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Did you know that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s brother is an architect? Alexander Martin may not be as famous as his musical sibling, but his London-based firm has been making waves in the English capital with a beautiful series of modern yet historically sensitive residential projects.
Not to be outdone, Coldplay themselves pulled out all the architectural stops in their music video for “Up&Up,” the third single from album “A Head Full of Dreams.”
While the song itself — a soft, melodic tune with a soaring chorus — is entirely what you would expect from the British indie group, the accompanying video is astonishing, in no small part due to surreal architectural set pieces that span the gamut of urban imagery.
From the outset, recognizable icons of architecture and engineering are on show — the Golden Gate Bridge and the Chrysler Building make early appearances — but in each scene, context and scale is turned on its head to produce outlandish visuals of incredible beauty.
While much of the imagery possesses a hazy, vintage aesthetic, there are glimpses of contemporary landmarks: Two cyclists make their way across a shimmering glass façade in front of SOM’s One World Trade Center in the heart of New York City. Other scenes are straight out of the 1950s: Morris Lapidus’ glorious Americana Hotel in Miami features, with a diver leaping into a swimming pool full of clouds.
Other scenes have faintly dystopian undertones, alluding to the pressing environmental issues of our time. A gargantuan wall of concrete separates beachgoers from the ocean — flood defenses in overdrive — while a four-story-tall butterfly rests lightly on an oil rig, juxtaposing nature’s beauty with the industrial monuments of the human race.
Enjoy this article? Check out our breakdown of OK Go’s equally surreal architectural music vid for a Chinese furniture store.
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All video stills taken from Coldplay’s YouTube video
One World Trade Center 
