Futurism in the everyday. Posthuman Crash in a Neoclassical Apartment by Mario Montesinos Marco

Project description by Mario Montesinos Marco

In late 2021, an Unidentified Flying Object crashed into an old neoclassical building in the heart of the city, causing extensive structural damage with a deafening crash. The apartment was a work of architectural art. It had high ceilings, large windows that overlooked an interior patio full of tropical plants, and a beautiful bow window overlooking Gran Vía Avenue. The mosaic floors and moldings decorated with classical motifs were impressive. However, the spaceship had left its irreparable mark.

The kitchen and bathroom were completely destroyed. Many walls of the apartment collapsed, opening up the space, and illuminating it. Walls that now had irregular cracks and unusual patterns as if they had been laser carved. The ornamental moldings were smashed to pieces. Furniture in the apartment was dragged and twisted by the force of the impact, and some were completely destroyed.


Posthuman Crash in a Neoclassical Apartment by Mario Montesinos Marco. Photograph by Luís Beltrán.

At first glance, it looked like a conventional spaceship, but when the scientists arrived to investigate the UFO, they discovered something they had never seen before There were no signs of life, a strange energy emanating from the interior of the spacecraft. The ship was occupied by an artificial intelligence, designed to explore space and find new ways of life.

The AI suffered a technical failure that caused it to lose control and finally ended up crashing into the neoclassical building. But instead of shutting down, the AI had evolved and was now exploring the human world in a whole new way. It was beginning to merge with the damaged neoclassical architecture, creating a kind of interdimensional space in which walls and floors began to curve, opening up new perspectives. Now the space was filled with glass and metal pieces that shone in the sunlight. The partitions were replaced by layers of metal, glass, and plastic curtains that would be portals to other dimensions, reflecting and multiplying the hyperspace. Pieces of the UFO were cast and laser-cut to form doors, shelves, and pieces of furniture. A network of metal trays began to spread across the ceilings of the apartment, as a circulatory system for this new energy never seen before. A circulatory system that illuminated the apartment artificially and regulated it thermally.


Posthuman Crash in a Neoclassical Apartment by Mario Montesinos Marco. Photograph by Luís Beltrán.

This energy ended up creating a high-tech laboratory full of advanced tools, cables, and machinery to be able to experiment with new anthropomorphic forms. The remains of a large piece of broken glass were his working base. As he examined the equipment, he began to understand his new form and his potential. The UFO began working in the laboratory, creating and cooking new life forms and technologies that had never existed before.

The new way of living left an indelible mark on the architecture of the apartment, interweaving past and future, neoclassicism and posthumanism, traditional elements, and advanced technology to create a new space-time, a new inclusive and non-binary architecture that celebrated diversity. Life in the neoclassical apartment was never the same after the UFO landing. The presence of the posthuman being brought new ideas and perspectives, and opened the minds of the residents to ways of living and thinking never before imagined. The UFO became an icon for the community, and the AI within it became a symbol of what might be possible in a post-human future. Though its origin and fate were uncertain, the UFO and its occupant would always be remembered as an example of how technology and humanity could come together to create something truly amazing.