There are some really good visualizations out there that show Los Angeles's future skyline, but this 1984 film offers a dynamic look backward. Created by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and spotted first by Curbed Chicago, the brief film flies through nine major US cities as rendered in almost-Tron-like neon and transparent squares. Illustrator Peter C. Little rescued a print of the short on 16mm film just before it was about to be trashed and had it digitally copied; he says that SOM had to actually write the software to make the video. LA's the last to be featured—even Denver comes first!—and has so few towers that they can probably be counted on two hands.
9 cities by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 1984. Scanned from the original 16mm film. from peter little on Vimeo.
· Vintage Film Clip Reveals Some of the Earliest Computer Rendered Images of Chicago [Curbed Chicago]
· 9 cities by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 1984. Scanned from the original 16mm film [Vimeo]
· A Guide to the Near-Future of the Downtown LA Skyline [Curbed LA]
· A Guide to the Near-Future of the Hollywood Skyline [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...