Liam Young: speculative architecture meets sci-fi storytelling at Transmediale

Liam Young, a London-based 'speculative architect,' presented his narrative performance 'Hello City!' at Transmediale in Berlin. Young does not build physical structures but instead imagines new spaces and urban strategies through film, animation, and fiction. His work aims to make architecture more accessible by merging speculative design with popular culture and technology. He co-founded the studio Unknown Fields, which travels the world documenting signs of possible futures. Young's performance at the Barbican in London, in collaboration with John Cale of the Velvet Underground, used drones as speakers to transform military technology into cultural technology. 'Hello City!' is set in a fictional smart city version of Detroit, where teenagers search for an unconnected space to party, hacking Google Cars and evading 3D scanners. The film is expected to be completed by summer 2016. Young draws on critical science fiction that reflects on the present rather than predicting the future.