This time lapse video shows the astonishing change in the Seattle skyline
Footage recorded from the city’s Space Needle documents how fast buildings have appeared in the surrounding area thanks to the tech boom.
A wobbly 360 degree camera that sits atop Seattle’s most famous landmark has provided a stunning insight into how quickly the city has changed.
Footage recorded from the top of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle shows buildings being knocked down and rebuilt, and storeys climbing higher and higher into the sky over just a few years.
Viewers likened the video to watching a real life version of civilisation building games like SimCity or Cities: Skylines.
As explained in a blog post, he stabilised the footage to hide any knocks to the camera by the wind, and then smoothed it to avoid variation caused by changes in weather and brightness.
The finished video shows just how quickly buildings spring up in the west coast city. But Seattle has a record for this kind of thing – the 605ft tall Space Needle itself was finished in just 400 days in 1961.
“I picked up the project a few months back, and realised how fast Seattle was changing,” he told the Press Association. “It’s fascinating.”
Despite the dramatic change of the city’s skyline, some of his favourite moments are much smaller details.
“I get excited by observing a really simple change, like the cruise ships appearing like ghosts in the Seattle waterfront, as they only stay for a day in the city a week.”
“I also like the connection to HBO’s Silicon Valley intro,” he said.
As well as the Space Needle, Seattle is known as a hub for technology giants, and many of the buildings “growing” in the video are leased by Amazon. Brualla himself works for Google.
“Not sure how, yet,” he says – but we’re sure he’ll find a way.
