Speculative Design

Design fiction is a design approach emerging out of the formal disciplines of Industrial Design and ubiquitous computing (Dourish and Bell 2008, Bleecker 2009a, Grand and Wiedmer 2010, DiSalvo 2012, and Sterling 2013b, 2016). Other design fields are starting to consider the value of this approach, including architecture and urban design (Knutz et al 2014). However, it might be claimed that both architecture and urban design have long involved the production of fiction and fictional environments in their pursuit of novel or aspirational project outcomes. The architectural design ideas competition can be traced back as far as the documented history of architecture-at least two and a half thousand years (Kreiner 2010, Lipstadt 1989)-and has been focused on reimagining our built context through visionary futures. Architectural environments are a staple in media representations of future-orientated imaginings. All design can be defined as exploring possible futures through formal outcomes as the products of a design process do not yet exist but will possibly come into being. This begs the question of a more precise understanding of design fiction and its role as both a positioning approach as well as a methodology for its use in architectural design. As such, this paper examines the nature of design fiction and reveals its close relation to a group of design approaches related to future-forecasting but also the growing consolidation of its definition through a design research structure, recurrent method frameworks, the translation of literary tactics and focus of diegetic environments.

Precarity Pilot is an online platform and a series of nomadic workshops that aim at addressing in inventive ways issues faced by precarious designers.

Shaken by the concerns that emerged from our earlier investigations, namely Designers’ Inquiry (2012-2013) and Designing Economic Cultures (2011-2013), Precarity Pilot wants to support designers in re-shaping, re-orienting and taking ownership of the course their working lives.

In collaboration with Caterina Giuliani. The website has been funded by Akademie Schlos Solitude.

How can one walk the line between some sort of financial sustainability and the production of design work t hat critically challenges accepted power structures and discourse? How can one organise a design practice t hat creates space for work that is socially- and politically-engaged and aims for social transformation?

Final years design students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, are often presented with a pool of topics that they can select from to work on their major/final course project. Some students struggle first with making this choice and then, after the work is submitted, marked and the degree is completed, with the frustration of leaving such projects behind and totally inconsequential. This may happen because the student is not oriented towards reflecting on how each of the possible topics to choose from can become a more or less impactful project during the remainder of their studies, for their professional development and future employability, and in terms of supporting/helping a wider community, by solving a problem common to many. After analysing 35 generative boards/canvases retrieved from a diversity of professional sources, a taxonomy for the design of this kind of visual tools was optimised and a visual board-the Impact Plan-is proposed. It aims at obviating the lack of refl...

Mollon, M., & Gentes, A. (2014). The Rhetoric of Design for Debate: triggering conversation with an “uncanny enough” artefact (pp. 1–13). In the proceedings of the Design Research Society International Consortium (DRS), Umeå, Sweden. (June 18th).
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http://bit.ly/talkDRS14 – PDF presentation
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Abstract: Design exploration research refers to various interaction design research practices that explore tensions issued from the interplay of science, technology, culture and society. Most of them explicitly trigger discussions and debates in the audience, for instance “critical design”, which raised the interest of members of design research communities. However its generalization suffers from a lack of shareable methodology. This paper aims at clarifying it practically and theoretically.
We claim that these practices trigger people’s reactions using a specific narrative strategy which provoke an “uncanny feeling”. By producing “uncanny enough” artefacts that embed a subtle entanglement of familiarity and unfamiliarity, designers can elicit responses from viewers. First, a review of literature on critical design texts presents the “uncanny balance” as being a recurrent design principle for the creation of these artefacts. We then present an exemplary case study produced by one of the authors, exploring communication technology—called Dog&Bone. Using classical rhetoric, we present a theoretical overview of the project. The outcome consists of a conceptual framework based on the narrative dimension of the uncanny plus the rhetorical dimension (composed of three elements: legitimacy, emotions, argumentation). We conclude that Design is a form of communication between designers and their audience.

