas better than any other visual media. Futuristic architecture has been beautifully visualized in movies like Star wars or Matrix or any other Sci Fi movie. But as an architect and a movie lover, never have I experienced a movie in which architecture had an upper hand.

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IMDb: Futuristic Dystopian Movies - a list by lflayton

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To help brainstorm for my dissertation. I want to focus on a few dystopian films and discuss the role of women in them.

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Science Fiction, or Speculative Fiction if you prefer. Fantasy too. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Dick, Heinlein and other SF books. SF movies and TV shows. Fantasy stuff like Tolkien and Game of Thrones. Laser guns, space ships, and time travel. etc. Star Trek, Battlestar, Star Wars, etc.

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r/scifi - Sci-fi movies with ultra-modern, futuristic cities?

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r/scifi: Science Fiction, or Speculative Fiction if you prefer. Fantasy too. Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Dick, Heinlein and other SF books. SF movies and TV shows. Fantasy stuff like Tolkien and Game of Thrones. Laser guns, space ships, and time travel. etc. Star Trek, Battlestar, Star Wars, etc.

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The future will always be something of the unknown. But it's sometimes nice to pretend we have the answers by looking to films to give us some kind of a visual idea. Whether it's classic science fiction, big budget movies released in the '90s, or more recent efforts, one recurring theme plays a major role - technology. It seems futuristic cities have become saturated with holograms, robots and flying cars. In Ghost In The Shell Rupert Sanders has poured his own vision into the seminal Manga classic to make it something entirely recognisable and yet unique.

Inspirations in Sanders' vision can be seen from a rich history of cinema so we've taken a look back at some classic futuristic cities in film.
AKIRA
Created in 1988, takes place in 2019 Neo-Tokyo following a mysterious atomic explosion. Compared to many other films' futuristic cities, is subdued with its predictions. The new city is filled - nearly beyond capacity - with skyscrapers, giving it a more modern appearance especially in contrast to the old Tokyo just separated by a bridge. 's foreboding prescience of a not-too-far-off overpopulated metropolis makes this futuristic city one to condemn rather than celebrate for its memorable decadence.
BLADE RUNNER
Another film taking place in 2019, Blade Runner gives a prediction of what the future has in store for Los Angeles. Going the opposite direction of Akira, this 1982 film goes all out depicting the future as a technology controlled metropolis. In a world where robots live hidden among humans, flying cars soar above the overcrowded streets and a world where interstellar travel is a reality. Would we want to live there, probably not, but how much longer until this future becomes our reality as well as Deckard's?

THE FIFTH ELEMENT
The Fifth Element tells a story in the 23 rd century when the survival of Earth rests in the hands of five alien elements and Bruce Willis. As Earth prepares to repel an impending attack from pure evil, we get a glimpse into 23 rd century life in New York City. The most prevalent image in Luc Besson's sci-fi adventure is a world riddled with the scars of environmental mistreatment and the capitalist evolution of 80 th floor McDonald's drive-thrus.
CLOUD ATLAS
We get a look into multiple points of the future in this 2012 film, which contains stories across 6 different eras. In the year 2144, Neo-Seoul is the replacement of South Korea's capital, which was destroyed by a natural disaster. Not unlike what we see in Blade Runner, the city is packed with skyscrapers and flying cars. Holographic "roads" guide the hovering vehicles and many of the workers of the city are humanoids, known as 'fabricants,' that have been programmed without feelings. A bitter sweet future awaits, it may look beautiful but the level of control has increased dramatically.
I, ROBOT
A recurring theme of these films, the future shown in involves a world where humanity is served by robots. In Chicago in the year 2035, humanoid robots are not just frequent in society, but an everyday part of life. The Three Laws of Robots protects humans from harm as it states that robots cannot hurt or endanger a human - but this was not as foolproof as some believed. Similar to others we've seen, the city in is filled with skyscrapers and digital billboards. Walking the streets, you'd frequently be passed by humanoids casually living amongst humans. The Three Laws prove to be faulty when the co-founder of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is thrown out of his skyscraper office by a robot. If that's not a good enough lesson to be cautious of artificial intelligence, then what is?
MINORITY REPORT
Minority Report takes place in the year 2054 in Washington D.C. The murder rate has been reduced to zero thanks to a program known as PreCrime run by mutated humans known as 'Precogs' that can predict a murder and arrest the criminal prior to the crime. Sounds like the perfect solution - so much so that the federal government considered adopting the program. That is, of course, until people become aware of its faults. With the predictions, people had the ability to change the course of the future and work around the system. Throughout the film, we get a glimpse into the futuristic D.C complete with hovercrafts and pod-like automobiles filling the highways. A cool and sleek design of the city, but we think we'll do without the PreCrime led government turmoil.
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Ghost In The Shell tells the tale of Major (Scarlett Johansson), a cyber-enhanced commander of Section 9, devoted to stopping the most dangerous cyber-criminals. Based on the popular and internationally acclaimed Japanese Manga, 'The Ghost in the Shell', this latest outing sees the Major in a not-too-distant future battling her own inner demons set against the backdrop of a neon-tinged cityscape where cyber crime is rife in the modern world.
Ghost In The Shell is in cinemas on 30th March. Keep up with the latest genre news with the new issue of SciFiNow.

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The best futuristic cities in sci-fi movies

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The future will always be something of the unknown. But it's sometimes nice to pretend we have the answers by looking to films to give us some kind of a visual idea. Whether it's classic science fiction, big budget movies released in the '90s, or more recent efforts, one recurring theme plays a major role - technology.

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The future will always be something of the unknown. But it’s sometimes nice to pretend we have the answers by looking to films to give us some kind of a visual idea. Whether it’s classic science fiction, big budget movies released in the ‘90s, or more recent efforts, one recurring theme plays a major role – technology.

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Science fiction (often shortened to SF or sci-fi) is a genre of speculative fiction, typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and technology, spaceflight, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas".[1] Science-fiction stories are generally intended to have a grounding in science, especially if they are considered hard science fiction. They usually avoid the supernatural, unlike the related genre of fantasy.