spatial design fiction
Elective 24-25
Today, radical speculation in the fields of architecture, interiors and the built environment communicates in new and different ways, largely aided by advances in technology and changes in human behaviours, the primary language is now film. Speaking dialects of composition, storytelling, world building and time passing. Artefacts from the future, or ‘design fiction’ objects play a pivotal role in enabling people to connect emotionally & intellectually to ideas of other ways of living.
These ‘diegetic prototypes’ are working examples of futures that are considered real and functional in the fictional narrative, though typically exist only at the scale of the object or the system. Importantly, they are imagined not just for imagination-sake, but to instigate discussion, generate debate, enable criticality within the design field. They are developed around signals of change in the contemporary world; climate, diversity, feminism, capitalism, privacy, hyper-personalisation, artificial intelligence & more. Think flux capacitor from Back to the Future, the gestural interface technology from Minority Report, the I-pad like tablet in 2001: A Space Odyssey or the extra- long filter cigarette from the Fifth Element. Design fiction, explicitly at the scale of the built environment however is under explored, and so this is the focus for the Spatialising Futures module.
Students design and make a piece ‘spatial design fiction’ (or spatial diegetic
prototype) that situates, anticipates and locates the fields of speculative
and design fiction within the spatial dimensions.
Scroll down to explore some of the work.
Climate Relic by Jo Lockwood. “The consumer wearable device provides objective information on user biometrics, monitoring the user’s heart rate in response to their immediate surroundings in order to help them better understand how a dwindling supply of and limited exposure to nature could be impacting their health and anxiety levels.”
Consciousness in the Metaverse by Qiandiandian Jiang. “This project explores the impermanence of memory and identity after death and provokes discussion about the limits of memory, identity, and emotional connection in a post-biological world. It challenges the notion that digital consciousness equates to true preservation, emphasizing instead the impermanence and constructed nature of memory.”
Aliens at the Table: Food Class Trilogy by Keyi Shi. “This research project revolves around how invasive species are redefined as high-end luxury goods, exploring the relationship between food culture, capital operation, ecological governance and spatial experience.”
1. "Knotweed Acid Caviar" 2. “Black Shell Crab Onigiri” 3. “Bionic Crab Macarion”
soulPRINT by Khwaja Luqman Sadiq. “Digital cemeteries such as the “soulPRINT” provide interactive spaces where individuals engage with preserved AI models of their loved ones. Allowing them to be reborn as ghost profiles in a public space that redefines the nature of memorial sites and adds a new domain of virtual communication across the digital frontier, ultimately challenging traditional notions of death and remembrance.”