"Intervention présentant le design fiction – sa provenance, ses méthodes, quelques exemples et une partie de mon travail comme introduction – au DSAA Design d'interaction du Pôle supérieur design Villefontaine (France). 

http://dsaa.designvillefontaine.com"

Whilst many game design academics are also game designers, their research is often presented through the lens of other disciplines (philosophy, media theory, human computer interaction [HCI], etc.) and practice-based design research is arguably underrepresented in the games research community. Although game design research espouses to open an inclusive community, at present, research approaches and the presentation of results is dominated by those inherited from either the social sciences or HCI. This dominance of loaded and prescriptive academic frameworks is arguably why many of those creating games outside academia feel such research is unrepresentative of their own practices.

Debbie Maxwell, Toby Pillatt, Liz Edwards and Rachel Newman

This paper presents a case study describing the use of design fiction in a cross-curricular project with four classes across two primary schools in inner-city Sheffield. The project combined elements of a Mantle of the Expert dramaticinquiry approach with design thinking and design fiction, to explore the world of the honey bee. We worked with the schools and children during half a term, leading them through a set of activities (including drama, design, creative writing, and 3D prototyping) to enable the children to discover and understand the threats facing bees, beekeeping, pollination, and the global environmental ramifications of a world without bees. This paper describes the approach adopted and the created design fictions. We discuss the value and limitations of our approach and conclude by offering suggestions for researchers and teachers wishing to engage young people with complex problem spaces.

Video : http://bit.ly/DFmarabout
More info about,
Tiphaine Kazi-Tani : https://esadse.academia.edu/TiphaineKaziTani
David Benque : http://davidbenque.com
Max Mollon : http://designfictionclub.com | http://maxmollon.com

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Following the principle of the “marabout, bout de ficelle…” (a children play with words connecting the end of a word, with the sound of the following one), this new conference cycle wish to explore the future fields of design in curiosity and an open mind. The first peaker bring the next one, this concatenation, or “marabout-chain”, will bring to the light approaches that are less visible to the general public, more underground, or even minority, but which constitute the breeding ground of tomorrow's design. This is the first curation to be constructed on this self-generative principle, a way to not giving room for voices in the centre, but to the margins, and as JL Godard said, “the margins hold the page together”.

Max Mollon is out first “marabout”. He is designer, teacher and Ph.D. candidate in the SACRe programme at ENSAD and at Telecom ParisTech. He questionnes the “Design Fiction” practice, and explore new forms which seats between anticipation and social critique, between contestastion and counter-power.

Does design fiction fast-forward innovation, straight into the wall?
Facing complex crisises and polarised opinions in contemporary society debates, can one resist problem-solving, one of design's usual mission, to rather question issues deeper?
This is Max Mollon's intention, which conflictual artefacts open a breach: a spaace for confrontation to others and to dominant visions; a space for attention and mutual-understanding. For this, he pushes the Critical Design, Speculative Design and Design Fiction practices out of the contemporary art world. However, what are the role for such practices in society? Come and join the debate!

Talk by Max Mollon followed by a debate with Tiphaine Kazi-Tani (designer researhcer, Cité du design de St-Etienne) and David Benqué (designer researcher, Royal College of Arts, London) and a dialogue with the audience.

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by Max Mollon (SACRe/ EnsadLab, Telecom
@Pompidou Centre, The conferences “Design Marabout” n°1
May 3rd 2017, 19:00–20:30
Petite salle - Pompidou Centre, Paris
Moderation: Romain Lacroix
Info: Romain Lacroix, romain.lacroix@centrepompidou.fr
Organiser: DDC / J-M Colard
Partners: Intramuros https://intramuros.fr/agenda/les-designers-marabout-du-centre-pompidou



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Le Design Fiction relance-t-il l'innovation… droit dans le mur ? @Centre_Pompidou
Sur le principe du « marabout, bout de ficelle… » ce nouveau cycle souhaite explorer le champ prospectif du design dans un esprit d’ouverture et de curiosité. Un invité en amenant un autre, cette concaténation ou chaine « maraboutesque » mettra en lumière des démarches moins visibles du grand public, plus souterraines, voir minoritaires mais qui font la richesse et le terreau du design de demain. Il s’agit de la première programmation à se construire sur un principe d'auto-génération, moyen de ne plus donner la parole au centre mais aux marges, et comme le disait JL Godard, « c’est la marge qui tient la page ».

