Architecture and Sci-Fi

I ran across an article at The Architects' Journal web page on the architecture of Star Wars. Good stuff. Who wouldn't want to live in the Ewok Village!? I think the Sci-Fi world is a great place to look for futuristic design ideas and inspiration. I've always been intrigued and humored by the past's vision of the future. (Do you remember that silly "war room/president's office" in the original Dead Zone?) One of my favorite futurist illustrators is Arthur Radebaugh, a commercial artist and cartoonist from the mid-1900s. His stuff can be hard to find, but believe me, he had a great futurist mind and was a talented artist. His "Closer Than We Think" was comic strip Sci-Fi. I found this link on another blog, Paleo-Future, that shows a few frames from "Closer Than We Think." Take a look at the bottom one, showing pre-fab, gravity-free homes. Looks like a design that could easily be made from concrete! And if Radebaugh would have imagined the benefits of insulated concrete homes, he wouldn't have had to dream up the anti-gravity device that helps homeowners beat the heat. Save money on energy costs AND stay cool? That's the Sci-Fi vision of concrete housing that is slowly but surely becoming a reality.