Curation of the visions for the future videos

The video ‘To New Horizons’ from General Motors (1940) depicts a high-tech world where novelty, efficiency and order are the main measures of success. It doesn’t show any people but only mega-structures and highways. The video is especially interesting because General Motors has been bankrupted just few months ago, after 79 years of activity. Could this be because its vision for the future was wrong or because GM failed to deliver it? After viewing the video, both of these statements could be true. GM already attempted to address environmental concerns, promising cities where people could breath fresh air. Something they didn’t deliver. GM planned to group buildings within a city according to their functions (offices, homes, factories). Constructing cities in this way has led to social disruptions which have been difficult to heal. I would compare the video to ‘Utopia’ by Thomas More, because both utopias are highly planned and focussed on efficiency. They both respond to the need to distribute a limited amount of resource (agriculture, jobs, energy) to everyone. In a sense, they are closer to socialism than contemporary utopias, where third world and poverty are often omitted in the high-tech aspirations for the future. One contradiction to notice in the video is the praise of both novelty and efficiency. By nature, reaching efficiency is a stable equilibrium that doesn’t like novelty, as novelty requires adaptations. A perfectly efficient world doesn’t need novelty.

The “Century 21 Calling” from AT&T (1964) advocates technological progress but does so by depicting middle class people and their domestic problems. Progress in science is justified because it can improve standards of living. Belief in technology serves as a way to avoid challenging the social rules of the USA in the 60s, e.g. the condition of women. The assumption is that technology will resolve everything anyway.  The Bell System, a national switchboard can manage connections between phones which in turn saved consumers time, energy and made their life easier. The switchboard is likened to an electronic brain. The idea that consumerism and technology will solve all of our problem dates back from the industrial revolution. It was an idea that was already well established at the 1900 World Fair of Paris (see the book Dreams of Peace and Freedom by Jay Winter). Consumerism and technology underpin the values behind Walt Disney World, built at around the same time (see the book  Vinyl Leaves by Stephen M. Fjellman). The AT&T video looks like a propaganda movie; the characters conform to the ideal of what America should look like. The “Century 21 Calling” may or may not be propaganda. It might have been expressed spontaneously by those having no interest in changing American ideals, or by the people without enough courage to reconsider their social framework.

“Future of Cities” from the Danish Royal Academy of Architecture (squint/opera, 2007) introduces themes related to libertarian socialism, environmentalism and post-modernism. The future looks like a collage of seemingly independent communities from diverse ethnicities and  cultural backgrounds. Sustainability and nature are at the centre of their social projects. However, the multiform buildings covered with trees and grass are massive. They could not possibly be built by a small community. Life and apparent organic disorder is actually planned and optimised. The video gives somehow the impression that big corporations are necessary in this global network of small communities. It may or may not be true. The end of the video includes a biblical reference to Noah’s Ark; it is worth noting that religion and mythology are a great source of utopias. Take the garden of Eden and the Hindu mythology for example. The “Future of Cities” video was very controversial at the philosophical debate held during the exhibition. Some people felt that its message was closer to a ‘human’ utopia, others thought it was not that different from the other visions and that its humanity was only superficial. Someone also directed me to Transition Towns which is indeed directly connected to the “Future of Cities” vision.

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