Max Mollon est notre premier « marabout ». Il est designer, enseignant et doctorant au programme SACRe à l'ENSAD et à Télécom ParisTech. Il questionne cette nouvelle pratique qu’est le « Design Fiction » à la frontière entre anticipation et critique sociale, entre contestation et contre-pouvoir.

Le Design Fiction ne relance-t-il pas l'innovation… droit dans le mur ? Face aux crises complexes et aux opinions polarisées des débats de nos sociétés, peut-on résister au problem-solving, mission usuelle du designer, pour questionner les enjeux en profondeur ? C'est l'intention de Max Mollon dont les objets conflictuels ouvrent une brèche : un espace de confrontation aux autres et aux visions dominantes ; un espace d'écoute et d'inter-compréhension. Pour cela, il pousse les pratiques du Design Critique, Design Spéculatif et Design Fiction hors des milieux de l'art. Mais quelle est leur place dans la société ?
Venez en débattre.

Conférence de Max Mollon suivie d’un débat avec Tiphaine Kazi-Tani (designer chercheur.e, Cité du design de St-Etienne) et David Benqué (designer chercheur, Royal College of Arts, Londres) en dialogue avec le public.

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par Max Mollon (SACRe/ EnsadLab, TelecomParis Tech)
@Centre Pompidou, Cycle : Design Marabout n°1
3 mai 2017, 19:00–20:30
Petite salle - Centre Pompidou, Paris
Modération : Romain Lacroix
Renseignement : Romain Lacroix, romain.lacroix@centrepompidou.fr
Organisateur : DDC / J-M Colard
En partenariat avec Intramuros : https://intramuros.fr/agenda/les-designers-marabout-du-centre-pompidou
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Plus d'info sur,
Tiphaine Kazi-Tani : https://esadse.academia.edu/TiphaineKaziTani
David Benque : http://davidbenque.com
Max Mollon : http://designfictionclub.com | http://maxmollon.com

The immune system is built from our cells, organs, proteins and tissue, and it is the sum of the whole that defends the body against illness. In this paper, we introduce the immune system as a site to explore morethan-human design. Specifically, we address the effects of chronic stress on the immune system to explore a set of speculative wearable designs that combine the microbial basis of the human body with that of morethan-human. We reflect on the relationships within living materials and discuss symbiosis and mutualistic care when designing alternative wearable artifacts and trackers. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Interaction design.

The growing role of digital technology in everyday food practices offers promising yet questionable food futures. Human-food interaction technologies such as quantified diet trackers and smart kitchenware present opportunities for efficient data-driven food practices but also challenges to socioeconomic frameworks of food production and consumption. Addressing the ambiguities in contemporary food-technology innovation, we designed Food Tarot deck-a speculative design artifact provoking discussions about possible food-tech futures. The deck presents 22 speculative diet tribes such as Monsanta[n]ists, Petri Dishers, and Turing Foodies that reflect existing food-tech trends and controversies and extend them into an extreme form. At the workshop, we will use the deck as a design prop to support a critical food debate and scenarios imagining various versions of a future food-tech apocalypse.

Reaching towards the future is a typical feature of modernity that has glorified, idealised, and exaggerated the value of its aspirations without, however, managing to take full advantage of them. As modernity breaks down there is a risk that the very idea of the future could be in crisis, and what is the sense of designing without a future? There are four significant moments in the evolution of the debate on the concepts of futures and anticipation in the modern sciences: 1) the American saga of the Rand Corporation which evolved into the contemporary Institute for the Future; 2) the pioneering phase of the French prospective; 3) the research related to the founding of the Club of Rome and the report it published that triggered a large part of the debate on the distinction between growth and development; and 4) the current European rebirth. This has been a multipart journey containing phases of renewal and abandonment. The latest phase has revived the term anticipation to indicate the set of interaction theories and practices with a plural concept of futures. Together with this, an international discussion has developed linking design cultures with the investigation into futures studies: two areas that until recently had not interacted. This article presents the roots of this debate and its connections with modernity. In parallel, it reports on a diverse and multidimensional relationship between design and futures supported by the contemporary designer’s awareness of time manipulation as an agent for stimulus and renewal. Finally, through a focus on the concept of time as future to be anticipated and materialized, it explores the points of contact between these disciplines and analyses the tools, processes and practices of Design Driven innovation as applied to products, services and communications.

