Final – Sunken city

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There are two worlds. After sea has risen, technology enabled us to build new, safe city environment above the ground, using massive platforms. Whole system of the city is driven by AI, and it takes care of everything. We let it take over, and many of us became obsolent. New challenge in this world is to find your calling. The Individual cult from 20 century took a hit. As it turns out, we are not so special, we are just another species.

The new world on platforms- modern, technology driven world, where human input is minimal. There are people living, but they are connected to technology in a degree that obscure real human interaction. They became soulles bodies who live in a VR world. Everyone is alone. Algorhytms can guide them throuhg their lives with ease, so they let AI to dictate their every move.

The old world – After flooding, swamp like environment is a home for many people who didnt make it to new world…mostly janitors who clean the water. After Few years from floods, This world became jungle like place, and is important source of oxygen after many of the land forest were destroyed…

New world doesnt care for the old one, yet it could not exist without it.

Story told in my entry images is about a man called Oliver, who is a janitor in the old world. His dream was to make it to the new world and make his life better.
He idolizes the world up there, and is obsessed with the idea that the life there is so easy. But people from swamp, arent allowed up.
Luckily, one day, package drone used in the city crashed in the water. Oliver finds it and decide to return it to the city…That’s his way through Vessel, the only way up in NY.

Vessel, structure that used to be a sign of advancement, art and technology is now nothing more than a reminder of the past….For Oliver though, it was much more, it was a gate to the future, connecting the two worlds.

When he finaly reaches his life goal and gets to the city, he was amazed by the technology. He starts his new life, better one.
He couldn’t comprehend the complexity of this environment, he is a simple folk after all. The reality is, no one could. Many tried, chasing the technology advancement, but we couldn’t compete with AI.

“We stayed behind, and we shouldn’t chase for something that we cannot reach. We do things we are not built for. This world is twisted, upside down logic, where we left the things we were good at and emotions are not present. ” – last note in diary , 05.17.2041 a.d.

Irony in the story is that Oliver was chasing for something he wanted, yet it wasnt something he actualy needed.

Image 1 : Desire
“There are two worlds we are living in, i can recall the old days, now it seems like a dream. I am stuck in this swamp. I wonder what the world up there is like. I heard there are still a few of us. it must be awesome. “

Oliver spends a lot of time thinking about the “above” world. He is new era janitor, cleaning up waters under the platforms.
One day he will leave this place and visit the better one up there.

Image 2 – Struggle
Oliver found a way up through the Vessel, one of few things left to remind the old city. Oliver struggles to authorize himself, until he finds a broken drone who must have fallen from the city. He comes to return it.

“It was not easy to persuade watchers, but i found a package drone, that is my way up.”

Image 3 – Summit
Oliver reach the top! He finally did it. It seem very strange to him, because he doesn’t know how the “new stuff” works. He realizes that he doesn’t belong in this place.
Multiple mental states of Oliver captured in one picture, showing the stages from amazement, realization to regret and enlightement.

Final Entry #Architecture dilemma between Investment and life qualities

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Imagining Architecture as a movie or a memory flash back, we see how the human urban development has reformed from horizontal expansion to vertical expansion pattern, as a methodology to maximize profits, and make the best use of our limited resources such as Lands (reachable-view-value-location-services) instead of the early urban Utopian cities that imagined heaven far from our life city centers, where we have less pollution and more greens, the lower building levels and higher quality life values.
In fact this is how i imagine New York in 20 years ! it’s not gonna be bad ! But not as bright, life within 20 years will not change that much but humans will keep trying to overcome the existing feeling of horizontal expansion (which is a must sooner or later to avoid congestion), taller, agile, glossy towers with connections, bridges and some of that, a life that will expand more and more vertically, to respond to our higher density withing the congested-remaining city, within its services, buildings and existing infrastructures.
On the other hand humanity will keep using our old infrastructure ! Because come on nothing changed yet ! But less light, less attention to the those old streets, less clean and unfinished works everywhere, A real contrast of old vs new life forms, different technologies but still seems familiar, like seeing nowadays an electric car, seems a normal car ! But with a closer look in sounds different it has no compositions, no drag no noise ! Its electric.
With the observatory in the middle i tried to imitate the attempt of contrast a soft new modern structure than penetrates the existing gap, the gap between the towers, it’s our way as human to breath, break the habits and make an impact, it’s our way to overcome the hardships and see through the dark ! Yet its still possible to beat the dark.
Finally, this vision may not be real, it is not positive too, and yet to know its just a theory, but due to our life today am kind of skeptical about its bright future, hope am not too dark, but with such a healthy skeptical dose towards the future we may have a brighter one, and thanks for allowing us to be in such a very ingenious and amazing challenge.
Mohamed Ahmed Mahfouz,

The current future

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The pictures show a futuristic future in which the architecture is not replaced by new buildings, but is preserved in its original state. The public transports of the past are kept as relics. A future where we return to looking at the well-being of the individual and in which nature has a fundamental aspect.
The park creates a pattern where water, green areas, and materials, are melted together.

M-15

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‘They are not humans. What rights do you expect them to have?

M15 was used to hearing such words from humans, but they never failed to hurt him.
He wasn’t sure when it started, but one day he started experiencing feelings. He wasn’t supposed to feel hurt, tired, or happy, he wasn’t supposed to develop hopes and dreams. After all, he was a robot.

