A city is more than the sum of its parts; architecture, in its own way, is a living organism. This concept is referenced in a hypnotising seven minute video by UK-based digital art practice and design studio Universal Everything.

Titled ‘Walking City’, the video explores the fusion of architecture, evolution and movement by detailing the endless journey of a slowly evolving sculpture – the city.

According to creator Matt Pyke, this evolutionary march takes cues from the work of 1960s avant-garde architecture group Archigram and its utopian visions of architecture.

The Walking City is a futurist idea first conceived by British architect Ron Herron in the 1960s, who anticipated the increasingly mobile nature of contemporary life, and proposed building massive robotic structures that, with their own intelligence, would roam the world freely, moving to wherever their resources or manufacturing abilities were needed.

These itinerant cities could interconnect with each other to form larger ‘walking metropolises’ when needed, and disperse when their concentrated power was no longer necessary.

“The language of materials and patterns seen in radical architecture transforms as the nomadic city walks endlessly, adapting to the environment she encounters,” describes Universal City.

The short film was created using a 3D modelling software in which each iteration of architecture was inspired by a pioneering form found in futuristic construction processes.

Creative Director: Matt Pyke

Animation: Chris Perry

Sound: Simon Pyke

Geraldine Chua

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