In 2012 Patrik Schumacher ‘slams British Architectural education’ for its dystopia, irony and its unrealistic scenarios. He believes that we should be concentrating on ‘an optimistic probing of our contemporary world with respect to the opportunities it offers and considers the vogue of otherworldly narratives as counterproductive.’ (Schumacher P 2012)
Contemporary media is filled with the ideas of dystopias and farfetched futures, perhaps the work of student architecture reflects the future we are being shown. Netflix user base is 81% Millennial and their algorithms have led to its commissioning shows like the 100, the walking dead and Black Mirror (Stone Z 2017). So why are bleak and extraordinary futures so popular?
Perhaps this is linked to the political climate, we are currently in where millennials are told they will never earn enough to buy a house or raise a family. The lack of hope and confidence in the future has led to millennials contemplating the end. In 2017 the RIBA president medal lists are filled with escapism with titles like ‘The garden of Belfast It is hard to design for a future without hope, this has led to architectural projects which inject hope in unrealistic scenarios to allow the design to thrive. delights’ and ‘Space between’.
However, our obsession with the apocalypse is not a new phenomenon. In myths, legends and creation stories the end of the world is described in detail. In the past this obsession has been closely linked to religion; an explanation for natural disasters and a consequence for human misbehaviour. However, in the modern world religion has taken a back seat and the Anthropocene is what we fear. The Anthropocene, the era which humans influence our world equivalent to that of a natural disaster, has brought the apocalypse a step closer to reality than we ever have been. The effect Blue Planet 2 had on people’s view of single use plastic, shows the influence media can have on a collective view. Why would this not impact the issues, architectural students want to tackle?
The Anthropocene has also had another effect on Architecture, it has shown that as a species we have complete control of our own environment. Therefore, perhaps the future of architecture is not within the immediate, obvious future Schumacher suggests, but the highly designed obscure futures suggested by student architectural projects.
Lorentzen C (2017) why are we so obsessed with the end of the world? The Times [Online] Avaliable from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/t-magazine/end-of-the-world.html (accessed 27/09/2018)
Schumacher P (2012) Schumacher slams British architectural education The Architectural review [Online] 31/1/2012 Available from: https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/schumacher-slams-british-architectural-education/8625659.article (accessed 27/09/2018)
Stone Z (2017) Why Millennials Are Obsessed With The Apocalypse Forbes [Online] 20/03/2017 Available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarastone/2017/03/20/why-millennials-are-obsessed-with-the-apocalypse/#72811a9978fc (accessed 27/09/2018)