Ever since the pandemic hit the earth in 2020, humanity tried its best to win against the newly surfaced enemy. The tragic losses made the world realize how fragile the human body is, and that awakened their survival instinct. Millions of new inventions were mass-produced each day, tested, perfected, and put in the market.
Amongst the mass-produced products were the robots. Humans abandoned jobs that they deemed unworthy to sacrifice their life for, however, they were vital for the city. For that reason, they resorted to using robots to fill out the menial tasks that keep the city running.
For the most part, things were running smoothly, all the prevention measures were working, businesses flourished again. New York was back to its previous glory and glamour, although not as jammed. The city overcame the burdens rather quickly, it regained overnight its status as ‘city of dreams’, a place where hopes and wishes became a reality.

(01)That was the case for M15. Visiting New York was a dream of his, one that he would realize today. At 5 am, he headed to the old station and took the ‘train’ to Hudson Yards. It was a dark and long ride, the train was barely used nowadays; ever since the new station was built, other modes of transportation were slowly abandoned.

(02)At noon, M15 arrived at his destination. He was feeling anxious, here he was defying the rules. “But no one would know”, he told himself. After all, robots looked the same, and no one bothered to check their serial number unless an accident occurred. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the stairs, looking forward to starting a new life.
The first sight that greeted M15 was the Vessel, which he could see through the screens. His dream was finally coming true. Hopeful, he continued up the steps, ready for his new life.

(03)He knew what to do now, he would blend in with the cleaning robots, tasked to clean the streets. They were many of them, his presence will not be detected. He started cleaning, no one paid him any mind.

(04/05/06/07)Day in, day out, he worked. He was content but was not yet satisfied. Something was missing, After all, he was only pretending to be part of the scenery. He wasn’t free, he couldn’t express himself.

(08)One day, he was mindlessly cleaning the screens. Suddenly, looking up he found himself standing below the vessel. The structure bewitched him, pulling him to visit it.

(09/10)At last, he entered the vessel. He stood still, what he saw amazed him. Looking up he could see the sky the buildings the greeneries and the people. To him, it looked like paradise, a safe haven that shelters him from the outside world.

(11)He stopped on the third floor. There, he could see the sunset, filtered through the vessel. He sat down, laid his feet on the rail, and enjoyed the scene. Bathed in gold rays, he looked at the world in a new light, filled with hope.

Link for VR images;
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o1rrtiQoEIFnQE9DCAbpF6znnOYP4Tcs/view?usp=sharing

link for high-resolution images:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NCXHsXyQF6CFh2a08VU8wdicFIuSjha3/view?usp=sharing

Thank you
Amer Farah

Final Entry – Seven Chapters Of The Day

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Seven Chapters Of The Day

By Nacevic Nenad

The guiding idea of my project is based on an optimistic vision of the future, harmonious coexistence of people and technology. The project is based on a broader representation of the Hudson Yards area that has been influenced by the technological advances which I envision the future will bring by 2040.

My intention was to present the cyclicality of the day through its 7 phases. The transformations that space goes through are related to the lighting variations, change of utilization, shift of events, space occupancy density,…

I_The storyline starts with our main protagonist who goes to work. Above her head is Torus – a futuristic phone replacement used for advanced video call projections, health monitoring, or simply like a GoPro. The origin of its shape comes from the symbolism and appearance of the aureole. Hudson Yards will be influenced by various technology and screens implemented on the buildings which are not there only for commercial purposes but their role is to remind the population to slow down, take a deep breath, enjoy creative interpretations of nature. “Wake up” message in the sky is a reference to the movie “Mr. Nobody (2009)”. On the display below it, the invitation to the party indicates the development of the following events.

II_The golden sun is setting below the horizon. Musicians lead a Balloon parade that passes through the city and announces the upcoming celebration. Curious passers-by gather in increasing numbers. The workers diligently set the stage and make the final preparations.

III_The main vessel became a carrier and the protector of the holographic tree which is representing the dual nature of the future life. We can choose the way we want to participate in everyday life, be physically or electronically present. Glowing Stevi-cola traces re-introduce us to our protagonist sitting on the edge, looking at the night landscape from a perspective that is unusual for an ordinary observer.

IV_The celebration began in all its glory. People have a wonderful time celebrating life, colorful confetti erupts all around them while the lead character of our story plays music from the stage.

V_Party is still going, buildings in Hudson Yards have become alive, shining in their splendor. Lights incorporated into the facades and animated waves on them illuminate the entire hazy city block.

VI_The sun rises and a new day is born. Workers are packing the gear and robots are cleaning confetti and flyers leftover from the party.

VII_The light of the fresh morning opens the seventh scene. A passing plane indicates that one cycle has been completed and announces the start of the next round of life events.

NEW YARDS 2040

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Here is my final images for the competition .The narrative of the 3 images were having 3 different vantage points of people who are coming in contact with this location.

1, Commuter (coming to the vessel view)
2. Tourist (Instagram View)
3. Local coming after work overlooking the vessel view

The structure ‘vessel’ is a replica of the 1967 worlds fair structure in Queens. Since so many things are being re imagined and re produced, I thought of using this competition to re imagine having the ‘new vessel’ be a structure which already exist in Queens and honor it for the 75th anniversary (2040).