Special preprint from “Future Images 2045”: In 2045, UBS will be away from Paradeplatz

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Futuristic trams, a rooftop cafe in the pavilion and lots of green: this is what Zurich’s Paradeplatz will look like 22 years from now – at least in the eyes of a collective of German writers: Stella Schaller (32) and Lino Zeddies (32) from Berlin think-tank Reinventing Society, political scientist Ute Scheub (67) and designer Sebastian Vollmar (36) will publish their book “Future Images 2045” next week.

In it, two women and two men visualize 16 German-speaking cities, from Berlin to Zurich, the only Swiss location in the book. They present the state of the leading streets or squares in recent years on colored double pages and compare these pictures with the color 2045 utopia. For Zurich, the Paradeplatz is a visual example.

“The Paradeplatz is a symbolic center of the Swiss financial system, of course of global importance,” says co-author Zeddies, who has published a similar book to “Utopia 2048.” “Moreover, the currently dominant gray color of the square offers a lot of potential for transformation.” Changes visible everywhere: trees grow in the square, and bushes and flowers hang on the facades.

Images of the future should provide direction and motivate

The idea of ​​“Images of the Future 2045” emerged as part of the climate and sustainability debate in Germany in 2021. “Narratives of dark future expectations, abandonment, and cost dominate,” says Zeddies. “But where are the positive future narratives that provide orientation and motivation?” This book, which includes pictures of developing cities, aims to make a contribution to this.

Notable in the Paradeplatz visualization: “Bank for the Common Good” will be written in 2045 where the UBS logo is embroidered today. Zeddies argues that they do not guess, they produce utopias. “So we want to ask what it would be like if UBS were committed to the public good,” Zeddies says. “Do most people find it desirable?” A book that should provide food for discussion.

“Zeddies wants to initiate dialogue and exchange of ideas so the community can talk about how we want the future to be,” he continues. Because the future is not something that just happens, it is shaped by us. “And big changes are coming,” says Zeddies as a result. “By design or disaster.”

Stella Schaller/Lino Zeddies/Ute Scheub/Sebastian Vollmar, “Images of the future 2045 – a travel into the world of the Tomorrow”, Oekom; The book will be available in stores on July 11

Source :Blick