The Metropolis Of Tomorrow

The metropolis of the future — as perceived by architect Hugh Ferriss in 1929 — was both generous and prophetic in vision. This illustrated essay on the modern city and its future features 59 illustrations.

This Weimar-era novel of a futuristic society, written by the screenwriter for the iconic 1927 film, was hailed by noted science-fiction authority Forrest J. Ackerman as "a work of genius."

No matter how many times Superman saves Metropolis, there’s always some devious plot in the works! Robert Venditti brings a new take on some of Superman’s most famous villains. From Toyman to Metallo, the Man of Steel faces them all-but with a familiar foe watching his every move, will he be able to save the city he loves? Collected for the first time ever in print Superman: Man of Tomorrow #1-6 and #11-15!

Since cities emerged ten thousand years ago, they have become one of the most impressive artifacts of humanity. But their evolution has been anything but linear—cities have gone through moments of radical change, turning points that redefine their very essence. In this book, a renowned architect and urban planner who studies the intersection of cities and technology argues that we are in such a moment. The authors explain some of the forces behind urban change and offer new visions of the many possibilities for tomorrow’s city. Pervasive digital systems that layer our cities are transforming urban life. The authors provide a front-row seat to this change. Their work at the MIT Senseable City Laboratory allows experimentation and implementation of a variety of urban initiatives and concepts, from assistive condition-monitoring bicycles to trash with embedded tracking sensors, from mobility to energy, from participation to production. They call for a new approach to envisioning cities: futurecraft, a symbiotic development of urban ideas by designers and the public. With such participation, we can collectively imagine, examine, choose, and shape the most desirable future of our cities.

From the Chicago Tribune Competition and the Chrysler Building to the United Nation headquarters and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the drawings of Hugh Ferriss record a period of time in the history of architecture which has seen remarkable change in our conception of cities and buildings. Trained as an architect in the Beaux Arts tradition, Ferriss chose instead to devote the greater part of his career to giving shape and life to the dreams and visions in his own mind and in the minds of other, now famous, architects for whom he worked. In one broad sweep, we see, through one man's eyes, an astonishing record of 20th-century ideas and designs in architecture. -- from book jacket.

Cities are a big deal. More people now live in them than don't, and with a growing world population, the urban jungle is only going to get busier in the coming decades. But how often do we stop to think about what makes our cities work? Cities are built using some of the most creative and revolutionary science and engineering ideas – from steel structures that scrape the sky to glass cables that help us communicate at the speed of light – but most of us are too busy to notice. Science and the City is your guidebook to that hidden world, helping you to uncover some of the remarkable technologies that keep the world's great metropolises moving. Laurie Winkless takes us around cities in six continents to find out how they're dealing with the challenges of feeding, housing, powering and connecting more people than ever before. In this book, you'll meet urban pioneers from history, along with today's experts in everything from roads to time, and you will uncover the vital role science has played in shaping the city around you. But more than that, by exploring cutting-edge research from labs across the world, you'll build your own vision of the megacity of tomorrow, based on science fact rather than science fiction. Science and the City is the perfect read for anyone curious about the world they live in.

Trained as an architect in the early twentieth century, Hugh Ferriss possessed a vision of form that surpassed the traditional blueprints of his peers—and it showed in his distinctively moody renderings. A master of light and shadow, he managed to capture the spirit of each building with a heightened sense of perspective and design. By the 1920s, he was well on his way to becoming America's greatest architectural draftsman. Ferriss' remarkable style, which influenced generations of builders, is highlighted in this illustrated journey through three decades of American architecture. Accompanied by illuminating text and captions, this collection of sixty of his extraordinary drawings includes: Rockefeller Center, a stunning symbol of modern Art Deco style; California's Shasta Dam, ranked as one of the great civil engineering feats of the world; the Perisphere and Trylon from New York's 1939 World's Fair; Taliesin-in-Arizona, Frank Lloyd Wright's breathtaking winter home; and Denver's Red Rocks Amphitheater, a dramatic structure that incorporates natural elements and rock formations. Plus, there are illustrations of the Empire State Building, the United Nations headquarters, airports, grain elevators, bomb shelters, and more. Architects, draftsmen, and designers of all ages will savor the wonder and imagination in this magnificent volume.

Cities are where the twenty-first century is really going to happen. Already at the beginning of the century, we became 50% urban as a global population, and by 2050 we're going to be up to 70% urban. So cities could either be our coffin or our ark. Leo Hollis presents evidence that cities can deliver a better life and a better world in the future. From exploring what slime mold can tell us about traffic flow, to looking at how traditional civic power structures are being overturned by Twitter, to investigating how cities all over the world are tackling climate change, population growth, poverty, shifting work patterns and the maintenance of the fragile trust of their citizens, Cities Are Good for You offers a new perspective on the city. Combining anecdote, scientific studies, historical portraits, first-hand interviews and observations of some of the most exciting world cities, Hollis upends long-held assumptions with new questions: Where do cities come from? Can we build a city from scratch? Does living in the city make you happier or fitter? Is the metropolis of the future female? What is the relationship between cities and creativity? And are slums really all that bad? Cities Are Good for You introduces us to dreamers, planners, revolutionaries, writers, scientists, architects, slum-dwellers and kings. Ranging globally and through time in search of answers--from the archive to the laboratory, from City Hall to the architect's desk--it is above all driven by the idea that cities are for people and by people.