Neo-futurism
Avant-garde movement rethinking aesthetics and functionality for growing cities.
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Neo-futurism is a late-20th- to early-21st-century avant-garde movement in the arts, design, and architecture. It emerged as a futuristic rethinking of aesthetics and functionality in growing cities, with origins in the mid-20th-century structural expressionist work of architects such as Alvar Aalto and Buckminster Fuller. The movement was defined in the 1980s, though its roots trace to the 1950s, and it continues into the present.
Origins
Neo-futurism took shape in the late 1960s and early 1970s, pushed forward by figures like Buckminster Fuller, John C. Portman Jr., Eero Saarinen, and the Archigram collective. It partly grew out of high-tech architecture, borrowing many of its core ideas. Though never built, Cedric Price’s 1961 Fun Palace—called a giant neo-futurist machine—left its mark on Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, whose Centre Pompidou expanded on Price’s concepts.
Definition
Neo-futurism was partly revitalised in 2007 after the publication of 'The Neo-Futuristic City Manifesto', written by innovation designer Vito Di Bari for Milan's candidature to host the Universal Expo 2015. Di Bari defined his neo-futuristic vision as the cross-pollination of art, cutting edge technologies, and ethical values combined to create a pervasively higher quality of life, referencing the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development Theory and the United Nations report Our Common Future.
Soon after, a UK collective called The Neo-Futurist Collective launched their own manifesto on 20 February 2008, written by Rowena Easton, marking the 99th anniversary of the Futurist manifesto by FT Marinetti. Their take focused on acknowledging the legacy of the Italian Futurists while criticising current despair over climate change and the financial system, noting that the futurist legacy of optimism for technology uniting with human imagination has powerful resonance for the modern age.
This interpretation is more socially involved, speaking directly to followers rather than denoting outlooks through actions such as choice of eco-aware materials.
People
Neo-futurism was revived in the 21st century thanks to the creative influence of Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava. Its practitioners include Denis Laming, Patrick Jouin, Thomas Canto, Yuima Nakazato, Simon Stålenhag, and Charis Tsevis. The style borrows from high-tech architecture, weaving industrial and technological elements into structures. Figures like Buckminster Fuller, Norman Foster, Kenzo Tange, Renzo Piano, and Richard Rogers have shaped its emphasis on technology and context.
Did You Know?
- Neo-futurism was inspired partly by Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia.
- Architects such as William Pereira, Charles Luckman, and Henning Larsen were involved in its early development.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Neo-futurism (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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