Planet City - Liam Young

by Liam Young

Based in Los Angeles, film director and architect Liam Youngs work is situated within the fields of design fiction and critical design. Planet City is an urgent examination of the productive potential of extreme densification in an imagined future where ten billion people surrender the rest of the planet to a global wilderness. In a vision that runs counter to our current world, the book describes a radical reversal of planetary sprawl, where humans retreat from our vast network of cities and supply chains into one hyper-dense metropolis. Not a techno-utopian fantasy, this work of critical architecture and speculative fiction is grounded in statistical analysis, research, and traditional knowledge.

408 pages, Paperback

Published January 12, 2020

About the author

Liam Young is Fiction and Entertainment Coordinator of Design Studio at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles. An Australian-born architect, he is the founder of the think tank Tomorrows Thoughts Today, a group whose work explores the possibilities of fantastic, speculative and imaginary urbanisms. He co-runs Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic research studio that travels on expeditions to the ends of the earth, documenting emerging trends and uncovering the weak signals of possible futures. He has been featured in the mainstream and architectural media, including the BBC, NBC, Wired, Guardian, Time Magazine, and Dazed and Confused. His work has been acquired for the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He has taught at the Architectural Association in London and Princeton University. He now runs an M.A. in Fiction and Entertainment at SCI-Arc.

Reviews

[Sammi Dé · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting work of speculative architecture/planning that draws on contemporary social critique (biopolitics/degrowth/polycrisis/AI/neocolonialism) complemented by visuals. Involved varied critiques including Mbembe and Spivak that were interesting and rather pro-computation/virtuality; other highlights included: post-geographic planning; “ghost countryside(s)”; the production of “urban subjects” (planetarity; complex interdependence; rhizomatic?); pan-urbanism and the migration of borders; denial of tech and rationality as always colonial (Mbembe critique: useful for diss); prefigurative forms of communing (surely the most operational conclusion from the book)

Interesting as an ideal but dangerous in its appeal to top-down planning and with little discussion on democracy or participation (ie. process) it ultimately falls short from any helpful reimagination of developmentalism.

[Dom · Rating 4 out of 5]

a tad too idealistic at times for me but an excellent thought experiment nonetheless

[María Serrano]

solo me he leído los capítulos: "The end of the end of the world", "Covenant", "Inala" y "A micro pilgrimage".
me han gustado mucho las short stories, especialmente covenant.