New Babylon: A World Wide City for the Future

This is a branding project for a made-up organization that promotes the lifestyle of Constant Nieuwenhuys’ Situationist Utopia: New Babylon. Using logo design, videos, animations and website design, this project explores the concept of New Babylon in a contemporary context.

Brand Identity, Multimedia, 2012

Carrie Sijia Wang

Video Score: Thom Chiu

Brand Video: A World Wide City for the Future

New Babylon is a Utopian city envisioned in 1959-1974 by Dutch artist Constant Nieuwenhuys. The city is designed to be an elevated structure about 60 feet above the ground; it is made up of sectors that are connected throughout the world. The city is never realized but has greatly influenced architecture of our day.

 

The brand video draws comparisons between the world today and Constant’s Utopia, starting with urban landscape, then zooming in on architectural design and interior layout.

Logo Design & Animation

The logo represents both the city’s visionary architecture and the dynamic lifestyle that it can potentially generate.

 

The animation above unveils the process behind the logo design, which is much like the process of how a grid-based urban area can be deconstructed and reconstructed into a New Babylonian layout.

Postcard, Bus Tour, Website and More

The organization promotes New Babylonian lifestyle in various ways, from handing out postcards to arranging bus tours to look at architectures in your city influenced by New Babylon. Its website connects Constant’s vision from the 1960s to our world today, providing information about how you can experience your own city in a New Babylonian way, by going on a dérive and drawing your own Situationist map.