There’s nothing new in imagining what the future might look like, and science fiction is far from the only artform with a monopoly on doing so. However, as the future becomes the present, so does our imagined future become part of our past. And here are a few illustrations of that process…
Houses of the future
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
The House of the Future by Peter and Alison Smithson, Daily Mail Ideal Home Show 1956
Frigidaire Kitchen of the Future, 1956 Motorama
Clothes of the future
Pierre Cardin with his models, late 1960s
Advert for a tuxedo rental company – wtf?
Bubble hats for Braniff International Airways, Emilio Pucci
Cabin crew uniforms for Braniff International Airways, Emilio Pucci
There’s an unfortunate tendency for these retro-futurist posts to go all a bit boys-toys-ish. That’s understandable, given that Cold War supersonic fighters and bombers did, well, did look pretty cool. Likewise the cars. And, sadly, hunt for contemporary fashion photos and it’s almost impossible to find ones depicting men in space age outfits – it’s all women. Even the sales photographs for the giant computer brains generally have women posed as if operating them.
Anyway, this time around there are… planes, cars, some house interiors, and some fashion. A few of the fashion photos show designs by Pierre Cardin, who probably deserves a post all his own…
Aircraft
Avrocar
A proposal to turn the Concord into a supersonic bomber
Saunders Roe Sr.53 rocket- and jet-propelled interceptor
How the crew entered the Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder supersonic bomber
The observer's cockpit in the De Havilland Sea Vixen
The cockpit of the Boeing Stratocruiser airliner
A proposed supersonic bomber based on the Bell X-3, from the cover-art to Secret Aerospace Projects of the US Navy by Jared A Zichek
Cars and Trucks
The cars of tomorrow
Cadillac Cyclone concept car from 1959
General Motors Firebird III from 1959
Chevrolet concept truck by Luigi Colani
Dodge Deora from 1967
And this is how you got into the Dodge Deora
Fashion
Space age hats. I think.
Pierre Cardin fashion
More Pierre Cardin fashion
And yet more Pierre Cardin fashion
Emilio Pucci-designed bubble hats for Braniff Airlines
Interiors and Appliances
A space age computer
The tap is a real retro design but the ad is, I think, a spoof