After understanding what is futuristic design and architecture, exploring some notable futuristic architects. I started to understand the concept and the philosophy of futurism architecture. I also have known other different types of architecture like Blob architecture and sharp edged architecture.

I thought about looking at different works and designs, so I can see these principles of futurism movement applied in architecture. I think the best way to understand and grasp a certain subject or idea is to train your eye using examples, and try to find the reason behind every design.

Examples of Futuristic Architecture and Designs:

This looks like some weird and possibly carnivorous alien plant — but it’s actually a high-tech “green” building, using lightweight materials from the “spacecraft industry” to make lightweight observation pods that glide up and down vertically.

Romanian architect Stefan Dorin won the “Taiwan Tower Competition” with this 300-meter building that will become a landmark in Taichung, Taiwan’s third-biggest city. In his proposal Dorin explains his design saying:

Starting from the ‘geographical’ visual of Taiwan – which is an island resembling a leaf – we have developed the concept of the technological tree: we have designed 8 spatial leaves (with eight being a propitious number in the local culture) in the form of zeppelin-like elevators which glide up and down the ‘tree trunk” and which serve the purpose of observation decks / belvedere. I have called these elevators floating observatories because each has a nacelle which can take 50 to 80 people; they are self-sustained by helium balloons and are built from lightweight materials (borrowed from the spacecraft industry) and are wrapped in a last-generation type of membrane (PTFE) and they glide vertically on a track positioned vertically in a strong electro-magnetic field. The building’s Eco-friendly qualities include a small footprint at land level, maximum green surface, natural ventilation thanks to the “chimney effect,” rain-water collection, and its own power generation via turbines and adjustable photo-voltaic panels.

The New Orleans Arcology Habitat (NOAH). This structure would house 40,000 people and utilize a multi-cavity “hull” as the foundation for the superstructure. They explain:

Noah, at its current height of 1,200 feet will rest up its triangulated foundation constituted to be a buoyant multi-cavity “hull.” This “hull” will consist of high strength concrete cells, forming approximately a 40×40 matrix. This matrix not only gives buoyancy to the structure, it also becomes the framing matrix for the steel framed superstructure. It is estimated that the combined weight of NOAH will draft 180 feet within the water-filled basin, allowing a minimum 50 foot space between the floor of the basin and the floor of the buoyant foundation.

Inverted Cube Houses These actually exist, and they’re part of a hair-raising gallery of “gravity-defying homes” over at Elle Decor. As Elle Decor explains:

Architect Piet Blom tipped a conventional house forty-five degrees and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pole so that three sides face down and the other three face the sky. 

The Formodesign. Arch Daily explains:

The orientation was developed to maximize the use of solar energy. Strong decisions and consequence in driving its proportions guarantee the uniqueness of (formo)design. Dynamic and simple form are the result of the yach architecture interpretation. The core, made of concrete, is combined with steel cantilever structures. Foundation for the house is a concrete counterweight foot stabilizet with the sea bed pile system.The floating deck, which rises with the water level thanks to the railing installed in the core structure, leads you to the stairway. The top deck is available for the residents as well.

After exploring some of the futuristic designs out there in the industry, I think now I am a little ready mentally to design. But still I need one more thing, which is how to start. I need to learn some good basics and principles of architecture that will assist me while start drawing and designing. And also I still need where to go for drawing or modelling. I took an architecture class in high school but we drew the models by hand without using any CAD programs. But in this blog I am taking a challenge to actually use the software. So in the next milestones I will explore the software and how to start drawing.