Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

, design, and architecture. Described as an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

movement, as well as a futuristic rethinking of the thought behind aesthetics and functionality of design in growing cities, the movement has its origins in the mid-20th-century structural expressionist work of architects such as

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

and

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

Futurist architecture Futurist architecture is an early-20th century form of architecture born in Italy, characterized by long dynamic lines, suggesting speed, motion, urgency and lyricism: it was a part of Futurism, an artistic movement founded by the poet Filippo T ...

began in the 20th century starting with styles such as

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

and later with the Googie movement as well as

high-tech architecture High-tech architecture, also known as structural expressionism, is a type of late modernist architecture that emerged in the 1970s, incorporating elements of high tech industry and technology into building design. High-tech architecture grew fro ...

Origins

Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s by architects such as

and

John C. Portman Jr. John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a p ...

; architect and industrial designer

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...

Archigram Archigram was an avant-garde British architectural group whose unbuilt projects and media-savvy provocations "spawned the most influential architectural movement of the 1960's," according to Princeton Architectural Press study ''Archigram'' (19 ...

, an avant-garde architectural group (

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

Warren Chalk Warren Chalk (1927–1988) was an English architect. He was a member of Archigram. Amongst the group he was known as "the catalyst of ideas". Early life and education Chalk, (John) Warren (1927–1987), architect, was born on 7 July 1927 at 32 ...

Ron Herron Ronald James Herron () was an English architect and teacher. He is perhaps best known for his work with the seminal experimental architecture collective Archigram, which was formed in London in the early 1960s. Herron was the creator of one of ...

Dennis Crompton Dennis Crompton (29 June 1935 – 20 January 2025) was an English architect, lecturer and writer on architectural subjects. He was a member of Archigram. He was known as the back-room fixer dealing with technology and looking after the archiv ...

, Michael Webb and David Greene,

Jan Kaplický Jan Kaplický (; ; 18 April 1937 – 14 January 2009) was a Neofuturistic Czech architect who spent a significant part of his life in the United Kingdom. He was the leading architect behind the innovative design office, Future Systems. He was b ...

and others); it is considered in part an evolution out of high-tech architecture, developing many of the same themes and ideas. Although it was never built, the Fun Palace (1961), interpreted by architect

Cedric Price Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture. Early life and education The son of the architect A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon, Price was b ...

as a "giant neo-futurist machine", influenced other architects, notably

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British-Italian architect noted for his modernist and constructivist designs in high-tech architecture. He was the founder at Rogers Stirk Harbour + ...

and

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

, whose

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

extended many of Price's ideas.

Definition

Neo-futurism was in part revitalised in 2007 after the publication of "The Neo-Futuristic City Manifesto" included in the candidature presented to the

Bureau International des Expositions The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos, global expos or world expos) falling under the ...

(BIE) and written by innovation designer Vito Di Bari (a former executive director at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

), to outline his vision for the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

at the time of the Universal

Expo 2015 Expo 2015 was a World's fair, World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 Central European Summer Time, CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan Internation ...

. Di Bari defined his neo-futuristic vision as the "cross-pollination of art, cutting edge technologies and ethical values combined to create a pervasively higher quality of life"; he referenced the Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development Theory and reported that the name had been inspired by the United Nations report ''

Our Common Future __NOTOC__ ''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published in October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime Mi ...

''. Soon after Di Bari's manifesto, a collective in the UK called The Neo-Futurist Collective, launched their own version of the Neo-futurist manifesto, written by Rowena Easton, on the streets of Brighton on 20 February 2008, to mark the 99th anniversary of the publication of the Futurist manifesto by FT Marinetti in 1909. The collective's take on Neo-Futurism was much different to Di Bari's, in a sense that it focussed on acknowledging the legacy of the Italian Futurists as well as criticising our current state of despair over climate change and the financial system. On their introduction to their manifesto, The Neo-Futurist Collective noted: “In an age of mass despair over the state of the planet and the financial system, the futurist legacy of optimism for the power of technology uniting with the imagination of humanity has a powerful resonance for our modern age”. This shows an interpretation of Neo-Futurism that is more socially involved – one that speaks directly to its followers rather than denoting certain outlooks through actions (e.g. choice of eco-aware materials in Neo-Futurist architecture).

