▲Ningbo Museum
How to give shape to science fiction?
Mysterious, unknown, highly developed
The recent broadcast of the drama version of "Three Bodies" gives a less conventional answer: Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu's famous Ningbo Museum is used as the joint warfare command center of the Asian Defense Council in the drama "Three Bodies", and the character's mouth explains that "this was originally an art museum. ".
It's hard to imagine a neo-vernacularist building taking its place in a science fiction setting, but does it also mean that people have subconsciously decided that this museum will cut through history and remain important in the ever-changing future?
Liu Cixin writes about "giving civilization to the ages," and architecture is perhaps one of the best means of carrying civilization. Architecture can be radical and forward-looking, but it can also be peaceful and permanent. We can see the future through architecture, and we can also commemorate the past through architecture in a hundred years.
Therefore, I believe that the science fiction of architecture does not lie in its technical advancement, but in its ability to run through time. The following article will introduce nine buildings that can make people look into the future and the past at the same time, so let's feel the science fiction without special effects.
01
Futuristic fantasies of the last century
The Soviet aesthetic of the last century reached a mysterious and extreme level due to political changes and other reasons, and was reflected in the field of architecture with its huge scale and bizarre appearance; although these buildings of decades ago are extremely historical, one can still be amazed by their exotic shapes.
Kurpaty Friendship Sanatorium, 1985
Designed in the late 1970s and completed in 1985, the overly evocative appearance of this cogwheel and flying saucer-like building in Yalta, Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, once attracted the attention of the U.S. Pentagon and the Turkish Intelligence Service, further demonstrating the Soviet authorities' obsession with futuristic and mechanical aesthetics and their confidence in their own strength.
The roof leisure space
The building is like a huge machine part inside and outside, the accommodation rooms are distributed in an orderly manner along the outside of the "big gear", almost all the windows are facing the sea, the "small gear" on the top floor serves as a bar and a restaurant, and the glass atrium in the center of the building is arranged with a cinema and a relaxation area. The glass atrium in the center of the building houses a cinema and a relaxation area.
In the Soviet Union, "sanatorium" was a "right" written into the law, and Soviet citizens were required to spend at least two weeks a year in sanatoriums, which was more of a mandate than a vacation in the West, so many magnificent recreational buildings were created --They are a record of this strange history, and their creation is already "science fiction" enough.
Russian Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Control, 1973
The Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Cybernetics (RTC), located in St. Petersburg, is a product of the technological rivalry between the Cold War superpowers and remains one of the most advanced scientific institutions in Russia.
The RTC is one of the most valuable legacies of the Soviet Union's technological and architectural legacy during the Cold War. The entire research center consists of a 77-meter-tall central tower and surrounding multi-story buildings, with the top of the tower's antennae 104 meters above the ground, signifying the absolute dominance of this "white tulip" in the complex, and a podium with a concrete The tower's antennae top 104 meters above the ground, asserting the "white tulip's" absolute dominance in the complex, while the podium is a brutalist image shaped by a concrete ribbed facade.
The "white tulip" is the dominant building in the complex, and the podium is a brutalist image through the concrete ribbed façade.
▲ Poster of the movie "Descent
The RTC tower is also huge and bizarre - and the white sharp corners of the lower part of the outer conical members make it seem to be hovering above the ground, and the combination of the avant-garde architectural shape and its own function shows a kind of mystery that does not belong to this planet.
Amanauz Hotel, 1980
Located at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, the construction of this building was planned to begin in 1980, but in 1985 the hotel was suddenly abandoned only a few months before it was to open, legend has it that cracks appeared in the foundation, while others claim it was due to financial problems, adding a touch of mystery to a hotel that had never opened.
During its construction, the Amanauz used the latest technology of the time and was considered an example of organic architecture because of its wooden facade, but when judged through contemporary eyes, it evokes the overcrowded modern city from its dense, honeycomb-like box façade, creating a dramatic conflict between the building and the beautiful natural landscape behind it.
Perhaps the original intent of the hotel design was to provide visitors with a hanging basket of intimate space, but when there is both rough natural texture and rigid geometric patterns on the façade, it is hard not to feel the oppressive Soviet power and rules.
02
Pioneering shapes and advancing civilization
Cultural public buildings are often the area where architects can best exercise their skills - in order to fit the function of the building, there must be a matching form to set the mood. As architectural theory and technology continue to evolve, architects' wildest visions are gradually realized, even giving birth to works that are ahead of their time.
Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2003
One of the masterpieces of deconstructionist Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed in Los Angeles in 2003 and has been the subject of much debate for its subversive form; its curved thin steel skin and staggered massing make the building resemble both a ship under sail and a giant wave curling over land.
Frank Gehry's design sketch
View of the concert hall from the opposite side of the street
The building was opened in 1992, and the interior continues the dynamism of the exterior shape, so it is difficult to find a completely vertical wall, which perfectly illustrates "architecture as flowing music" and brings a strange spatial experience; not only that, the acoustics of the concert hall are also widely praised.
▲Interior Space
Main Concert Hall
The first impression of Disney Concert Hall may be "it doesn't belong here", but this is only the result of comparing the building with the usual rectangular buildings around; the design of Disney Concert Hall may be too pioneering for the late last century, but as time goes by, people will realize that this is the future of their fantasies. architecture into reality.
Qatar National Museum, 2019
▲Part of the Museum
The core of this spectacular 52,000-square-meter museum is a historic palace, and the new section is an interwoven disc-shaped form designed by architect Jean Nouvel, who was inspired by the geological phenomenon of the "desert rose.
