August 29, 2025 - Surjan Super School Weekly Newsletter

SURJAN SUPER SCHOOL WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

August 29, 2025

STORYTIME WITH SURJAN

Title: "DUCT-topia"

In a not-so-distant future, where urban density sparked a rebellion of form, a new architectural species emerged: the duct-tower hybrids—part building, part infrastructure, all imagination.

Perched high on vibrant pedestals of pink, yellow, and citrus green, these surreal constructions defy traditional logic. Their cores are composed of modular metallic cubes—dwelling pods with punched windows—stacked like geometric fruit crates in midair. Yet it’s the massive chrome ducts that snake, loop, and crown these structures that steal the show. Industrial and expressive, they arch skyward like mechanical vines, breathing life into the air around them.

This is a city built from ventilation and vision, where HVAC becomes habitat and form follows play. Each building is a celebration of absurd utility—a ballet between softness and steel. Against candy-colored skies and mountainous backdrops, these machines-for-living become architectural characters: marching, leaning, twisting, and stretching across rooftops.

In another chapter of the same universe, the ducts evolve. They grow smoother, more bulbous—like futuristic plumbing organs with translucent skins. Inside them, the buildings swell with life. Each pink and yellow curve encloses not just air, but lush greenery, suspended gardens, layered apartments, and co-living modules glowing with warmth. Windows frame vignettes of everyday life—cooking, reading, gathering—within these high-altitude cocoons.

Viewed together, these two series form a joyful manifesto: infrastructure can be expressive, absurdity can be structural, and ductwork can become a poetic armature for living in the sky. No longer hidden, the guts of the city are turned outward and upward—draped in chrome, perched atop pedestals, and gleaming with possibility.

This is not a dystopia.

This is a duct-topia.

A world where buildings exhale joy.

MORE TO COME NEXT WEEK...