Some are super-tall towers equipped with unspoiled, open-air, space forests. And some are capsules nestled within the earth, safe from airborne toxins and solar radiation. There’s a strong post-apocalyptic feeling running through them. A few go as far as to depict modern cities that have been ruined by natural disaster and disease. Here people squat within crumbling buildings and forage for food, while rising tides, native plants, and feral animals take over the streets.
     What’s most remarkable about these utopias is how vividly they’re imagined. Because of computer generated imagery, the fictional architecture in comics, movies and video games has become more imaginative and forward-looking than real-world architecture. Utopian architecture, like these other forms, is a fantasy architecture, unrestrained by physical and financial realities. Utopian designers can imagine, literally, anything, and they’re imagining future worlds that are isolated, fractured and depleted. It doesn’t bode well for what lies ahead.