The main image is a sketch of Archigram's "Walking Cities" in front of the New York City skyline from the Walking City Project. It shows multiple walking cities attached to one another while parked in Long Island Sound. The picture also shows a boat in the sound moving between the connected cities. However, there are no people shown in any part of this image. The point of view places the viewer above ground level looking directly at the skyline. There is no color in the image except for the brown shading of the walking city closest to the viewer and farthest to the left of the image. This use of color draws the viewers eye first to this walking city. All of the walking cities are depicted to be in front of the New York City skyline as it was when the drawing was made in 1964. The organization, color, and content of this image show Archigram's belief that while the structures and society of today will still exist in the future, they will be vastly overshadowed and made unimportant by the new technology of the age.
This image shows the walking city farthest to the right in the original image. It is the only part of the original image that has any distinct color. and the viewer is only shown part of the city. Although the color is brown and dull, it still draws the attention of the viewer. It is also the walking city that is closest to the viewer when the picture is looked at. The color of the walking city and its proximity to the front of the drawing suggest that it is the main point that the viewers eye should be drawn to. By drawing attention towards the walking city, attention is taken away from the existing city's skyline in the back of the image and move it towards the new technology in the foreground.
This section of the picture shows a black and white photo of the New York City skyline in the background of the walking cities. The image of the skyline used is that of how the skyline looked when the Walking City Project was created in 1964. The city skyline has no color and is somewhat faded in places. It is seen by the viewer as if looking at the skyline from a far distance away at ground level. Although the walking cities are clearly the emphasized point in the picture, the author still took the time to place the New York City skyline in the background of the piece. The old buildings remaining in the picture also represents the old society remaining in the picture in the future. This effort shows the belief that the parts of the structures and society of today will still exist in the new technological future, even if it will be vastly overshadowed by the emphasis on new technology.
This section of the picture is another walking city in the foreground of the original image. Although there is no color in this section of the image, the New York City skyline is slightly more faded. This walking city is placed so that the buildings of the New York City skyline can be seen over the top of the walking city, and only part of the walking city is shown. Although neither structure has color, the walking city is placed in more emphasis because it is placed in the foreground of the image and is what the viewer sees first. The placement of the structures in the image and how the New York city skyline is faded shows how the walking cities take precedence over the structures and therefor the culture of the past.
This image is a image from the Tuning London project. It is an image of Oxford Street in London after it had been redesigned by Archigram in order to bring more livelihood into London. It is from the point of view of a person standing on the street looking down along its length. In this picture, the colors and craziness of the new architecture and technology are clearly the center of attention. Buildings and social symbols remaining from the old street are only left on the sides of the image, out of the viewer's main line of site which is down the center of the picture. They are also the only parts of the image that are left mostly in black and white. Due to their placement in the image and their lack of color compared to the rest of the image, the old buildings and societal pieces are not meant to be the focus of the image. However, the fact that these pieces of architecture and society are left in the picture shows that they will still be relevant in the future, even under the layers of new technology and future changes.
This image is from the Plug-In City Study. It shows plug in office and housing stacks built around an old church and possibly an old government building. The old buildings, like the rest of the image, are drawn in black and white. Although they stand out from the rest of the structures due to difference in design, the two old buildings are clearly not meant to be the center of focus. They are considerably smaller in size and are not in prominent positions in the image. Their existence in the picture also shows the fact that Archigram overall believes that pieces of our structures and society today will still remain in all of their plans for the future, even though they will not be emphasized.