Reseña del libro Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction and Social Dreaming de Anthony Dunne y Fiona Raby. Se explora su contenido y estructura detectando posibles articulaciones con el activismo político y la filosofía contemporánea que los autores no exploran explícitamente. Se argumenta que el diseño especulativo y ficticio implican un nuevo paradigma que tendrá un impacto significativo en la disciplina del diseño y las industrias creativas en general.

Longer original form of an Interview with Ivica Mitrović for "The XXI International Exhibition of the Triennale di Milano, The 21st Century: Design After Design, presentation of the Republic of Croatia." These responses were shortened for publication in the exhibition catalogue. The answers were intended to differentiate what Speculative Critical Design currently is, from what Speculative Critical Design could and should be.

Pollution, mutations and electromagnetic fields are, among many other elements, elements of the next nature (1). The next nature, at the global level, is the outcome of technology coevolving with us from the beginning of the humankind. Nowadays, technology, because of its scale is similar to the forces of nature and is currently beyond our control.

On the global level, the holistic eco-centric concept of unifying the geosphere, biosphere, technosphere, and noosphere to the one complex, hierarchical and dynamic entity is called the Total Human Ecosystem (THE) (Naveh 2005).
In this paper, the interactions between constituent elements of the Total Human Ecosystem and their outcomes are presented and analyzed as the next nature, new nature or new normal. Thus, the next nature is the fusion of the cultural sphere with all other spheres that are present on Earth. Supernature is what comes after the elements of the next nature are further processed. As for example: the carbon dioxide can be manufactured into the concrete; nitrogen oxide, which is a component of smog can be conditioned into food; highly toxic styrene plastic waste can be processed into biocompatible implants and tissues’ replacements.


Technology has been accompanying humans from the very beginning; the discovery of fire gave us, through generations of eating heated food, bigger brains. The invention of agriculture gave us settlements and later cities.
Nevertheless, the 21st-century techno-driven evolution is too rapid for almost every subject dependent on biological processes, including humans.
As a part of the process of adaptation to the next nature’s environment, human bodies gradually lose the innate ability for self-healing. Through generations people have been contaminated, irradiated and infected by processes of inhalation, ingestion, dermal absorption, and placental transfer. Nowadays, we live and work in a polluted environment and unwholesome interiors, where our bodies have become slowly or rapidly contaminated with toxins mainly coming from transportation and industrial sources, as well as from commonly used building materials. The organic bodies that undergo slow (and archaic) biological processes are unable to cope fast enough with the new compounds or their excessive accumulation. That causes the discomfort as well as dysfunctions in the form of different types of diseases.
In order to maintain our internal milieu in homeostasis, we develop ever new technologies, such as medical software, antibiotics, supplements, treatment methods and human body part replacements, such as artificial hearts or bionic limbs and extensions, such as for example exoskeletons and virtual reality. We constantly try to be complementary to our environment that changes us while we change it.

Technology is an inherent part of our nature and now is an inherent part of the evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. Therefore, we should see the existing manufactured environment as native. Where technology has already mutated into a geological and ecological phenomenon, we can hunt, gather and mine next natural stocks and resources, such as e.g. trash, chemicals, new types of microbes and enzymes, computer data, blockchains, engineered organisms in order to transform this energy and matter to the new supernatural forms, along with developing the ecological intelligence to attempt to balance our supernatural future.

