Can you clone a city?

H

heroesandvillains

Lono ̴
Yet another super-surreal creation from the UAE...

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/lyons-dubai.html

i guess the main question is how do you prevent this from being anything other than a mega-sized Disney type replication...

...not that Dubai doesn't already seem like one seriously hellish theme park.


dubai-towers-dubai.jpg
 
Last edited:
rockypoppy2

rockypoppy2

wtf?
dubai is a joke, they're doing the exact eiffel replica arent they

well all this architectural mimicking is their idea of a safety net once the oil runs out and people dont have to be there anymore. i guess its quite brilliant in a way, glorify and glamorise something that is essentially worthless (culture in the case of dubai) and market it to the world

im reading delirious new york at the moment and i can see lots of parallels between dubai and coney island circa 1900, however, the point koolhaas makes from coney island is that though it was a fantastical realm, no rules etc....all of which apply to current dubai, coney island was an architectural testing ground and ultimate inspiration for a new approach to urbanism which he later identifies as manhattanism. so far i cant see anything visionary about dubai, just the exercise of opulence in motion.
 
rockypoppy2

rockypoppy2

wtf?
also the political and economic climate regarding coney island at the turn of the 19th century is very different to present day dubai. back then it was the beginning of the free market, venture capitalism in the city and i guess the sky was the limit, but built on a foundation of belief that this moment was only the beginning - that the exponential curve would soon kick off. contrast this to modern day dubai where architecture is not the facilitator for a new mode of life, but a saviour of an old one, a method in which to preserve value of a rapidly evaporating oil rich enviornment. to me this smacks of desperation rather than vision.


oh and the coney island theme parks must've been something incredible back then, what exactly is dubai achieving when we've seen it all before?
 
bruno

bruno

est malade
i don't know, but the little fantasies played out on bldgblog posts are really fucking annoying, even moreso than the projects themselves. a cloned populace for a cloned city, how clever! it makes me want to cheer for reactionary architecture, if that exists.
 
rockypoppy2

rockypoppy2

wtf?
bruno said:
i don't know, but the little fantasies played out on bldgblog posts are really fucking annoying, even moreso than the projects themselves. a cloned populace for a cloned city, how clever! it makes me want to cheer for reactionary architecture, if that exists.
Click to expand...


i think architecture is probably the least revolutionary of all the arts. it simply cant afford to be, owing to its scale, cost, and consequence. every building you see around you in major western cities is a watered down/sanitised version of an idea - this i think is sad.


that looks like a really interesting blog actually, thanks!
 
Last edited:
P

Pestario

tell your friends
Dubai, what a strange place. It's a city trying too hard. I doubt anything they build there will result in any sort of sustainable community. Who lives in these giant towers? Expats? Locals? Transient business people? Most of the popoulation (71%) are poorly paid migrant workers.

I don't really know that much about Dubai beyond that of wikipedia (I really want to visit though) but the impression I get is that it's just a giant conference room/tax haven for international business with a giant underclass making it possible.
 
L

Lichen

Well-known member
It's all too real!

Very similar - in conept if not style - to the Disney town in the US, where I think the Truman Show was filmed.
 
P

Pestario

tell your friends
The Truman Show was shot in New Haven (or Sea Haven?) Florida but with some cgi enhancements to make it look more like a real town :).

Are there pictures of it? I thought the picture on that blog was of the actual Lyon?
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Iä! Shub-Niggurath!

82c1488f62ce1bb62edc578d70fab92e.jpg


The Black Goat with a Thousand Young!

*descends into wibbling insanity*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top