Los Angeles, Chlorofilia, 2106

This is the year of 2106, welcome to the city of Chlorofilia.

In 2007, the History Channel invited architects to explore the future of American metropolis. Los Angeles based architect Hernan Diaz Alonso chose the medium of film to Visualize the future of LA – Chlorofilia in 2106, a form of science – fiction provocation which challeges the conventional masterplan and reveals his dystopian view.

To understand Chlorofilia, you have to understand the bigger image. As the result of global warming, the sea level is raised up dramatically and Los Angeles is put under threat. Leeves hold back the water, but in 2032 when the earthquake eventually destroys the Leeves, LA is flooded with only three areas of high land remaining which become island.
Yet out of this apocalyptic scene a new Los Angeles emerges – the Chlorofilia.

A jungle replaces the building, infrastructure, and the city. The jungle is a living surface, a ‘ cultural membrane ’, in Alonso’ s words, an artificial environment with its own intelligence. It could grow and evolve on its own respoding to the various inputs and needs. It is constantly adapting since the ‘ cells ‘ of the system could regenerate, reform, and reconnect in different ways according to their internal intelligence.

This nice project reminds me of the dystopian view in some science – fiction, like the cyberpunk fiction of William Gibson. There is certainly some darker side beneath the seemingly promising utopian world – think about how things would happen if they are out of control. This darker side is revealed in Alonso’ s words:

‘ We were interested in the idea of perversion, and in the idea that there is no longer distinction between perversity and beauty. Even the name Chlorofilia was dreamt up as an allusion to Paedophilia. We were not talking about some cosy environmentally friendly world. This is a dystopian technological world where the distinction between who we are and technology has evaporated... ‘

Chlorofilia is, then, a visualization of science fiction, a movie presented as fake documentation. Yet it may be the one that in a very real way points toward our sustainable future, triggering our thoughts about we human beings and our places in environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQukt36Gew0