Neo-futurism

 ( Futurist Movements ) 

Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in the arts, design, and architecture.

Described as an avant-garde 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 and Buckminster Fuller.

Futurist architecture began in the early 20th century in Italy focusing on the future, valuing speed, risk and heroism; while Neo-futurism was defined in the 1980s as a broader movement that appeared in the 1950s and continues today.

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Origins Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s by architects such as Buckminster Fuller and John C. Portman Jr.; architect and industrial designer Eero Saarinen, Archigram, an avant-garde architectural group (Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Ron Herron, Dennis Crompton, Michael Webb and David Greene, Jan Kaplický 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 as a "giant neo-futurist machine", influenced other architects, notably Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, whose Centre Pompidou extended many of Price's ideas.

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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 (BIE) and written by innovation designer Vito Di Bari (a former executive director at UNESCO), to outline his vision for the city of Milan at the time of the Universal Expo 2015. 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";Manifesto of Neo-Futuristic City in www.neofuturistic.com 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.

World Commission on Environment and Development (2025). 9780192820808, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192820808

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 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,

Nigel Whiteley (2025). 9780262731652, MIT Press. ISBN 9780262731652

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, that 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.

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In art and architecture Neo-futurism was inspired partly by Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia and pioneered from the early 1960s and the late 1970s by Hal Foster, with architects such as William Pereira, Los Angeles Forum for architecture and urban design, Scott Johnson The Los Angeles Chapter of The American Institute for Architects, Alan Hess, William Pereira: Designing Modern Los Angeles, 2013 Charles Luckman

Hugh Pearman (2025). 9781856693561, Laurence King Publishing. . ISBN 9781856693561

and Henning Larsen.

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People The relaunch of neo-futurism in the 21st century has been creatively inspired by the Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid and architect Santiago Calatrava.

Neo-futurist architects, designers and artists include people like ,

,Thomas Canto, Yuima Nakazato, artist Simon Stålenhag 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 Buckminster Fuller, Norman Foster, Kenzo Tange, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

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Gallery

File:Kinémax Futuroscope.jpg|The Pavilions of Futuroscope in Poitiers by Denis Laming, 1984 File:Le Stade Olympique de Montréal Nuit Arriere Edit 1.jpg|The Tour de Montréal in Montreal by Roger Taillibert, 1987 File:Hemispheric - Valencia, Spain - Jan 2007.jpg| L'Hemisfèric in the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia by Santiago Calatrava, 1998 File:LSE large.jpg|The British Library of Political and Economic Science in London by Norman Foster, 2000 File:L'Oceanografic, Valencia, Spain 2 - Jan 07-cropped.jpg| L'Oceanogràfic in the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia by Félix Candela, 2003 File:Auditorio de Tenerife Pano.jpg|Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 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 in Malmö by Santiago Calatrava, 2005 File:Hungerburgbahn-Bergstation.JPG|Hungerburgbahn top station in Innsbruck by Zaha Hadid, 2007 File:30 St Mary Axe, 'Gherkin'.JPG|The Gherkin in London by Foster + Partners and Arup Group, 2007 File:上海国际金融中心.jpg|Shanghai World Financial Center by Kohn Pedersen Fox, 2008 File:Vue de la gare des Guillemins.jpg|Liège-Guillemins railway station in Liège by Santiago Calatrava, 2009 File:Agora y Pont de l'Assut de l'Or.jpg| L'Àgora in the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia by Santiago Calatrava, 2009 File:Burj Khalifa.jpg|The Burj Khalifa in Dubai by Adrian Smith, 2010 File:Ледовый дворец спорта «Айсберг».JPG|Iceberg Palace in Sochi by Andrey Bokov, 2012 File:Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center.jpg|Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Baku by Zaha Hadid, 2012 File:The Shard from the Sky Garden 2015.jpg|The Shard in London by Renzo Piano, 2012 File:Wikimania 2013 04404.JPG|Jockey Club Innovation Tower in Hong Kong by Zaha Hadid, 2013 File:Pearl River Tower (Guangzhou, China) indexxrus.JPG|Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 2013 File:Moscow, Evolution Tower at night (31510424357).jpg|The Evolution Tower in Moscow by RMJM and Philipp Nikandrov, 2014 File:Ilham tower.jpg|Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur by Foster + Partners, 2015 File:Museu do Amanha 05 2016 Rio 2083.jpg|Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro by Santiago Calatrava, 2015 File:WTC Hub September 2016 vc.png|The World Trade Center Hub in New York City by Santiago Calatrava, 2016 File:Thyssenkrupp-Testturm-01.jpg|TK Elevator Test Tower in Rottweil by Werner Sobek, 2017 File:Aerial view of Apple Park dllu.jpg|Aerial view of Apple Park in Cupertino 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 in Ho Chi Minh City 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 Kuala Lumpur by Mulia Group Malaysia, 2019 File:Merdeka 118 20230317.jpg|Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur by Fender Katsalidis, 2024

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See also

• Futurist architecture
• High-tech architecture
• Neomodern

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Further reading

• Jean-Louis Cohen (2025). 9780714845982, Phaidon Press. ISBN 9780714845982
• Rowena Easton, The NeoFuturist Manifesto, 2008
• (2025). 9783942597098, DAAB Media. ISBN 9783942597098
• A History of Neo-Futurism, Erica Anne Milkovich, 2010 - Avant-garde (Aesthetics)
• Gunther Berghaus, From Futurism to Neo-Futurism, in Avant-garde/Neo-avant-garde, 2005, published by Dietrich Scheunemann, Rodopi BV
• Colin Rowe, Fred Koetter, After the Millennium, in Collage City, 1983, published by Architecture – The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
• Etan Jonathan Ilfeld, Beyond Contemporary Art, 2012, Vivays Publishing, London
• Anthony Vidler, Histories of the immediate present, 2008 MIT Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Reyner Banham, "A Clip-on Architecture," Architectural Design 35, no. 11
• Reyner Banham: Historian of the Immediate Future (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002)
• Ru Brown, FUTURISM IS DEAD LONG LIVE FUTURISM The legacy of techno-love in contemporary design, 2011, University of Washington – MDes Design Investigations
• Gabriel Gyang Dung, Bridget Mlumun Akaakohol, J.C. Akor – The Concept Of Sustainable Development And The Challenges Of Economic Growth And Development In Nigeria – July 2014, Department of Economics, College of Education, Katsina-Ala.

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External links

Categories: Futurist Movements, Contemporary Art Movements, 21st Century In Art, 21st-century Architectural Styles, Avant-garde Art

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