The theory this group decided to explore from “The Ultimate City” was interesting to see portrayed through the Auckland city landscape.
They based it around the dystopian aspects of the “Abandoned City”, portraying it through many elements in their images. Such as pyramids built from cars stacked, flower petals, Miranda and a mannequin. It was quite stimulating to see how they perceived the Auckland City landscape to be an era which wouldn’t be too far from the era of the Abandoned City, as it was around the time that the oil finished, and there are discussions on this subject now.
They focused on Stillman by photo shopping in the mannequin, to represent him as a victim of emotional and physical violence, an experience which kept him in the Abandoned City. They also put emphasis on the chimneys to reinforce it as an industrial area, linked to dystopia.
This group made sure to pay attention to small details to make a difference overall. Allowing their images to not look overcrowded but still keep a dystopian atmosphere. To make the Ultimate City they retained images of the cars and mesh-grid fence, and then repeated them in a way as to appear made by the characters of the story. They used Photoshop and collage to manipulate different perspectives into their images to their advantage. The images seemed to inspire their take on how they want to design their two hotels. They were focused on the idea that one area has to have an aspect of the other area. The idea of the glimpse of each side to give a sort of escape is thought-provoking, allowing the capture of visitors and architects attention.
The goal of the three panels, as explained by members of the group, was to create a realistic dystopia by using realistic elements in a destructive way. The use of a broken mannequin as a representation of victims of Stillman's violence and the use of a pyramid of cars to show the end result of the world of industrialism both create the connotations of a dystopia built upon the effects of the current world's utopia- making it a much more realistic scenario and clearly communicating this chosen angle of depiction.
In the midst of these dystopian focused pieces, there are pockets of ease and it becomes apparent from deeper inspection and the teams explanations that aspects from both utopia and dystopia are found in each other.
- By Eman
Through Studio LIM’s work, we can perceive the idea of the crossing-over between utopia & dystopia through visual languages including repetition, empty space, continuity and contrast. The concentration of car-stacks in front of the industrialized landscape of concrete wall, fences and chimney clearly stresses the dystopian aspect of massive production and industrialization. At the same time, a person is placed in the top of composition to indicate the relationship between human and the site. Empty space is left for the upper part of composition to give a sense of breathing in this crowded, limited and choking world. The inclusion of pedals is a metaphor of utopia and conveys people’s ideal of escaping and finding a new world. This element also shifts our attention from the crowd to the blue sky and then to the emptiness which gives the audience enough space to imagine a contrasting utopian scene. The images clearly demonstrate their concepts about their hotel design which is to provide an organic, relaxing and spacious place in the city and in contrast, a modern, high-tech, technological site in the “garden city”. The pursuit for a balance in different environments is important as we all know that there is no "absolute" utopia or dystopia.
- By Alicia
- By Alicia
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