8th March 2010
3Figs has produced a film for the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) which will be used to promote energy efficiency in buildings.

The film tells the history and the potential future of a small part of the London Borough of Hackney, (Lower Clapton), with a particular focus on the historic and future energy use of the built environment.

The 8 minute film, entitled "The Built Environment: Our Past, Our Future", uses 4D cartographic techniques (3D maps with elements changing over time) and CGI and spans from 2000BC to a possible future scenario set in the year 2020. Data from a wide range of sources was incorporated, including NASA, BlueSky aerial photography, street level photography, historical maps and photography dating from the 1890's.

The film was directed by Richard Murphy and developed in collaboration with PHD.

For 3Figs, this was a particularly challenging piece of work from the start, both due to the tight deadline and the range of spatial and historical scales that had to be seamlessly incorporated. In addition it was a complex story to tell in a very short space of time, whilst making a film that hopefully will appeal to as wide an audience as is possible. The issue of global warming and energy consumption is hugely complex, and is often very difficult to get people to relate to on a scale that they can comprehend. It is rarely explained in the context of a typical residential neighbourhood, or with an explanation of the history that sets our current situation in context. The aim is that this new approach will help more people to understand what has happened to date, and how they could help to shape the future. The film has been of particular interest to 3Figs because a lot of the issues that UK-GBC address, like reducing energy consumption, are ones that we too are trying to challenge as part of our company ethos.

You can access the film on the UK-GBC website here

		19th Century
		Growth of the SE
		Thermal imagery