There is nothing more fascinating than yesterday's vision of tomorrow — especially when it comes to city design. Here are some of the most incredible futuristic cities imagined by great European designers of the twentieth century and before. We hope that they came to fruition in some alternate timeline.
This was the world-famous architect's first big urban project, exhibited at the 1922 Autumn Salon in Paris. The city is a series of concentric belts. In the center was the administrative and business section (24 60-floor towers).
It was "one of the prettiest places on the Earth", as E.B. Lanin wrote in 1894 in The Contemporary Review.
In the French cities the houses and the clothes are the same in 2000, but everyday life is packed with way more cool gadgets than ever before.
From a 1909 postcard depicting the future of this Central European city. via Delcampe.net
Thedore Hildebrandt & Sohn is an almost 200-year-old German chocolate and confectionery company. This picture is from the early 20th century, and it was on a chocolate box with some other awesome drawings about future life.
"The passengers can travel at the speed of telegrams, if they wish." This drawing is from 1890.
The Nazis wanted to create a giant city with fabulous designs like a great East-West city axis — the Berlin Victory Column would be in the center, and The Great Hall, The Berlin Victory Column and the Reichstag would stand in a row, and the new Chancellery (destroyed in 1945 by the Soviet army). Almost none of the buildings planned were ever built.
Probably the best sci-fi film ever, directed by Fritz Lang in 1927. The story is set in 2026, in a futuristic urban dystopia. The city was created by Eugen Schüfftan.
The movie features a really wide range of sets, everything from a gothic cathedral to a futuristic cityscape.
The pictures are screenshots from the movie.
left: made in the 1960s, right: made in 1914 as a part of "Moscow in the 23rd Century" series.