This project is a commission work for Bloomberg Businessweek. I was contacted by art director Saxton Randolph about two weeks before the deadline. The project moved from editorial spot illustrations to the cover art of The Cities Issue. I finished the project with two illustrations and two motion gifs.
The most audacious project, though, and the one entrepreneur MarcLore says will be his legacy, is his plan to create a 5-million person city from scratch. Lore imagines the requisite autonomous cars, smart sky scrapers, and package-delivering drones. But the technology itself isn’t the point. Lore plans to establish a foundation that will acquire an enormous amount of land -- 30,000 acres to start, about the sizeof San Francisco, and perhaps six times that much over time -- and build the infrastructure and the initial downtown area. It would then hold the land in a trust in perpetuity, drawing income from leases and through other financial instruments as its value increases. It would then reinvest those profits into social services for the city’s residents,creating a far fairer society than the one that exists in the UnitedStates today
This sketch section explores the conceptual development of a city shaped by technological control, social systems, and futuristic design. Initially inspired by the idea of a "Tech Titan" and his creation of a city, the early sketches convey a sense of power and control through the image of a hand, while also depicting the scale and density of urban life. The second set focuses on the futuristic aspects of the city and how the environment influences social systems, illustrated through dynamic architectural forms surrounded by light and movement. Another set examines the structural systems of a city, using rectangular divisions to represent various societal sectors, envisioned with mirrored, reflective surfaces. In response to feedback from the art director and editors regarding the need for greater representation and diversity, additional sketches were developed that incorporated more inclusive visual elements. Ultimately, two sketches—emphasizing both social diversity and conceptual depth—were selected for further development.