Climate change. Who hasn’t seen the images of lonely polar bears balancing on the melting ice blocks? The warning signs have been blinking red for years: it’s time to get rid of oil, coal, and gas. No more fossil fuels.

And then what?

Emptiness. Most of us have no clue what a post-fossil future looks like. We simply can’t imagine it. How will people experience their cities without the exhaust of fumes? What sounds will your ear pick up when you walk home through that silent city, what will the streets smell like when the last combustion engine is switched off? What begins where oil ends? To answer this question, Urban Futures Studio reached out to makers, artists, and architects to imagine the city of the future – the Post-Fossil City Contest. With no less than 250 submissions from all over the globe, a final selection of 10 is presented in this travelling expo design by Studio KNOL. A formation of round oil tanks ‘break open’, leaking out imagination…

The future beats now.

(text by Urban Future Studio)

The expo will be travelling throughout The Netherlands in 2017, starting at Stadskantoor Utrecht.

Initiative + Concept: Urban Futures Studio, Utrecht University
Curator: Non-fiction + Urban Futures Studio
Coordination + project lead: Richard Pelgrim + Peter Pelzer
Supported by: Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment + Municipality of Utrecht
Production: Fons Venner
Special thanks to: Aref Dashti