Hypermodern spaces: cinematic dystopia and the visualization of hypermodernity in Blade Runner 2049

This paper examines hypermodern spaces through Gilles Lipovetsky’s framework, analyzing Blade Runner 2049 as a dystopian hypermodernity representation. Hypermodernity—characterized by excess, hyperconsumption, and temporal paradoxes—creates fluid, accelerated, individualized environments that paradoxically undermine collaborative design processes and community trust-building while promising enhanced connectivity. Using Lipovetsky’s paradoxical individualism, the study shows hypermodern spaces satisfy contradictory desires for community/isolation and authenticity/spectacle. Comparative analysis of the 1982 and 2017 Blade Runner films demonstrates the acceleration of hypermodern spatial conditions. Key characteristics include experiential design, functional flexibility, technological integration, and aesthetic eclecticism. The film’s fragmented cityscapes demonstrate dystopian cinema’s warning against emerging hypermodern spatial conditions while systematically fragmenting the social cohesion necessary for collaborative architecture and community trust.