EOW 169 :: Shanghai in 2112

[Vulgar`]

EOW 169 :: Shanghai in 2112
topic suggested by Dile_

Brief:

Design a Shanghai of the future. It doesn't get any better than this...

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai



- Please specify which image is final in this thread!


DEADLINE: Monday, August 1st 2011

[Artfix]

Hi guys. I am not a regular of EOW so..I'm a noob and I have a question. How does one make this look like shanghai of the future and not just any city of the future?

Thanks for any tips here!

One more question: Where are the thumbnail images coming from that are next to each topic?

[Vulgar`]

Good question, I haven't really thought about that. I think Shanghai is already a modern, futuristic metropolis so metamorphosis through another century could produce fascinating results... not just for Shanghai, but for any prominent cityscape. Fragments from an interesting article I just read:

The world's most renowned architects are flocking to Shanghai, where they are building the world's biggest skyscrapers and hotels, futuristic model towns, theme cities and numerous other never-seen-before projects. All the innovation puts this Chinese city in the vanguard for style, ambition and experimentation. Once again.

Nightclubs, chic restaurants and luxury hotels and high-rises open by the score monthly, as Shanghai races to reclaim its reputation as flashiest, most fun and futuristic city of the Far East.

This city moves like no other. Shanghai rocks, frantic, full-out, like fifth gear on the Autobahn. You feel its pulse, buzz to the adrenaline. You not only see it, but hear it, smell it: the roar of redevelopment, air thick with the dust of perpetual construction - tunnels, bridges, highways, mini-cities shooting up.

In my own translation, it's like a well lit utopia for the architecturally gallant. Add Asian flair and you have yourself a tasty dish for the eyes and for the senses.

This thumbnail is by EOW veteran Hideyoshi. This topic seemed tailormade for him, I couldn't help it. The rest I find on google.

[Vulgar`]

Entries from past EOW 97 Asian Flair, and other inspiration:
I'd like to think of this EOW as an evolution of the previous 'Asian Flair' activity. This is far more mature and changed city. For better or worse? We'll have to find out.



















[IMG]china.com/chinaWH/upload/upfiles/2009-09/07/the_mythic_elements_in_chinese_architecture1fb5d69 a1eebc2415b1e.jpg[/IMG]

[OchreHand]

amazing topic. i might have to try this

[Rob Powell]

Wow. Cool topic! I don't think I'll be able to come up with something for this, especially since I'm working on both COW and CHOW this week. Plus there will be a crapload of detail that will have me going bonkers over what seems to be an endless rendering process, but I'll give it a try!

[+oas+]

sweet, perspective study time!

[android411]

this is a great topic I don´t want to miss. So here is my try...

[jagder]

post apocalyptic Shanghai

[Pat Thompson]

SWEET! pld: This week is a good one to return to CA. I'm all over this. If anyone needs some cool Chinese references, I might be able to help, since I live here in China and have tons of photos (though not too many of cities, sadly, since I live with the Na'Vi in the tourist village of Yangshuo).

@artfix: every culture has its own style of architecture - especially China. China is exploding into the future while holding onto to large chunks of its history, and one of the key chunks is their architecture (however they have deleted large chunks of their history for the sake of revolution, but that's another topic altogether). So instead of some straight up Manhattan towers, throw in China's sweet style of modern arch - which is quickly becoming the best.

Also, I've always thought of China as the flagship of modern steampunk, and I don't think that will change anytime soon. In today's China, you are just as likely to see a BMW cruising past (complete with drunken drivers) as you are to see a tractor chugging past with wooden wheels, sans muffler, and hay-lined interiors.

So I think that the Shanghai of the future will incorporate elements of traditional arch mixed with the ultra modern, but at the same time have all the elements that the common peasants/people bring into the mix with various income levels and poverty. So rickshaws, cobbled alleys, tons of mopeds, cinderblock & shingle shacks, hobos, lots of public transportation (China is excellent with this), lots of ads, grime, haphazard wires, etc all along shiny new buildings, fancy cars stuck in traffic that obeys no rules, funky fashion, bright lights, booming music, conmen, etc.

also, modern Chinese cities seem to have an obsession with placing hue-changing LEDs all over the place, from skyscrapers, to bridges, to riverfronts. They love the stuff. and PS - all those pics you see of tons of vertical neon signs with chinese characters - that's not usual for mainland China, but more for Taiwan or HK.

