Space Age Bradford

After a couple of days of dwelling Bradford's past, it's time to go back to the future.

In this instance the future is, as this is Bradford, a retro-future, although not quite retro enough to be fashionably steampunk. This future is that first realised in Fritz Lang's 1927 Metropolis, before achieving more popular recognition in Buster Crabbe era Flash Gordon.

"In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners..." is how IMDb sets the scene for Metropolis, which gives me plenty of scope to extend the analogy into the Bradford of today, but I'll resist for the moment.

This is of course the latest instalment in the ongoing saga of the new Bradford City Park, although none of us can quite recall seeing these space age pylons in the artist's impressions. Until the park is completed, I'll reserve judgement as to the final effect, but as one friend put it, "I'm sure they'll look lovely when they're lit up. They are going to be lit up aren't they?"

Postscript - I've just been directed to a website which explains the installation: "Artist Wolfgang Buttress said: "The lighting columns will serve a practical purpose within City Park but hopefully do so in a quiet and elegant way. "I've tried to reflect the discreet nature of reeds and rushes sitting at the water's edge in the design and choice of materials." And yes, they have lasers attached. You can read more
here.