A main characteristic of cyberpunk is the featuring of high technology and scientific achievements. It is fair to call the hyperloop one of the most recent high-tech scientific achievements, thus making it a natural element to incorporate with cyberpunk. Projects such as Hyperloop One’s Devloop Test Center have proven to the world that elements of cyberpunk have already begun to infiltrate the Anthropocene. How to integrate a hyperloop test track with a science center is a relevant design question. Our project, titled Genesis, tackles this question in a playful manner, infusing the campus with cyberpunk geometry, bright colors, and parallels to bustling cities of the present. The hyperloop is made to run through the center of the campus, as structures fill in around it in a delicate manner. The hyperloop reacts to the buildings, pausing briefly to rest on some structures while zooming a safe distance above people’s heads. This enhances the city feel, just as the L train runs through Chicago overhead, adding to the well loved noise and crowded feeling of Chicago. In addition, the campus was modeled as a linear path, to give it a city street look.

The cyberpunk genre heavily influenced our choice of geometry and materiality. Genesis features top heavy towers that are often seen in sci-fi dystopias, for example, Cloud City in Star Wars. The structures feature mechanical connections, each one branching away from the other, like artificial arms. These arms extend to the landscape, as seen in top view, where circular landscaping elements follow the paths of the arms. The materiality changes from the exterior to the interior of the structures. Cyberpunk is often seen as grungy and dark. Keeping this in mind, the exterior of the campus is outfitted in dark, weathered metal with gold accents that compliment desert sand. Although the symbolism and power of technology is present in the aesthetics of the campus, this is juxtaposed with colorful soft-scapes that disrupt the seriousness and create a non-threatening environment for tourists and school visits. This was done to say technology and advancement is nothing to fear. The coloring tactics were inspired by the glitch pop coloring created by the video game designers of Valorant. Their glitch pop sought to infuse the dystopian weaponry of the video game with brighter colors to give it more personality. This was also the goal for Genesis. The campus profited from infusions of the fun and punk aesthetic to avoid the excessively gloomy cyberpunk representation that is commonly seen in the genre.

An excessive amount of technology, like the hyperloop and mechanical nature of the structures, has the potential to alienate users of the space. To combat this, the campus was infused with elements more recognizable to the people of 2020. An emphasis was placed on exercise, as the campus was equipped with an elevated outdoor track, several swimming pools, and an indoor gym for staff recreation. The bright bubbles making up the landscape are made of colorful rubber used for outdoor playground flooring. Dotted around Genesis are windmills that provide the campus with its own energy as the climate of our site lends itself to wind turbine energy. The softcape breathes life back into the harsh mechanical structures, adding a sense of familiarity that comes with gardens and nature. All these aspects help the campus integrate into current society. Genesis is meant to be appreciated by today’s culture and function according to the programmatic needs of the project. Hopefully the people of 2020 are up to the challenge of accepting scientific progress and are open to the possibilities of imagination.

The hyperloop is set to change the reality of transportation, and even the reality of cities. The people of Hyperloop One believe that the Hyperloop will “make the world a village again”. Genesis is set to accomplish this. It is beginning a new precedent of villages to soon be connected to each other. The first of its kind, as its name suggests ~ Genesis.