Imagining Future Cities: Global and Minnesota Visions, Past & Present

The concept of future cities as a means to create more habitable, just, and sustainable places for people to live, work, and play has captivated visionaries across place and time. Organized by a team of University of Minnesota architecture and design faculty and students, this curated collection of illustrations, diagrams, and architectural drawings features groundbreaking case studies that reimagine the form and function of future cities.  Through a perspective that bridges global examples with pivotal projects from Minnesota, Imagining Future Cities fosters dynamic dialogue between international trends and local ingenuity.

Architects, urban planners, artists, civic leaders, and other thinkers have envisioned future human habitats that adapt and shape how humans live on, draw from, and care for the resources of our shared planet. Cities (one of the most complex inventions of human civilization) are constantly evolving and transforming; some changes emerge organically, while others stem from deliberate human intervention through imaginative innovation. 

The installations in Imagining Future Cities invite critical reflection on how contemporary urban design can encourage a more sustainable, equitable, and efficient future, while also embracing beauty as an essential dimension of city-making. 

Organized thematically, the exhibition presents three distinct approaches to designing future cities. The “Theoretical Approach” explores three utopian visions from the early twentieth century that have influenced the discourse on the city of tomorrow. The “Experimental Approach” highlights five key visions from World’s Fairs that tested, challenged, and ultimately redefined urban norms. The “Perceptual Approach” examines how people experience and interact with evolving urban and natural environments, leading to a contemporary discussion specifically centered on the future city that has a river as its urban spine. The exhibition culminates in an exploration of the Twin Cities as a “River City,” confronting the challenge of balancing urban growth, environmental stewardship, and cultural heritage. 

As Minnesota stands at the crossroads of past aspirations and future possibilities, Imagining Future Cities serves as both a reflection and a call to action—urging us to shape the cities of tomorrow today.

This exhibition is curated by ​​McKnight Land-Grant Professor, University of Minnesota, urban designer, and founding partner of vari architects, Dingliang Yang. The exhibition team: Thomas Fisher and Jennifer Yoos, U of M faculty; Michael Keller, research fellow; Beau Gaulin, Silver Muzhe Li, Lewis Bayan Liu, Julian Whitman, Timothy Follett-Dion, Avery Blas, Nick Scott, Isaac Bernal, Julia Brand, Ruth Zaw, Jillian Humphreys, Ryland Sample, Duncan Seltzer, Mia Miao, Julie Zhu, Sydney Kramer, and Adam Gardner, research assistants.