Friday, August 20, 2010

The transcendent city by Richard Hardy

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THE TRANSCENDENT CITY from Richard Hardy on Vimeo.


Bartlett School of Architecture graduate Richard Hardy presented this short film for his master graduation. It is his vision of a future-city wich is artificially intelligent and self sustainable. This video together with his thesis talks about artificial intelligence as a necessity for human evolution. The graphics are amazing, reminds me a little bit of Machinarium.

I see this video is an elegy. I know the idea of sustainability and ground breaking technology are positive values in nowadays society but for me this perspective is just sad. The idea that nanotechnology will surpass the human intelligence makes our existence as a race pointless which is of course frightening.

...and maybe I'm a hopeless romantic, and after my recent post about hippie houses, I think you understand my nostalgic approach to nature.

In any case... this is a beautiful powerful video that raises questions and it is worth watching even if you're not interested in all the futuristic-sustainable mumbo-jumbo.

Hardy's words:
'The concept of a future sustainable city is developed for a society that is currently not responding effectively to environmental dangers. “Transcendence” in this case referring to a point when artificial intelligence has reached or surpassed that of the human.The Transcendent City is an autonomous artificial machine that extends across the earth adapting to the natural eco-systems it encounters while deriving its energy from the renewable resources available at each particular site.'

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