Future by Design

Documentary filmmaker, Emmy Award winning, and Academy Award nominated director William Gazecki has made this homage to Jacque Fresco, self taught architect, engineer, inventor and futurist.

About six months ago I ordered my DVD of the independent film, Future by Design. This weekend I finally got around to watching it.

The film is made from a montage of footage- a contemporary interview with Jacque, Jacque in a 1974 interview with then local Miami talk show host Larry King, a geriatric tour group walking the compound of Jacque’s Venus Project, and a combination of computer rendered and stop action modeled footage of his urban planning proposals, and other architectural concepts.

The renders, drawings and especially the models are of greatest interest. Through these one can see the incredible investment in time and thought Jacque has put into his grand design. The heartfelt craftsmanship of the true believer.

The future is not what it use to be.

The problem with most visions of the future is that they usually tell us more about the era that they came from, than they do about what will follow.

More so than any real or likely future, this story tells us of a future that exists only in the mind of Jacque Fresco. Jacque is a Utopianist. Though he doesn’t see it, his vision of the future is a uniquely mid-century Western future. A utopian vision of a centrally planned, state run society. Though I’m glad not to live in Jacque’s vision for the future, I do find it just as fascinating as it is improbable.

My grumble with most who drink from this futurist fountain is the shortsightedness of envisioning a future that has no past. Let’s discount for a moment that there would be no jobs for architects or designers in Jacque’s future, because he’s already designed it all, there are also no designers or architects in Jacque’s past, because his future vision exists within a metaphorical bubble (and sometimes within a literal one).

Any real future exists as a layer on top of both the recent and distant past, and they must coexist. On a trip to modern day Rome you will find contemporary modern architecture built near post war monuments, beside Rococo structures adjacent to their Baroque forebears, surrounded by Renaissance masterpieces, built among the ruins of Roman temples. The evolution of human civilization is embodied in the architectural edifices that we live among, and build upon, both literally and figuratively. In fact, here in New York and elsewhere in high density urban areas, developers and conservationist have recently found common ground— rather than demolition before new construction, new buildings are being built above and around existing older structures. The trend has become so fashionable in New York, that this new form of reuse is sometime employed as an aesthetic unto itself, even when conservation doesn’t call for it.

Jacque Fresco, eccentric enough to be endearing, has made a living out of doing his own thing and pursuing his passions. Anyone who has so uncompromisingly followed their own vision should be respected, admired and even celebrated. The movie might not convince you of Jacque’s vision of the future, and to Gazecki’s credit I don’t think that was the movie’s intention, but it does let you step inside the mind of Fresco, and see one possible world through his mind’s eye. Until somebody builds a Venus Project based metaverse, this film will be the closest we’ll ever get to seeing the world of Jacque’s vision. It is a film worth watching, and William Gazecki should be thanked for documenting the life and ideas of this unique individual.

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR:

Hi Chris-

I just wanted to compliment and thank you for your thoughtful commentary on “Future by Design”.

You’re one of the very few people who “got it right” as to how and why the film was made, and what value it is meant to impart.

We’re having a pretty good time getting it out there- kids seem to appreciate it the most. I had one schoolteacher tell me it was “the first positive outlook on the future some of these kids have ever had”, which was nice to hear. No, Jacque’s vision of the world as he would like it to be is not likely to occur- but at least he tried, and in the process came up with some useful ideas. He’s learned a lot, too- mostly about human behavior, and how much it can change.

Thanks again,
William Gazecki