Achille Mbembe posits the radical notion that, in the twenty-first century, Africa will constitute the planet’s main cultural and philosophical event, as the diaspora of the post-colony embraces its African voice and disassembles the dominant Western narratives that were imposed upon it. Creative thinkers and practitioners like Sunu Gonera, Okwui Enwezor, Oswald Macharia, Azu Nwagbogu and Wanuri Kahiu, among many others across the continent, are reimagining the traditional with future awareness and a sense of opportunity. Afrofuturism, in its contemporary incarnation, has become one important trajectory in this regard, that incorporates a range of elements that include culture, tradition, language, aspiration, fantasy and technology. This paper interrogates how the work of certain creative people in Africa are expressing this by developing innovative ways to help address aspects of the issues facing Africa. Further, it proposes that this transformative process exemplifies how the mechanisms of social design are employed as spaces of inclusivity that are not subject to the whims only of consumerism. The paper contextualises African creative thinking as made manifest in the work of a selection of African creatives, followed by presenting views of extant African creativity. The link to Afrofuturism, speculation and cultural significance is proffered, a model is developed and then deployed, and extended into the space of social design proposing how this inclusive design and engagement approach might redefine Africanity and cultural ownership.

The Sentient House project is an investigation into approaches that the artist- designer can take to better involve the public in developing a critical perspective on pervasive technology in the home and the surrounding environment. Using Interaction Design approaches including workshops, surveys, rapid-prototyping and critical thinking, this thesis suggests a framework for developing a more participatory atmosphere for Critical Design.
As the world becomes more connected, and ‘smarter’, citizen’s concerns are being sidelined in favour of rapid progress and solutionism. Many of these initiatives are backed by government and commercial concerns who may not have the public’s best interest at heart.
The designs and approaches generated from this public participation seek to provide an outlet for a more agonistic debate and to develop tools and approaches to engage the public in questioning and addressing how technology affects them in the future.
The outcomes of this research suggest that the public is receptive to a more active involvement in designing their digital future, and that the designer can be a critical component in revealing hidden consequences and alternative pathways for a more transparent and desirable future.

Although both science fiction and professional foresight work both are engaged with what the future might look like, they operate mostly independently from one another. A literature search reveals the characteristics of written science fiction and foresight, seeking ways these practices could be successfully combined. Concepts are explored through the example of agriculture and agricultural technology as well as technologies for constructing narrative semantics. Approaches are outlined for generating foresight scenarios and for creating a semantic tagging system for generating a semantic space for scenarios using intellectual technologies from science fiction.

The paper reflects on the extent to which design may be able to expand forms of intervention and inquiry into urban problems by generating spaces for collaboration, involvement and criticism. Following on from the urban hacking case with homeless people in Santiago de Chile, this study proposes an alternative conceptualization of Smart urbanism: instead of understanding the city as a commercial entity that requires more “intelligence”, we show the urban space as a place populated by heterogeneous forms of intelligence and competences that are mobilized by the affected people themselves. This leads us to consider urban design in terms of the temporal and situated practices of its subjects. Finally, and in continuity with various contemporary perspectives on speculative design and the way in which materiality plays a part in the political, this paper examines an analytical repertoire for rethinking the ecology of inhabited spaces through intervention methods that are based on temporary prototypes.

We are no longer used to critically examining the meaning of “design”,

which maintains an unexplored dimension in terms of the Power that can be exercised through the cyclic act of creation, preservation and disruption.

This assumption induces us to focus on the contrast between the “visible” side of the act that involves all its conceptual and practical manifestations, and a hidden or “dark” side that deals with politics and power play, but that, however, has a major influence in the process and its hierarchical dynamics.

This implies an order on the surface, which seems to be naturally stirred by the so-called “perceptions” that reflect the preferences of overall public opinions: however, looking deeper, all the production acts involves a carefully controlled disequillibrium influenced by social, ecological, economical and political interests.

The power flow in the act of “design” takes into consideration the paradoxical contradiction between its potentiality and its preservation of power.

