The City of Light

Beijing – The City of Light. Evolution or involution? Metropolis today occupy the space above the ground, our buildings have hundreds of stories into the sky. In the present scenario we are witnessing a global growth of population, increasing urbanization and a consequent consumption of the soil. In addition, our consumerist lifestyle is destroying the Earth’s natural resources. This process, led to the limit, will make the natural world hostile to human life. Mankind will be forced to protect itself in a new, completely artificial dimension. I imagine a Supercity that takes advantage also of the subsoil, bringing light and life inside of it. Within the City of Light every human activity (residences / offices / factories) has a precise position depending on the need of sunlight, ventilation, protection. There is also space for animals and vegetal species that provide a normal ecosystem for the human life. Every human action takes place inside the organism of the city, as the weather conditions don’t permit life on Earth. An iconic cone of light in the center of the system allows to see underground in conditions of any lack of electricity or release of harmful gases from underground. The architectural design is based on the circumference, its multiples and its evolution. This pure geometric shape maximizes the characteristics of the movement of the sun and inside it contains multiple divisions with completely different characteristics between them – as if it had condensed inside a whole galaxy. Human evolution – Man becomes the creator of himself. In the world the temperature rises and life decreases. The only animals that survive are getting bigger and stronger. In the sea, fishes become monstrous and recede into the abyss. Insects develop their intelligence and assume human dimensions. Only some mammals are able to survive overdoing their characteristics and size. Humanity evolves only on the mental level, developing new technologies that allow to refuge from the rest of the world and compensate for the human physical incapacity. Mankind is forced to live confined in Supercities where safety and accuracy reign, and the natural world remains only in the imagination. The new configuration of the city is like a bubble incubator of an unbridled progress of science and technology. A human-centric reality in which change is always getting more micro, while outside the bubble is macro. In this way Man becomes the creator of himself while the City provides a unique tangible element for his future: the Light.