When I was a kid I read as much science fiction as I could get my hands on by authors such as Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clark, Andre Norton, etc. At the same time, real life magazines like Popular Science, which I consumed like candy, promised a future filled with flying cars, personal robots, and fantastic architecture.
 |
Magazines like Popular Science were big on modern
architecture and the inventions that went with it. |
 |
The covers of pulp science fiction often featured
architectural extravaganzas in futuristic mode. |
I also devoured sic-fi movies like
The Day the Earth Stood Still and
Forbidden Planet (the best movie ever made). It didn't help that my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Karp, predicted all sorts of inventions that would come about by the time I grew up. Specifically, he said it was all but certain a transporter machine the size of a telephone booth would whisk human beings from one place to another in the same manner a conversation traveled through phone wires. I am still waiting for this invention to materialize.
 |
| Sci-fi movies then and now featured futuristic design. A set from Forbidden Planet, above. |
In other respects, it seems that the science fiction of yesterday is the reality of today. I marvel that we actually seem to be living in
the world of tomorrow. Hand-held computers, personal robots (I have a Rumba that cleans my floors every day), and other stuff of the future is here now. Even our architecture resembles the cover of a science fiction novel from 1955. Not everywhere, but in many places. Especially in Dubai with the
Burj Kalifa tower, the
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel, and the
Palm Islands. Now an upcoming project in Dubai continues the science fiction esthetic: Aladdin City. It's a little bit crazy and a lot of fun. The total cost of the project has not been announced. It will have air-conditioned bridges with a moving floor to connect the structures. The highest of three towers is thirty-four stories.
 |
| The three towers of Aladdin City, Dubai. |
 |
| Aerial view of Aladdin City. |
A YouTube video about the project can be found here:
Aladdin City. The project will include offices and a hotel. So, you'll have a place to stay if you want to travel to the future.