Whilst many game design academics are also game designers, their research is often presented through the lens of other disciplines (philosophy, media theory, human computer interaction [HCI], etc.) and practice-based design research is arguably underrepresented in the games research community. Although game design research espouses to open an inclusive community, at present, research approaches and the presentation of results is dominated by those inherited from either the social sciences or HCI. This dominance of loaded and prescriptive academic frameworks is arguably why many of those creating games outside academia feel such research is unrepresentative of their own practices.

Abstract: In this paper we discuss how the teaching of visual identity in graphic design education may be redeveloped within a speculative design framework. We inquire into how the teaching of visual identity design was framed speculatively with reference to a student project focusing on future scenarios for water sustainability. We propose the concept speculative graphic design, and discuss the implications such a concept might have for the teaching of visual identity in graphic design, and how this may position graphic design more as an agenda-setting discipline. Via analysis of selected student work, we inquire into how such a framing may both destabilise and consolidate conservative approaches to identity design with reference to water sustainability.

This essay sets out to rectify the false dichotomy between the notions of uselessness and usefulness in relation to design, in order to argue for a useless design practice. The argument is structured into three main parts.

Part I opens with an introduction and goes on to frame design as a hybrid discipline that has been characterized by usefulness since it was born of the Industrial Revolution. The notion of useful design and its continuingly intimate relationship with the neoliberalist growth economy is subsequently unpacked through scrutinizing the basic demands for quantification & acceleration, conflicting use and temporality with special attention paid to the Anthropocene.

Part II elucidates the ambiguous relationship between the useless and the useful through the related critical/conformist dichotomy present in Dunne & Raby’s A/B Manifesto as well as through useless and useful design fictions. From here the unuseless chindōgu by Kawakeni and the unfindable objects by Carelman together frame the useless as a “useful overdrive.” Additionally they illustrate the constant risk of assimilation, festishization and spectacle that disruptive useless design artifacts face within the neoliberalist growth economy. In the digital realm The Useless Web accentuate the post-ironic and absurd qualities in useless design.

Part III asks: what is useless design, why do we need useless design and how could useless design exist? From five opening propositions, useless design is positioned among related concepts such as Redström’s “design after design” (2011), Hunt’s “tactical formlessness” (2003), Tonkinwise’s “designing things that are not finished” (2005), and Jones’ “pure design” (1984). Useless design is finally argued to find its value from its ability to valuate and actively traverse the growing chasm between the industrial and the post-industrial design paradigm.

In essence useless design is an invitation to make useful, here “useful” understood in reappropriated terms, beyond its currently one dimensional, confined state. On that note, the essay concludes by shifting its gaze from the abstract insights gathered throughout the essay towards the concrete urgent task of prototyping a useless design practice.

