Re-entangling design and science fiction

The case of Daleko

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13471

Keywords:

Speculative design, Science Fiction, Waste Management, Anthropogenic Impact, Design Education, Design and Political Geography

Abstract

The present article discusses how speculative design relates to technoscientific extrapolation, an important science fiction feature, to plan for potential scenarios and prototype viable models of futurity. Through it, the paper outlines some important nuances between different approaches concerning speculative design’s role, considering their particular epistemological assumptions. A specific case is presented and discussed: Daleko (2020), a project developed for the Strelka Institute’s Terraforming program. This project consists of nine science fiction pieces that entangle issues of waste management, technical infrastructure, and climate politics, discussing the problematic conception of waste as a form of externality and imagining future scenarios for managing it through a more holistic perspective. By analysing Daleko’s approach to speculative design, in its final section the article suggests further developing speculative projects in contexts of design education. This would serve towards stimulating designers and researchers from other fields to ponder how their craft relates to anthropogenic impact and how they can play a decisive role in prospecting more viable infrastructures for future scenarios.

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Author Biography

  • Eduardo Harry Luersen, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

    Pesquisador, designer e músico. Pesquisador membro do Zukunftskolleg, Universidade de Konstanz, afiliado ao Departamento de Literatura, Arte e Mídias da mesma instituição. Doutor em Ciências da Comunicação pela Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos) e bacharel em Design Gráfico pela Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel). Bolsista CNPq e Capes/DAAD. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8517-0206. Financiado pelo Ministério Federal de Educação e Pesquisa (BMBF) e pelo Ministério da Ciência de Baden-Württemberg como parte da Estratégia de Excelência dos Governos Federal e Estaduais alemães.

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Published

2022-08-11

Issue

No. Especial (2022): Prometeica - nº Special

Section

Debates

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How to Cite

Luersen, E. H. (2022). Re-entangling design and science fiction: The case of Daleko. Prometeica - Journal of Philosophy and Science, Especial, 91-111. https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2022.Especial.13471
Received 2022-02-03
Accepted 2022-07-20
Published 2022-08-11