Will futuristic architecture solve our problems or amplify our psychoses?

Nature · Published 30 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1968, visionaries and scientists debated whether advanced technology could build cities worth living in, or if modern urban flaws would simply be magnified on a larger scale.

This BBC Archive program features architects like Buckminster Fuller and Reyner Banham presenting radical designs for 21st-century super-cities. The discussion moves beyond aesthetics to examine the human impact of these structures, involving psychologists, building scientists, and religious leaders.

The core tension explores whether technological progress can create unprecedented living environments or if it will merely scale up existing urban 'psychoses.' It serves as a historical look at how we projected our hopes—and fears—onto the future of human habitation.

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