Jean-Louis Cohen Jean-Louis Cohen (20 July 1949 – 7 August 2023) was a French architect and architectural historian specializing in modern architecture and city planning. Since 1994 he had been the Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture at N ...

has defined neo-futurism as a corollary to technology, noting that a large amount of the structures built today are byproducts of new materials and concepts about the function of large-scale constructions in society. Etan J. Ilfeld wrote that in the contemporary neo-futurist aesthetic "the machine becomes an integral element of the creative process itself, and generates the emergence of artistic modes that would have been impossible prior to computer technology." Reyner Banham's definition of "une architecture autre" is a call for an architecture that technologically overcomes all previous architectures but possessing an expressive form, as Banham stated about neo-futuristic "Archigram's Plug-in Computerized City, form does not have to follow function into oblivion." Matthew Phillips defined the Neo-Futurist aesthetic as a "manipulation of time, space, and subject against a backdrop of technological innovation and domination,

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

posits new approaches to the future contrary to those of past avant-gardes and current technocratic philosophies". This definition agrees with the work of Neo-Futurist architects whose approach is situated in the context of technological innovation, but does not mention the ecological mindfulness that stems from architectural Neo-Futurism.

In art and architecture

Neo-futurism was inspired partly by Futurist architect

Antonio Sant'Elia Antonio Sant'Elia (; 30 April 1888 – 10 October 1916) was an Italian architect and a key member of the Futurist movement in architecture. He left behind almost no completed works of architecture and is primarily remembered for his bold sk ...

and pioneered from the early 1960s and the late 1970s by Hal Foster, with architects such as

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...

Charles Luckman Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, ...

and Henning Larsen.

People

The relaunch of neo-futurism in the 21st century has been creatively inspired by the

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

-winning architect

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

and architect

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...

. Neo-futurist architects, designers and artists include people like , Patrick Jouin, Thomas Canto, Yuima Nakazato, artist

Simon Stålenhag Simon Stålenhag (born 20 January 1984) is a Swedish artist, musician, and designer specialising in retro-futuristic digital art. His work primarily focuses on nostalgic Swedish and American countryside environments, with retro sci-fi elements. ...

and graphic designer Charis Tsevis. Neo-futurism has absorbed some high-tech architectural themes and ideas, incorporating elements of high-tech industry and technology іnto building design: Technology and context has been a focus for some architects such as

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

, Kenzo Tange,

and

Gallery

File:Kinémax Futuroscope.jpg, The Pavilions of

Futuroscope Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope (), formerly known as Planète Futuroscope, is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic, and audiovisual techniques.Piriou, Jerome. The Tourist Region: A Co-Construction of Tourism Stakehol ...

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

by Denis Laming, 1984 File:Le Stade Olympique de Montréal Nuit Arriere Edit 1.jpg, The Tour de Montréal in Montreal by

Roger Taillibert Roger Taillibert (; 21 January 1926 – 3 October 2019) was a French architect, active as a designer from about 1963 to 1987. Taillibert was notable for designing the Parc des Princes in Paris and the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ...

, 1987 File:Hemispheric - Valencia, Spain - Jan 2007.jpg, '' L'Hemisfèric'' in the ''

City of Arts and Sciences The City of Arts and Sciences (, ) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain, Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. The Cit ...

'',

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, 1998 File:LSE large.jpg, The British Library of Political and Economic Science in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 2000 File:L'Oceanografic, Valencia, Spain 2 - Jan 07-cropped.jpg, ''

L'Oceanogràfic L'Oceanogràfic (, , 'The Oceanographic') is an oceanarium situated in the Garden of the Turia to the southeast of the city center of Valencia, Spain, where different marine habitats are represented. It was designed by the architect Félix Cande ...

'' in the ''City of Arts and Sciences'', Valencia by

Félix Candela Félix Candela Outeriño (; January 27, 1910 – December 7, 1997) was a Spanish and Mexican architect who was born in Madrid and at the age of 26, emigrated to Mexico, acquiring double nationality. He is known for his significant ...

, 2003 File:Auditorio de Tenerife Pano.jpg,

Auditorio de Tenerife The Auditorio de Tenerife "Adán Martín" (commonly referred to as the Auditorio de Tenerife) is an auditorium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, it is located on the Avenue of the Constitu ...

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

by Santiago Calatrava, 2003 File:Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciencies - Valencia) (472712279).jpg, '' El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía'' in the ''City of Arts and Sciences'', Valencia by Santiago Calatrava, 2005 File:The Turning Torso, Malmo.JPG, The

Turning Torso Turning Torso is a neo-futurist residential skyscraper built in Malmö, Sweden, in 2005. It was the tallest building in the Nordic region until September 2022, when it was surpassed by Karlatornet in Gothenburg. Located on the Swedish side of ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

by Santiago Calatrava, 2005 File:Hungerburgbahn-Bergstation.JPG,

Hungerburgbahn The Hungerburgbahn is a hybrid funicular railway in Innsbruck, Austria, connecting the city district of Hungerburg with the city centre. The current line opened on 1 December 2007, replacing a previous alignment that operated from 1906 to 2005. ...

top station in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, 2007 File:30 St Mary Axe, 'Gherkin'.JPG,

The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe, previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Its nickname, The Gherkin, is due to its resemblance to gherkin, the vegetable. It was completed ...

