Review of Lu-man-Riches work

What is a city? This question rang as fundamental in our minds as we observed Lu-man-Riches work, Ultimate City. The interesting textures, small blotches of colour and unique use of quadrilateral collage immediately grabbed our attention, but something that we found infinitely more interesting was the way that the three pieces looked at the idea of a city, how it was concrete, cramped and artificial, and how this had a very dystopian feel to it.

Their first piece, a section, focused on materials, and the gap between the past and the present. Influenced by J.G. Ballard’s novella of the same title as their overall work, this section alluded back to the story with the presence of cars, sitting on front of the building as if abandoned. The building also appeared abandoned, and there was no human presence in this image, as if there was a lack of life in this dystopian world. However, it was the textures of this image really caught our eyes. Materials, Eman Al-azi, one of the architects from Lu-man-Riches informed me, show emotion. Different materials were expressed on the façade of the building, bringing out the contrast between the ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ themes that represent the dissimilarity between the two environmental aspects of cityscapes and suburban areas. The imperfection on the façade highlighted the fact that a utopian environment can only be appreciated once we look through what we would consider to be imperfect. The use and combination of wood and concrete makes a connection between the two atmospheric changes: utopian and dystopian feeling. The window displays appear very utopian, or at least comfortable. However, these happy looking interiors were blurred, symbolising that they were something of the past.

In contrast, the final two pieces of Lu-man-Riches work seemed far from happy. At first glance, these two images looked rather gloomy with their high contrast on grey scale. The black and white photos connote the past and despair, where everything has come to a halt and shut itself down forever. However, these images have a secret. Throughout them there are small areas that remain coloured: poignant reminders that there is in fact something else to this city; it is not just a desolate, empty space. These colourful parts also hint back to the Garden City from Ballard’s novella, which is an ideal society where people live in a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The blue sky is associated with hope and peace, and the trees reflect nature and sustainability. These colours emphasize the idea that there are utopian elements within the dystopian environment. They remind us of the hope for a utopia. This idea is not obvious at first glance, so it helps to hold the attention of the viewer, who must then pose more questions on the very nature of a dystopia and utopia. Can there ever be just a dystopia or a utopia? Does one have parts of the other?

Furthermore, the iuse of collage in the form of squares as tiny components creating clouds added a detailed element to the images that made them more intriguing. These gave the space an overall more playful and friendly feel, which might make visitors more inclined to visit a place that seems so dreary and cheerless at first glance. This attention to detail will come in very useful for Lu-man-Riches future work and they are already researching obscure materials for two hotels, which they have been commissioned to design in the city and on an island site. This hotel project will refer back to this work, Ultimate City, but will focus more on the difference between an urban and a suburban area, with cities being industrialised and artificial, and suburbs being green and organic. Lu-man-Riches architects, Eman Al-azi, Alicia Lin and Richard Fiftia, expect to have completed the designs by November this year. If their designs have nearly the thought that went into Ultimate City, they will undoubtedly be very good. We await them with anticipation.