past futures photo gallery

Past Visions of the Future
NextWorld Main »

Past Futures Photo Gallery

Moses King's Cosmopolis of the Future (1911)
Just before the beginning of the 20th century, King began publishing a series of guidebooks that chronicled the streets and evolving skylines of Manhattan and Brooklyn. King’s books were lavishly illustrated with drawings and photographs of iconic New York skyscrapers. Over time, King and his artists also began to add fanciful scenes depicting their vision of a future New York with features that were even bigger and more outlandish. They imagined layers of new structures built atop the existing city, almost in the fashion of ancient Troy. Future inhabitants would spend their days high above street level, traveling from skyscraper to skyscraper on elevated railways and walkways. Gigantic dirigibles and tri-wing airliners would connect them with the outside world.

NEXT PAGE >>