TYPE TU Delft, MSc elective: Speculative design; 2 students
TIMELINE Sep - Nov, '23
ASSIGNMENT Create a speculative design for the year 2050 with the topic around urban mobility
TOOLS & METHODS Speculative design, Trend analysis, scenario writing, provocotiping (prototyping + provocing)
GRADE 10
TIMELINE Sep - Nov, '23
ASSIGNMENT Create a speculative design for the year 2050 with the topic around urban mobility
TOOLS & METHODS Speculative design, Trend analysis, scenario writing, provocotiping (prototyping + provocing)
GRADE 10
High on Holiday
We want to let people reflect on a possible future where drugs can push work performance to the limit. -If our performance is unlimited, can we skip holidays?-
The design is a critique on society; the hyperproductive environment we seem to experience
“Modernist thinking is rooted in a material, classical Newtonian ideal of science and in the Enlightenment ideal of progress and individual freedom, which is the basis for the techno-optimism that makes many believe that humans can use technology to create the future they want.”, R. Brand (2019).
Now, we’re able to locate and adapt DNA, being able to manipulate characteristics. We can design drugs to fit with the preferred experiences. We have medicine that increases our attention span and we can recreate hormones that increase our muscle mass. In the future, the possibilities of performance-enhancing drugs will expand even more. We explored the extreme; what if we don’t have to leave work anymore because our performance is unlimited?
Now, we’re able to locate and adapt DNA, being able to manipulate characteristics. We can design drugs to fit with the preferred experiences. We have medicine that increases our attention span and we can recreate hormones that increase our muscle mass. In the future, the possibilities of performance-enhancing drugs will expand even more. We explored the extreme; what if we don’t have to leave work anymore because our performance is unlimited?
EMERGE YOURSELF IN A HOLIDAY TRIP
At the office
People are held to exhaustive high standards of productivity at work, but this task is easier with the new performance-enhancing drug. With these expectations of hyper-productivity, the concept of going on a holiday changed as a whole. Holidays are still provided to employees to relax and enjoy an experience, however, provided in a new way: the holiday experience only happens in the mind, leaving out physical movement or traveling. It’s purely cognitive. The holiday experience takes place in a comfortable seat at the office. A serum with the dedicated holiday destination can be added to the inhaler and with a few breaths, you find yourself in a different world. Time to relax?
The provotype
The performance you need
The enhancement depends on what you need in order to be productive at work. Do you need relaxation? Then go to an all inclusive resort in Antalya, Turkey. Do you need an energizer, than go on a hike in the Alps. Need inspiration? Go to the Biennale in Venice. The holiday you choose will give you the performance you need.
This project challenged me to think critically about the future and equipped me with tools to express complex ideas through design. It broadened my perspective, showing me the power of creating designs that may not function in a traditional sense but instead provoke thought and conversation. This approach to critical thinking feels natural to me, and I aspire to incorporate it into many more of my future designs.
High on Holiday