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Thinking About a Future World

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Photo of Anthony Dunne, author of Speculative Everything, who gave a talk in the Products of Design program.
Photo of Anthony Dunne, author of Speculative Everything, who gave a talk in the Products of Design program.

Anthony talks to the Product of Design students (and some Ixd's)

“Rather than thinking about architecture, products, and the environments, We start with the laws, ethics, political systems, social beliefs, values, fears and hopes and how these can be translated into material expressions.” – Speculative Everything by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby.

I read this book over the summer and I keep going back to it for my thesis and also inspired some of the ideas that I have for my thesis.

Anthony Dunne visited Products of Design and we all had a chance to bask in his wisdom. He is currently teaching at Parsons and head of the Many-worlds working group, where they create speculative ideas.

Photo of Anthony Dunne, author of Speculative Everything, who gave a talk in the Products of Design program.
Photo of Anthony Dunne, author of Speculative Everything, who gave a talk in the Products of Design program.

Anthony Dunne, Digicars

Before having a proper understanding of the world speculative, I always thought that future worlds can be 2 things. They are either a utopia world or a dystopian world. Dunno explains that is more than that. It is making a connection with technology and design it with alternate starting points. What if we design in a different perspective? Wouldn’t our design be more purposeful and unique?

On creating future worlds, Dunne mentions creating bits and pieces of it. This would trigger what other people were thinking. When he creates future worlds, he focuses on cars. It is a clear symbol of the future, which also represents individual freedom.

CGI render of tiny multicolored digital cars used for talk about the future by Anthony Dunne.
CGI render of tiny multicolored digital cars used for talk about the future by Anthony Dunne.

Digicars, Image taken from Creative States (http://www.creative-states.org/)

It is an interesting feeling to think about a world that does not exist right now. A world where anything is possible, the good or the bad. Will there be major climate change? Overpopulation? Libertarianism? Or authoritarianism? The future world is for us to create and products to tell the story of the future.  

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