Unlike its TV and film counterparts, which imagine the future as an over-populated dystopian nightmare overrun with violence and chaos, Black Mirror paints a picture of a near future that aligns far more with our current reality--and nowhere is this more apparent than in the architecture shown in the series.
The British television series, rendered from the the mind of Charlie Brooker and a current fixture on Netflix, shows a future built on technology and forces viewers to consider the impact of technology on their own lives while watching its impact on the shows characters.
Completed in 1956 and situated on Avenida Paulista, the Tres Marias Building by Abelardo Riedy de Souza and its feature apartment, remodeled by Piratininga Arquitetos in 2009, captured the attention of Black Mirror's production team with its impressive view over the most iconic avenue in the city. Its furniture and fixtures are on display, giving the dignified feel of an antique shop.
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In this case, not in the middle of a city, as is the case with “The Desert House” which appears in the 5th season. The location is an ideal escape from a "connected" world.
"Challenging nature and thriving in one of Europe's most extreme landscapes, the Gorafe Desert (Granada), requires a dwelling fit for the task. In this case, a wooden structure outfitted with wall to wall glass fixtures produced by Guardian Glass. In an area of only 20m2, you'll find a bedroom, bathroom, and living room, a space perfect for taking in the surrounding landscape. On top of this, the structure comes with a water filtration system as well as an energy production system powered by solar panels."
In both of these cases, we can see that we are not so far off from incorporating new technologies like virtual and enhanced reality into our everyday existence (or at least into architectural creation). Just a few years ago it was said that many physical objects could be simple representations of augmented or virtual reality. It doesn't seem so far-fetched then, to suggest that architecture will be taken beyond its physical limitations and into the world of the virtual beyond.
There's no shortage of ideas about what reality will look like in the future. Keichii Matsuda, through his project HYPER-REALITY, shows us " a new provocative and kaleidoscopic vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities fuse." This is not so different from the reality we already live with smartphones and other tech systems.
So, how do you imagine the future of architecture?
