Back To The Soviet Future
- By Amos Chapple
A popular engineering magazine in the U.S.S.R. imagined a future of flying cars, underwater trucks, and (apparently) Apple watches. Here are 18 of Technika Molodezhi’s wildest covers.
1
A towering hydrofoil cutting across the high seas. The text reads, “On wings through the ocean.”
2
A vertical-takeoff and -landing aircraft, sketched 17 years before the similar Bell Boeing Osprey took flight in the United States.
3
Moscow as sketched by a Soviet soothsayer in 1952. Construction of the building on right began in the 1930s after an iconic church was blasted into rubble to make way. But the planned 415-meter “Palace of the Soviets” was scrapped when World War II broke out. The church has since been rebuilt on the site.
4
A jet-powered grappling hook for next-level alpinists. Technika Molodezhi (Youth Technics) magazine first appeared in 1933 and is still published today.
5
A spidery mountain buggy alongside text that reads, "Walking on walls." The magazine's stated purpose is to introduce youngsters to the "world of scientific and technical creativity, innovative thinking, and daring."
6
A star sailor adjusting his sails. During the magazine's Soviet heyday, however, not all daring was celebrated. In 1984, Technika Molodezhi's longtime editor was fired after a story by British author Arthur C. Clarke was published in the magazine. The story featured characters named after Soviet dissidents.
7
An amphibious ship grinding through the Arctic on caterpillar tracks. A similar design would eventually become reality in 2017, though the Soviet flag might look a touch out of place on the sleek French design.
8
Slurping up sealife in the heady days before depleted fish stocks became a concern.
9
Personal helicopters with some questionable engineering attributes hover above a propaganda march in Moscow.
10
The eerie synth soundtrack of Blade Runner (1982) can almost be heard in this 1973 vision of a future city.
11
A rocket blasts from its Moscow launch ramp.
12
Seafloor-wheel drive: an underwater truck having some technical problems, surprisingly.
13
An engineering fruit salad on an intersection of the future.
14
An orbiting space station illustrated on a 1950 cover, 48 years before the launch of the International Space Station (ISS).
15
A smart watch resembling something straight from Jony Ive’s playbook.
16
Unloading time is cut to a few roaring, dust-clouded seconds in this vision of a ship delivering coal.
17
Parachutists crammed into a chilly-looking craft as the world slid toward war in 1937.
18
A space-aged Adam and Eve making small steps on another planet. The text reads, "...Our traces will remain..."