The project deals with the theme of glamping (a neologism born
from the fusion of the terms glamour and camping), a phenomenon
that has become established in the last decade in the camping
category of tourist accommodation, but provides more luxurious
accommodation and facilities than those associated with traditional
camping, and proposes an experience of immersion in nature, with
a model of accommodation set in highly prestigious natural contexts
and using unconventional, nature-based concepts.
The glamping project focuses on sustainable hospitality, through a
speculative design approach, which stimulates reflection on what
the future might bring in terms of changing the relationship between
man and nature, making an original contribution to the debate on
sustainable development. This original approach, developed by designers Dunne & Raby,
requires the design concept to be set in the context of an “imagined
future” on the basis of a series of social, technological and economic
trends, and the designer asks new “what-if” questions, which in
this case refer to the themes of sustainability in interior design for
glamping hospitality.
Speculative design therefore questions the usual design practices
and focuses on the need to imagine the future experience of the
user/customer involved in new ways of using and behaving.
This approach does not so much involve an in-depth study of
materials and construction techniques in terms of sustainability, a
method which is now consolidated in current design practice, as
it does a deeper reflection on how to communicate a message of
awareness of the issues of biophilia in the relationship between man
and nature and thus bring added value to the current debate.
In the glamping proposal, a prototype of a temporary living cell is developed, which constitutes a basic module that can be replicated
and flexibly placed within the accommodation structure.
The inspiring elements for the composition of the spaces are
primarily the ways of using the glamping and the gestures of the
users in carrying out the functions and using the services of the
hospitality structure.
The analysis of flows and paths is inspired by an approach historically
consolidated in the East, where the spaces of the house are designed
taking into account the presence of static or dynamic activity, the
intensity of use more or less high, in order to create differentiated
spaces: spaces for common activities or spaces where a dimension
of intimacy prevails.
The planimetric scheme for organising the interior spaces is
based on a geometric mesh which divides a rectangular plan into
three bands: the communal living environment, the space-nature
environment in the centre, and the private living environment.
In the design of the prototype there is a dialogue and interpenetration
between interior and exterior: large windows allow privileged views
of the most valuable components of the natural landscape outside.
Nature enters inside, both visually and physically in the green
space located in the centre of the cell. At the same time, the interior
space is also protected by a system of external “sails”, creating an
intermediate space between the interior and exterior, facing the
areas dedicated to refreshment, relaxation and rest.
The indoor and outdoor spaces are connected and relate to each
other in a synergic way, expanding in size according to guests’
needs, making it possible to immediately immerse oneself in nature
both outside and inside, where there is a central green nucleus.
The central space is, in fact, a small green nucleus which can be
opened up and is accessible from all the interior spaces; it is the
fulcrum of the composition of the entire cell, inspired by the energy
centre (Tao 道) in the eastern tradition of feng shui. A miniature
forest where it is possible to regenerate and experience new forms
of relaxation, suspension and immersion in greenery at any time of
day.
The aim is to encourage immersion in a dimension closer to nature,
for example through the symbolic forms that recall the water cycle,
and lead the user to unconsciously and pleasantly reflect on the
natural origin of a precious and limited resource.
Not only the composition of the spaces, but also the choice of the
furniture components is inspired by the speculative approach: the
shapes, colours, the arrangement of the components of the interior
design, as well as the organisation and composition of the spaces,
communicate and encourage sustainable ways of use.
The communication conveys positive messages, lightly, highlighting
the advantages and avoiding emphasising the sacrifices needed to
adopt virtuous behaviour.

Dunne and Raby argue for the importance of ambiguous products exhibited in galleries as ways of fostering debate about futures. This review attempts to reconstruct their confusing and contradictory argument. It argues that the power of design futures is occluded by Dunne and Raby's determination to self-characterize their own particular style of work. The review ends by proposing how else the kind of work Dunne and Raby are inspiring might be both defended and directed.

This seminar investigates intersections between architecture—as a practice, set of objects, and research orientation—and climate change, one of the defining phenomena of our age. With a focus on the contemporary but eye to the recent past, we will begin to map out the spectrum of manners in which architecture has already engaged with climate change as well as how these might be more fully invented, interrogated, and instituted. The discipline of architecture has been relatively slow to take up the vast and highly unsettling topic of climate change in ways beyond the technical (e.g., new materials, efficiency standards) despite the fact that issues of a social, political, economic, ethical, and even existential order are also, if not foremost, at root and at stake. Our own class discussions will thus wrangle with a set of unwieldy and interrelated questions, including: At what scales does architecture intersect with climate change? Are the local and planetary newly entwined and, if so, how might architecture respond to and elucidate this condition? Which skills do architects bring to the table, and what is their revised role, in light of this accelerating and encompassing phenomenon? Does climate change demand a reimagining of the field? What would architecture look like that, rather than sheltering us from our surroundings, instead served as an interface between the two— orienting itself toward the human and nonhuman at the same time? Students should come away with a clearer sense of the stakes of climate change for architecture and of architecture for climate change, as well as deepened familiarity with relevant projects from the present and recent past. Guest speakers: Mark Dion (Artist / USA), James Graham (Dir. Publications at Columbia GSAPP / USA), Dehlia Hannah (Curator & Researcher / USA/DK), Lindsay Bremner (Dir. Arch. Research, Univ. of Westminster (UK) , Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy (DESIGN EARTH / USA)

The archaeological imagination at work: speculative design in curatorial experiment at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (5).

