Wall-E, an animated film directed by Andrew Stanton, paints a picture of the future of the human race. A future where Earth had been abused and neglected long enough to require an evacuation. Mass consumerism has caused humanity to overwhelm the earth with their short used and quickly thrown away products. The film begins with the remnants of human society, an arid, lifeless planet that has been left covered in trash. The remaining inhabitant is a trash compacting robot that goes by the name of Wall-E, who’s entire programming is to compact gathered trash into squares, and stack it where it is seen to fit. The result of an uninterrupted stacking has left the creation of towering stacks of garbage that share geometries with the previously recognizable architectural forms known as skyscrapers.
There is no trace of humanity other than their leftover trash, for the humans had escaped Earth in starliners manufactured by the Buy N’ Large Corporation. The starliners are fully automated luxury cruise ships sent to navigate through space, keeping all the humans on them fed and
entertained by an entirely robot staff, other than a human captain. The ships are mainly piloted by an autopilot robot labeled AUTO. These vessels have been fitted with everything a human society could possibly need to remain comfortable, as well as to procreate generations to come. Pools, restaurants, shops, and all else can be found on board. The ship is designed similar to the cruise liners we see today, but with larger facilities as well as massive corridors lit by digital linework in order to guide the automated stewards, janitors, security robots, as well as hovering pods of humans throughout the ship.
The cautionary aspect of this tale is clear when you see the outcome of multiple generations of humans living in luxury. The ships bright lit, lightly colored, and metallic architecture provides a space of leisure and distraction for the humans. In true cyberpunk fashion, the ship showers the passengers with neon signs and advertisements to eat and consume. As by design, everything is provided to the humans at no cost with no effort. Never having to lift a finger has left all human beings physically incapable of function without their hovering chairs and robot assistants. The humans, mainly on decisions of their own, had chosen a life glued to a screen. The movie shows diagrams of the human bone structures overtime, and how their bones had grown smaller and less dense. Scenes of screen-trapped humans hovering in line, only interacting with each other through a user interface is the cyberpunk future of posthumanism that is the inevitable outcome of the hyper-acceleration of technological advancement. The Buy N’ Large Corporation has trapped humanity with the draw of technology and a life of leisure. You would think that you can’t exactly be “trapped” in a life of leisure, but it It is only after an altercation where Wall-E physically knocks a human out of their chair that they are able to realize that they do indeed
exist in a physical world. The humans had become so complacent behind their screens that they had forgotten that there were other people around them. It only takes an instant for them to realize that they have been missing out on reality, because once they are knocked free from their screens the humans begin to push back against their robot assistants. It becomes a revolution of sorts, where the humans realize that they are being kept from their true home of Earth.
Technology and mass-consumerism pushed humanity off of its home planet, leaving a lifeless trash heap in its place. The architecture of leisure caused the mass degradation of the species. Neon signs, screens, and assistant robots left people skill-less and helpless. Wall-E at first glance is a love story between two robots in the future, but looking deeper into the movie it becomes a cautionary tale of humanity's fate if we allow ourselves to get swept away by technological advancement. It serves to show that we must protect our home planet in any way we can, and as an architect that speaks to the use of recycled materials and efficient building strategies. We cannot allow ourselves to fall victim of mass-consumerism with a lack of consideration for our use of materials and resources, the waste of materials and resources.
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