Foster + Partners Foster and Partners (also Foster + Partners) is a British international architecture firm with its headquarters in London, England. It was founded in 1967 by British architect and designer Norman Foster. The firm has been involved in the design ...

and

Arup Group Arup Group Limited, trading as Arup, is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. ...

, 2007 File:上海国际金融中心.jpg,

Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Comp ...

Kohn Pedersen Fox Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is an American architectural firm based in New York City that provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services. They engineer different projects including civic and cultural spaces, com ...

, 2008 File:Vue de la gare des Guillemins.jpg,

Liège-Guillemins railway station Liège-Guillemins railway station (; ) is the main station in Liège, Belgium. It is one of the most important hubs in the country and is one of the four Belgian stations on the high-speed rail network. The station is used by 15,000 people ...

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

by Santiago Calatrava, 2009 File:Agora y Pont de l'Assut de l'Or.jpg, ''

L'Àgora L'Àgora (, ; anglicised "The Agora") is a multifunctional covered space designed by Santiago Calatrava located in the '' Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències'' (City of Arts and Sciences) complex, Valencia, Spain. Design and construction The b ...

'' in the ''City of Arts and Sciences'', Valencia by Santiago Calatrava, 2009 File:Burj Khalifa.jpg, The

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Adrian Smith Adrian Smith may refer to: * Adrian Smith (basketball) (born 1936), American basketball player *Adrian Smith (architect) (born 1944), American architect *Sir Adrian Smith (statistician) (born 1946), English statistician and academic *Adrian Smith (m ...

, 2010 File:Ледовый дворец спорта «Айсберг».JPG, Iceberg Palace in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

by Andrey Bokov, 2012 File:Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center.jpg, Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

by Zaha Hadid, 2012 File:The Shard from the Sky Garden 2015.jpg,

The Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey mixed-use development supertall pyramid-shaped skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that for ...

in London by

, 2012 File:Wikimania 2013 04404.JPG, Jockey Club Innovation Tower in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

by Zaha Hadid, 2013 File:Pearl River Tower (Guangzhou, China) indexxrus.JPG, Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou by

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

, 2013 File:Moscow, Evolution Tower at night (31510424357).jpg, The

Evolution Tower The Evolution Tower () is a skyscraper located on plots 2 and 3 of the MIBC in Moscow, Russia. The 55-story office building has a height of and a total area of . Noted in Moscow for its futuristic DNA-like shape, the building was designed by Bri ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

RMJM RMJM (Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall) is one of the largest architecture and design networks in the world. Services include architecture, development management, engineering, interior design, landscape design, lead consultancy, master planning ...

and Philipp Nikandrov, 2014 File:Ilham tower.jpg, Ilham Tower in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, 2015 File:Museu do Amanha 05 2016 Rio 2083.jpg, Museum of Tomorrow in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

by Santiago Calatrava, 2015 File:WTC Hub September 2016 vc.png, The World Trade Center Hub in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

by Santiago Calatrava, 2016 File:Thyssenkrupp-Testturm-01.jpg, TK Elevator Test Tower in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has over 25,000 ...

by Werner Sobek, 2017 File:Aerial view of Apple Park dllu.jpg, Aerial view of

Apple Park Apple Park, also known as Apple Campus 2, is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway. It replaced Apple Campus as ...

Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 60,38 ...

by Norman Foster, 2017 File:High Line td 16 - 520 West 28th Street.jpg, 520 West 28th Street in New York City by Zaha Hadid, 2017 File:LM81 NhonHuynh 5-8-2018.jpg,

Landmark 81 Landmark 81 is a supertall skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is primarily invested and developed by Vinhomes, the largest Vietnamese real-estate developer. Landmark 81 holds the position of the tallest building in Vietnam, the seco ...

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

by Atkins, 2018 File:Helsinki Central Library Oodi, 2019 (01).jpg, The Central Library Oodi in Helsinki by Arkkitehtitoimisto ALA, 2018 File:The Exchange 106 20230317.jpg, Exchange 106 Tower in

by Mulia Group Malaysia, 2019 File:Merdeka 118 20230317.jpg,

Merdeka 118 Merdeka 118, formerly known as , KL 118, and PNB 118, is a 118-story List of megatall skyscrapers, megatall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At tall, it is the List of tallest buildings, second-tallest building and List of tallest structur ...

by Fender Katsalidis, 2024

References

External links

{{Architecture in the United States Futurist movements Contemporary art movements 21st century in art 21st-century architectural styles Avant-garde art