@jagder - love the idea of post apoc shanghai!


anywho, instead of taking a massive image dump here, I'll provide a link to my picasa folder that is primed just for this topic:
https://picasaweb.google.com/PatThom...eat=directlink


another good link for skyscrapers:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=116595

Good luck everyone!

here are some highlights:

[Lyno]

Working on these right now:

[OchreHand]

Pat, you rock. Thanks for the references!

[Incinerated]

some more ref material thought this one was great:

[Pat Thompson]

@lyno:
so far i like the atmosphere/colors of your #1 the most, but i think #2 has more potential to be unique and visually stunning, and looks like it will have more visual interest, since it's got the traditional/grundgy fore, contrasted by the modern bg, and looks like it's following the golden thirds rule. Excited to see what you come up with

@Ochrehand:
Glad to be of service! It's the least I can do for my fellow CA troops since I kinda live in the area of the topic. Good luck!

[neutral.]

It's amazing how Shanghai has changed in just 20 years.

[Dile_]

It's amazing how Shanghai has changed in just 20 years.

that image is the very reason behind this topic and * cough* I guess I'm in if I can manage with time and dl's :/ !

[ismo]

Cool topic. I got so pissed about not finishing the last eow I started working on this right away. Just compositional exploration at this point. This sketch was my favorite so I guess I'm sticking with it.

[hekatoncheir]

Okay, I hope you don't mind me saying a few things about Shanghai, as it's a place I've visited consistently every few years for familial reasons.

Now, a century is a long time, but although Shanghai is aiming for the heights, it may very well be in shambles a century later for whatever speculated reason. But assuming it remains a high end urban city, Shanghai has a looooot of different areas.

The ones in the pictures below, like of the Oriental Pearl Tower, or that one with the lotus (which I.. don't know the English name of), are from the city, Pu Dong, an area of Shanghai. But there are outer areas in Shanghai that aren't as sparkle sparkle in the night, or as caught up in architecture/improvement.

In addition, if let's say, we decided to also incorporate the government's future plans for the country in general, Shanghai would also be a forefront on being hip and green. The China Pavilion (which held the World Expo) recently opened up and showcased an entire floor on saving energy, being green, and the prognosis for the future for cities, besides building more avant-garde Art Deco buildings or pure glass paneled rectangles.

With that note, Shanghai is also insanely green. Like trees growing off of areas around the buildings and everywhere. For example, in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower, there's a circular area with flowers decorating the center as cars whiz around it. Shanghai used to never have trees. It was pretty barren until recently.

So you can see that green is actually an important aspect for Shanghai.

Well, that's my two cents. Hope it helped a few, inspired a few.

[Zirngibism]

I might give this one a go to redeem myself for my awful entry back in the dragon hatchery contest. Go for a more painterly, less "rushed matte-painter" look.


Anyway, looking at Shanghai, my favorite scenario idea is having a runaway global warming situation, where old 21st century buildings are buried partially in water. Some have been converted into vertical farms. A 100ft wall lines the coast blocks seawater from rushing into the city. However, some water is allowed in, the huge pressure of which is used in current canals (most people travel by boat) and power the city's vertical farms.

I plan to include Buddhist/Taoist design motifs (people have rediscovered the value of balance/harmony). Also plan to use lanterns heavily. (I mean, seriously, what's cooler than Chinese lanterns?) Also, instead of heavy building, people reside in stacked tensile structures.

Technology/standard of living has both regressed and advanced, depending on the field. People have limited electricity and personal computing is a luxury, but their materials technology (like smart plastics) is advanced.

So far, my thumbs have led me to a more impoverished scene on the outskirts of the main city.

Will edit this post later to add thumbnails!

[android411]

as my first drawing was not really shanghai and not really chinese I thought I give it another try. I try to mix the sci-fi with slum kind of scenario. There is a big bridge/highway over this ghetto which leads to the modern futuristic city in the distance. A lot of stuff to do still...

[Sergon]

Sounds interesting I'm in.

