Futuristic Billboards to Transform L.A into Blade Runner Dystopia

By Queuebot in Advertising, Architecture, Travel on Jan 26, 2009 at 9:53 pm

The retro-fitted futuristic world of the film Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford may not be as far away as one might think. Director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic dealt with such classic questions of “what does it mean to be human” while depicting the city of Los Angeles in the year 2019 as a smoggy dystopian future, a cultural melting pot brimming with skyscrapers, flying cars and inescapable corporate advertisements. Almost 30 years later the film is hailed as an overlooked masterpiece and has inspired multitudes of designers, engineers and artists.

Now you can also add “Real Estate Developer” to that list. Sonny Astani, a Los Angeles real estate mogul, is hoping to make one part of the film’s dystopian future a reality with 14-story animated billboards.

The plan is currently undergoing environmental review and pending approval by city officials. Officials are wary of anything billboard-related at the moment as downtown L.A already has its fair share of distracting lights and signs that have drawn complaints from area neighborhoods.



Link

From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by whitespace.


Email This Post
Tweet This Post 
Share This Post on Facebook

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


Neat stuff from the NeatoShop:


  1. dan.rosol
    Jan 26th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

    read book ‘do androids dream of electric sheep’ by philip k dick if you liked bladerunner, its the book the movies based on

  2. Johnny Cat
    Jan 26th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

    But the billboards in BR were on airships traveling through the city, bringing the ad to the sedentary populace.

  3. Wes
    Jan 26th, 2009 at 11:20 pm

    When did we start leaving the final period out of abbreviations? I’ve noticed this more and more lately.

    Incorrect: L.A
    Correct: L.A.

  4. shecky
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 12:25 am

    But the billboards in BR were on airships traveling through the city

    L.A. has those, too. I saw one just a few nights ago advertising some Las Vegas casino. Flew right over my house.

    I think all this stuff is pretty cool, myself.

  5. uptonty
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 9:07 am

    OMG why didn’t they think of massive animated billboards before….oh wait they did it’s called NYC Times Square

  6. MadMolecule
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    Since when is Blade Runner an “overlooked masterpiece”? I think it’s generally accepted as a masterpiece, but maybe that’s among my friends.

    Also, they’ve already got at least one of those big billboards in Tokyo; it was shown in a scene in “Lost in Translation.”

  7. Otto
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    How soon until some hacker uses it for nefarious deeds?

  8. wardkebot
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    @Otto

    Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

  9. Dan Smith
    Jan 27th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    yeah, japan and nyc are already up on this.

    not quite as large though.

    the billboards wouldn’t make L.A. a dystopia though, they would simply draw deserved comparisons.

  10. Tweeker
    Jan 28th, 2009 at 4:08 am

    Drivers just dont have quite enough distractions for L.A. to be considered a proper distopia yet.

  11. Piet Bels
    Jan 26th, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    Blade Runner is an absolute masterpiece, and has without any doubt a genial touch. I don’t think you have to be a melancholic to see that clear, it might help though. BR is a philosophical statement about whom we are, about life and death. It does indeed not give any answers as prognose our future, but it surely defines our humanity as we have known it untill now.
    But above all, it’s an esthaetic, no not anaesthetic, masterpiece in cinema, like a Rembrandt to painting, a soundscape unheard before, with all the elements of pure sensuality, as in dreams or sometimes nightmares.
    Watching the movie is a dream, an evasion, and makes us accept better what we are : temporary humans…
    Brilliant !

  12. Johnny Cat
    Jan 26th, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    Right on, Piet Bels… agreed 100%


Keep track of the comments with Comment RSS

Don't Miss: New Stuff | Bestsellers | The Cute Store
                   Funny T-Shirts

Need a gift? Get unforgettable gifts for:
Geeks | Pranksters | Kids | Hipsters | Shutterbugs

Lijit Search

Old school? Bookmark us! RSS Feed Twitter Facebook Page