While technology and design have progressed greatly, they have also produced imbalances that affect the way we live and work. Additionally, they have also contributed to the use of the planet’s resources to fill our homes with unnecessary devices and objects. We must de-objectify and de-colonize the way we design technologies to make for more inclusive and diverse futures. Humans have become the most important geologic agents on planet Earth; more profoundly destructive than volcanoes, earthquakes or hurricanes. By controlling certain natural systems, we have changed global interactions, producing unanticipated consequences in climate, ecosystems, and infrastructure. Designing emergent futures is not about looking for moonshots or massive solutions. Instead, it proposes the creation of learning environments to experiment and speculate with new narratives around desired futures. It calls for the design of small-scale interventions to approach large-scale challenges; to dissolve wicked problems at multiple scales, instead of solving them with single solutions.

April 10, 2020