A Century in Motion – Part 12: The Cold War, the Moon, the Environment. The Turning Point Toward 1970

Only by looking back from today’s perspective can we fully grasp how the world changed from the 1960s to the early 1970s. These changes were driven by events of great significance to humanity, such as the Cold War, which allowed the Japanese—humiliated and marginalized after their defeat and the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—to find, through their alliance with the United States, the opportunity to develop their own industry. Japanese cars became a symbol of total quality, and Japanese culture once again turned its gaze toward the West. Among the symbols is Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s wife, with her Fluxus movement performances.
Another event that united the world was Apollo 11 and the moon landing, which transformed a distant future into a tangible reality. Computers arrived, and art quickly embraced them, playing with the large pixels of those years.
With Apollo 11, humanity set foot on the Moon and looked beyond its own boundaries. A small step that sparked an era of achievements, making the future suddenly real.
Another major theme is the environment and the respect it deserves, as well as how it is utilized: Citroën proposes a car without borders or limits, like the Mehari, made entirely of plastic, while Range Rover recognizes the appeal of experiencing nature in comfort, even on powerful, military-inspired four-wheel-drive vehicles. Art, as always, leads the movement, with artists and collectors proposing or collecting works of Land Art where, on more than one occasion, there is a return to the ready-made.
Every journey becomes a shared experience, filled with freedom, music, and open horizons. With guitars, a hippie spirit, and the great outdoors, the Citroën Méhari embodies a genuine way of experiencing the environment.
These are also the years when the Ferrari-Lamborghini rivalry ignites: the new rival Ferruccio, hailing from the same region as the famous Enzo, following the revolutionary Miura, wastes no time in unveiling Marcello Gandini’s masterpiece, the Countach, which seems inspired by Lucio Fontana’s slashed canvases. Enzo, the established and respected leader among luxury sports cars, responded with more classic models, such as the Daytona Spider, with the support of the great Pininfarina.
Marcello Gandini’s Lamborghini Countach is a manifesto on wheels, where the wedge-shaped form redefines the language of the automobile, influencing automotive design and the collective imagination for decades.
Architecture, still lacking the materials that would lead to highly creative interpretations in the 2000s, envisioned buildings capable of moving on menacing legs in the imaginative concept of the Walking City. No less imaginative, but certainly more realistic given the imminent evolution of the automobile, is Mario Bellini’s Kar-a-Sutra, which proposes space, orientation, and autonomous driving.
And what about women? They are increasingly present, as we will see next week.
Archigram’s Walking City envisions mobile cities, technological organisms capable of moving and adapting. A radical utopia that redefines the relationship between humans, the environment, and architecture, anticipating visions that remain surprisingly relevant today.