The Desert Rose and the Museum
In the building, discs of different sizes and curvatures are intertwined, the desert-colored concrete structure complements the desert environment of Qatar, and the hidden vertical structure serves as a support, making the museum as a whole resemble giant mineral crystals, which Jean Nouvel also described as "the first architectural structure created by nature".
The museum's full view
The museum's plan is illustrated
The museum's winding exhibition corridor is 1.5 kilometers long and contains 11 pavilions where visitors can learn about Qatar's past, present and future in an all-encompassing environment.
▲Museum and Palace
Some say the museum resembles a collection of randomly assembled plates, others say it resembles a cluster of flying saucers resting on Earth - and the discussion of the architectural form subliminally lends an air of mysticism to it.
Science City Valencia, 2004
Unlike the slice-like composition of the Disney Concert Hall and the Qatar National Museum, the post-modern style venue of the Valencia Science City in Spain is different from the "ordinary world" by its skeletal exterior shape. The architect Calatrava is known for his structural design of bridges, and his usual approach can be seen in the Science City complex.
Queen Sofia Opera House
The Queen Sofia Opera House, the "head" of Science City, also has the shape of a biological skull; it is covered by two incomplete thin shells, and the silvery gray cover above it is reminiscent of a knight's helmet or an oddly shaped spaceship.
Prince Felipe Science Museum
The Science Museum is the largest in the whole complex, 241 meters long and 104 meters wide, with giant white components arranged in a strict east-west direction, reflecting the architect's inspiration from animal bones.
▲ Planetarium
This semi-olive-shaped building, also known as the "Eye of Knowledge", is 110 meters long and 55.5 meters wide, while the real spherical body is covered with a transparent arch. The planetarium, the first building completed in 1998, is the centerpiece of the city and, when viewed in conjunction with the surrounding glass-bottomed pool, creates the visual effect of an eyeball.
The city's bold design has also gained popularity in the movie industry, with the famous science fiction series "Westworld" being filmed here.
The "Westworld" movie, the Science Museum
The city of Valencia can be considered a model of form following function as a public building of science and culture - these buildings were once considered a symbol of the modernization of Spanish architecture, but they are not out of place even in the distant future.
03
A monumental timelessness of the Earth
"Science fiction" sometimes does not only mean ahead of its time.
Just as we can use computers to design endless curves to represent the latest technology - but there is only one pyramid, and some buildings can be "monuments". Like the Ningbo Museum, which was chosen as a command center for operations, they were not built for science fiction, but are included in the world of science fiction because of their timeless properties.
Brazilian Congress Building, 1960
This is one of the masterpieces of the native Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, located in the Plaza de la Troisión in Brasilia. The two chambers are connected by a flat, two-story volume, with the Chamber of Deputies opening upward to symbolize openness of expression and the Senate, the opposite, to symbolize decision-making power.
The Capitol is Brazil's most iconic modern building of the 20th century and a landmark of human rights; the designer's original intention was to use the building to remind the power structure of the importance of the human being and to embody the spirit of independent democracy.
Although the building's sides are often thought to resemble flying saucers, the building is more than just a "flying saucer"; it is a spiritual leader that can guide the course of human civilization in the land where it is located.
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 1965
When it comes to "timelessness", the works of Louis Korn are inevitable, especially the Sark Institute of Biology. The concrete laboratory buildings in symmetrical rows express the solemn rigor of science, and the aqueduct in the central axis of the concrete square leads people's eyes to the blue sea - the building together with the site becomes a modern temple.
▲Ryushi Island Castle and Research Institute
The Institute's rough concrete texture and ritualistic perspective lines even inspired the art director of Game of Thrones, who drew inspiration from the building when designing the castle on Dragonstone, using the pattern of vertical lines to reinforce the towering and majestic nature of the castle in the show.
Salk asked at the beginning of the design, "to build a building worthy of Picasso", and Louis Kang did it even better: it is said that the end of science is theology, and the Salk Institute of Biology expresses the sacred reverence for science in its unexaggerated form and scale.
Newgate Plaza, 1990
This is one of I.M. Pei's most interesting works in Singapore. The east and west buildings are like two pairs of doors facing the southeast coast, signifying that they are waiting for visitors, and the building is named "Blade Building" or "Paper Building" because of its only 40-degree sharp angle.
The cross-section of the Newgate Plaza building is trapezoidal, and when viewed from a specific angle, it looks like a flat, sharp blade, and this shape is also related to the architectural feng shui of breaking the "blade" at the beginning of construction.
Singapore is a country with a very thin history, so there is a certain rationale for all kinds of architecture here; Newgate Plaza is not the most innovative and eye-catching one, but the sharp angles and wonderful Chinese symbolism make it an irreplaceable position - the two buildings do not need too much decoration and fancy shapes, but are enough to produce a monumental effect.
Conclusion
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, our perception of "science fiction" is mostly mysterious, unknown, and highly developed, which is more like the word for "technology"; in the case of "science fiction", it is more about the conflict between the old and the new, and the illusions and doubts that people have because of the unknown.
At this point, architecture is a special existence - like an interface between the old and new worlds. Architecture is constant, time is forward, but some buildings are conceived beyond time, and it is the existence of these buildings that allows us to think about the future in a more concrete way.
The above buildings may not be the most "technological" in appearance, but they still evoke words like universe, planet, existence, and memorial; they can exist as epitomes of a certain style in the development of modernist architecture, and to stand for a long time in time is a kind of science fiction.
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