[Pat Thompson]

@android411:
cool wip so far, very clean and well put together. one crit would be to show more of the canvas to the top, since that portion is the most interesting. Also, the left half of the image is well-made, but doesn't have all that much going on. I know the composition is trying to bring everything in towards the high-center, but i might try to spice that part up, maybe with something futuristic while maintaining the darkness? I really admire how clean your lines and shapes are. Gonna try to emulate that this time.

@Zirngibism:
ARG! I was thinking the same thing - a "Venice meets Shanghai" feel due to global warming, complete with boat markets/towns. Can you post your wips up so I can see what you're up to? - that way we don't end up doing anything too similar - don't want to step on your toes.

@V-klry:
Thanks for your two cents! I personally have only been to the airport in Shanghai, but it looks like a really cool place. I spend most of my time in central corridor of China (from Hainan to Hohhot, but mostly Guangxi & Hunan). Anyways - Shanghai is green? That's cool, had no idea. A lot of China's cities could benefit from that line of development.

@ismo:
as yours is still pretty rough, not much I can really say other than speculation and the composition. I admire your courage at the viewpoint, as there is going to be a plethora of building/car details down there. Composition looks cool so far, - crits: I'd make sure that bottom right flying car stays strong visually, and then maybe something to pull the viewer down from the top-right back towards the center - maybe some kinda of highway or diagonal structure or murky cloud? I'm excited to see what develops with yours!

[ismo]

Update. Thanks for the crit, Pat. I'll keep those things in mind. Kind of drifted into detailing too early again and started to lose the overall compo. I'll try to go back a bit and solidify the composition. Also gotta start looking at some city reference at this point.

[Pat Thompson]

Here's my first sketch. Just the basic blocks & ideas sketched out with the perspective lines. Tried a new method to match the perspective points up with corresponding locations on my golden thirds & such. No permanent color added in as of yet.

As said before, going for the 'Venice of China' effect, so no roads, only canals and sidewalks littered with small, mobile ground transports. Will furnish the bottom floors of several buildings with traditional trappings. Main focus is the building in the center left, inspired by the expo center thingy, & the character 'zhong' as in 'zhong guo' (Chinese for 'China'). Bottom left will be a grungy market. Thinking of keeping the bg somewhat murky and stylized, what with the smog, humidity, and light pollution i don't think you'd be able to see far anyways. trying to keep it simple this time around, as I always try to do too much.

@ismo: yours is looking fantastic already. love the bottom right detail of the couple watching from their roof.

[android411]

thanks for the comment Pat Thompson, it was a good idea to show more of the top, so here is a new update, your´s looks very interesting, it has a great sense of scale already, maybe you could try to use a "s" or "c" for the river to lead the eye towards your focal area, looking forward for the progess!

@ismo - great composition and lighting!

[Sergon]

I really struggle with cityscapes =_=. The thought was along the lines that Shanghai flooded in the future and architecture style had to adjust to that. I also thought about ice age. Icebergs floating between contained environment skyscrapers. What could sustain pressure from an iceberg? I heard they had project for a bridge like that O_o.

[zimfin]

I also considered ice, flooding, destruction....you name it. I think Godzilla paying a visit to Shanghai got in their somehow. lol. In the end I am going for a street scene with robotic and futuristic vehicles. This is my initial sketch. Haven't decided on the background yet since it will be raining hard, I might make it very vague. Good to be back to EOW.

[Eightball_]

thumbs + wip:

[jagder]

working on it

[Pat Thompson]

@eightball:
very dynamic thumbs! bridge one looks interesting, but i don't know how much different it can be than a regular now-a-days city shot. the two on top have lots of potential, very cool looking already.

@zimfin: fun idea, hover-peds are looking cool. the robo-rickshaw looks good, but just an fyi, the old-school rickshaw's man-power has been taken over by the motorcycle, which is probably cheaper than a robot. love the head shape of the guy in the rickshaw seat - very buddha-like. curious to see your take on the architecture.

@jagder: make sure to add a couple of chinese lions in front of that courthouse - very common over here. love the texture on the broken ground. one thought - maybe adding a toppled sky scraper somewhere - or at least something to make it say 'Shanghai/big city' instead of just any old post-apoc Chinese town?