A technology fantasy: Guangyu Li's city of the future

To create an artwork that represented our technology sector reaching new heights, we called upon friend of the Idealog family Guangyu Li, a talented 3D motion graphic artist and 24-year-old who is about to graduate from Media Design School in Auckland. Armed with a list of some of New Zealand’s top tech companies, Li was told to interpret what a technology-driven economy could look like in a future Auckland cityscape. He says he drew inspiration for his piece from sci-fi films like Interstellar and Blade Runner, but ultimately came up with his own take on the futuristic city genre. He also went on a creative journey to figure out the centre piece of the image: the Sky Tower. While the initial draft showed anti-gravity ‘rocks’ floating around the top of the Sky Tower, Li and Idealog’s Wade Wu decided an anti-gravity power structure at the base of the building was a more realistic possibility, in terms of inventions. “The design outcome came from my intuition and through action-based design of constructing and mixing different architecture,” Li says. “The period of the time I grew up in also plays an undeniable role, such as the look and feel of video games from the 80s and 90s. I had to find a fine line between my influences and the recognisable identity of the Sky Tower in its current shape.”