Speculative design meets archaeological critique — a provocation or intervention in a matter of contemporary concern. One of five commentaries on a series of exhibitions at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Video S#01: https://youtu.be/39qeDEpyWcQ + http://bit.ly/DFC-video
Facebook event #01: https://www.facebook.com/events/121808771809781/
Venue Page: https://gaite-lyrique.net/design-fiction-club-1-0
2017.09.21 Session #01 — Opening angle of views and uncover one's own dead angles.
2017.09.21 Session #01 — Ouvrir les champs de vision et dénicher ses propres angles morts. 

Design Fiction Club is the monthly rendez-vous of Gaîté-Lyrique (Paris) dedicated to gather, discover, think, and practice Design Fiction. It is an initiative by Max Mollon, invited by Marie Lechner and Clémence Seurat of Gaîté-Lyrique, in Paris.
Open to all kinds of public, it proposes different sessions formats:
Between the cine-club and the fight-club, sessions will feature a series of projects, of which one will serve as a start for a collective debate. Not far from the pony-club and the club-sandwich, some sessions will propose hands-on workshops and every session ends with a meetup. — https://www.designfictionclub.com

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21/09 Séance #1 — Designer la critique et la spéculation, des présents alternatifs aux futurs pluriels.
Invitée S#01 : Léa Lippera
Après une brève introduction, la “fiction”, par le design, sera présentée comme moyen de confrontation au changement.
Cette séance d’ouverture débute par la présentation des intentions du Design Fiction Club : pérenniser le Design Fiction en l’établissant en tant que (in)discipline, plutôt qu’un mouvement artistique ou qu’une mode éphémère. Nous verrons comment ces pratiques sont apparues en réaction aux interactions entre la société, les nouvelles technologies et le design, en crise. Les limites de ce qui est appelé “Design Fiction”, ou non, sont floues. Ces 3 premières séances nous aideront à les délimiter ensemble, via l’analyse de plusieurs projets.

Missions du Design Fiction Club
Découvrir :
Entre le ciné-club et le fight-club : chaque séance propose d’en découdre lors d’un débat ouvert à tou-te-s, démarré à partir de la présentation d’un projet de Design Fiction et des questions qu’il soulève. La séance est aussi nourrie par l’introduction de projets phares, alternatifs ou historiques, qui font réponse au premier. Ensemble, nous questionnerons ainsi les limites du genre. Une discussion collective sur la démarche globale clôture chaque séance.
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Se rassembler :
Chaque séance se prolonge par un meetup: un moment pour se rencontrer, échanger, détourner la séance ou prolonger les joutes du débat.
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Penser :
En 2018, à la manière d’un séminaire, une série de thèmes et d’invités nous permettront d’identifier collectivement les questions principales qui accompagnent l’établissement de la discipline.
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Pratiquer :
Envie de mettre la main à la pâte, juste curieu-x-se ou désireu-x-se d’affiner vos capacités ? Des ateliers seront proposés au cours de l’année.

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Mardi 21 @La Gaîté Lyrique
18:45-20:45 Séance #01 du Design Fiction Club
20:45-21:45 Bière-Fiction (meetup)

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Le Design Fiction Club est le rendez-vous (tous publics) mensuel de la Gaîté Lyrique pour se rassembler, découvrir, penser et pratiquer le Design Fiction — Séminaires-débats | Workshops-formation | Meetup
Mené par Max Mollon sur une invitation de Marie Lechner et Clémence Seurat. Contenu des séminaires partagé sous licence ©©Max Mollon 2017 (CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0). | Invitée S#01 : Léa Lippera (séminaire) | Vidéo ©Gaîté-Lyrique, Cycle des rencontres "Sur un plateau".
#designfictionclub #designfiction #criticaldesign #speculativedesign
http://designfictionclub.com/

A disgruntled manifesto attempting to
a) clarify the difference between Design Futures, Design Fiction, Speculative Design and Critical design
b) argue that all these different modes of designing must be made to be part of professional designing rather than sectioned off as academic research, or worse art, projects.