Futurism

Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman unveiled a prototype bicycle design he believes is 20 years ahead of its time. It includes an onboard computer, spokeless wheels and solar power.

At the 1939 World's Fair, one of the most popular exhibits was the Futurama, sponsored by GM and portraying a dazzling society of skyscrapers and freeways. Today, a group of architects, engineers and planners are creating a new Futurama.

The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture and Design in Glasgow stirred up a series of debates to talk about the future of Scotland's built environment.

An new exhibition in Toronto called Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture includes a concept for Pig City, a high-rise swine farm.

Futurist Dr. Ray Kurzweil is part of a team of big thinkers on the faculty of Singularity University, a joint project of Google and NASA with a mission to solve "humanity's grand challenges."

Want to get kids off the street? Build playgrounds on top of skyscrapers, like in this retro-future design from 1957's Mechanix Illustrated.

A Russian analyst is predicting the 2010 dissolution of the United States into at least six republics, each under the influence of foreign nations.

Ecotopia is a '70s cult novel that imagines a future where the Pacific Northwest secedes from the U.S. to become an environmentally-conscious utopian state. The NY Times reflects on the influence of this under-recognized novel.

P.J. O'Rourke tours Walt Disney's 'Innoventions Dream Home', and concludes that we've descended into a deeply unimaginative period in history. The dream home is the successor to 1957's House of the Future, built entirely of plastic.

In expectation of a new exhibit opening at the Whitney Museum of Art, the New Yorker reflects on the curious life and career of Buckminster Fuller.