Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T01:18:17.425Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An Exploration of Some Aspects to Consider When Opening Futures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

I. A. Ortega Alvarado*
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This paper follows the form of an essay, it offers a narrative review inquiring conceptually about opening futures. The main research question is: What concepts could help elucidate the new position of designers when futures are open? Four branches of literature from design are addressed, considering their core approaches: participation, infrastructures, systems thinking, and narratives. Focus on these four approaches could lead to profound discussions about what it means to open futures and the current relevance of expert design.

Type
Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2022.

References

Battistoni, C., Giraldo Nohra, C., Barbero, S. (2019). A Systemic Design Method to Approach Future Complex Scenarios and Research Towards Sustainability: A Holistic Diagnosis Tool. Sustainability, 11(16), 4458. 10.3390/su11164458Google Scholar
Bendor, R. (2017). Interaction design for sustainability futures: Towards worldmaking interactions. Digital technology and sustainability: Engaging the paradox (pp. 205-216) https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315465975 Retrieved from www.scopus.comCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjögvinsson, E., Ehn, P., Hillgren, P. A. (2012). Design things and design thinking: Contemporary participatory design challenges. Design issues, 28(3), 101116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Björgvinsson, E., Severson, P. (2014). Creative class struggles. In Making futures: marginal notes on innovation, design, and democracy. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Borup, M., Brown, N., Konrad, K., Van Lente, H. (2006). The sociology of expectations in science and technology. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 18(3–4), 285298. 10.1080/09537320600777002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, T., Katz, B. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking can transform organizations and inspire innovation. HarperCollins Publishers. https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=1E4441D9-FC50-48D7-B4B3-7A63E0A1A7F1Google Scholar
Candy, S., Kornet, K. (2019). Turning Foresight Inside Out: An Introduction to Ethnographic Experiential Futures. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(3). 10.6531/JFS.201903_23(3).0002Google Scholar
Cass, N., Schwanen, T., Shove, E. (2018). Infrastructures, intersections and societal transformations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137, 160167. 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.039CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castells, M. (2021). From cities to networks: Power rules. Journal of Classical Sociology, 21(3–4), 260262. 10.1177/1468795X211022054CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costanza-Chock, S. (Ed.). (2020). Design Practices: “Nothing about Us without Us.” In Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need (p. 0). The MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/12255.003.0006Google Scholar
DiSalvo, C. (2012). Adversarial Design as Inquiry and Practice. In his Adversarial Design, MIT Press. pp.115125.Google Scholar
Dunne, A., Raby, F. (2013). BEYOND RADICAL DESIGN? In Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming (pp. 1-10). Cambridge, Massachusetts; LONDON, ENGLAND: The MIT Press. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qf7j7.5Google Scholar
Escobar, A. (2011). Sustainability: Design for the pluriverse. Development, 54(2), 137140. 10.1057/dev.2011.28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Escobar, A. (2021). Designing as a Futural Praxis for the Healing of the Web of Life. In Fry, T., & Nocek, A. (Eds.). Design in Crisis: New Worlds, Philosophies and Practices (1st ed.). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003021469Google Scholar
Fry, T. (2020). Defuturing: A New Design Philosophy. Bloomsbury Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuchs, S. (2001). Beyond Agency. Sociological Theory, 19(1), 2440. 10.1111/0735-2751.00126Google Scholar
Galloway, A., Caudwell, C. (2018). Speculative design as research method: From answers to questions and “staying with the trouble”. Undesign: Critical practices at the intersection of art and design (pp. 85-96) Retrieved from www.scopus.comCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garduño García, C., Gaziulusoy, İ. (2021). Designing future experiences of the everyday: Pointers for methodical expansion of sustainability transitions research. Futures, 127 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2021.102702Google Scholar
Gaziulusoy, A. İ., Boyle, C., McDowall, R. (2013). System innovation for sustainability: A systemic double-flow scenario method for companies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 104116. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.05.013Google Scholar
Gaziulusoy, İ., Erdoğan Öztekin, E. (2019). Design for Sustainability Transitions: Origins, Attitudes and Future Directions. Sustainability, 11(13), 3601. 10.3390/su11133601Google Scholar
Gunderson, R. (2021). Things Are the Way They Are: A Typology of Reification. Sociological Perspectives, 64(1), 127150. 10.1177/0731121420921891CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hajer, M. A., Pelzer, P. (2018). 2050—An Energetic Odyssey: Understanding' Techniques of Futuring' in the transition towards renewable energy. Energy Research & Social Science, 44, 222231. 10.1016/j.erss.2018.01.013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hancock, T., Bezold, C. (1994). Possible futures, preferable futures. In The Healthcare Forum Journal (Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 2329).Google ScholarPubMed
Hays, S. (1994). Structure and Agency and the Sticky Problem of Culture. Sociological Theory, 12(1), 57. 10.2307/202035CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irwin, T. (2015). Transition design: A proposal for a new area of design practice, study, and research. Design and Culture, 7(2), 229246. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2015.1051829CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarva, V. (2014). Introduction to narrative for futures studies. Journal of Futures Studies, 18(3), 526.Google Scholar
Jones, J. C. (1992). Design methods. John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Julier, G. (2006). From Visual Culture to Design Culture. Design Issues, 22(1), 6476. 10.1162/074793606775247817CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Julier, G. (2017). Economies of design (1st edition). SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Karasti, H. (2014). Infrastructuring in participatory design. In Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference: Research Papers-Volume 1 (pp. 141-150).Google Scholar
Kitalong, K. S. (2000). “You Will”: Technology, Magic, and the Cultural Contexts of Technical Communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 14(3), 289314. 10.1177/105065190001400303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitzinger, J., Williams, C. (2005). Forecasting science futures: Legitimising hope and calming fears in the embryo stem cell debate. Social Science & Medicine, 61(3), 731740. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.03.018CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefebvre, H. (2004). Rhythmanalysis Space, Time and Everyday Life. Continuum. London.Google Scholar
Maffei, N. P. (2012). “I Have Seen the Future”: Norman Bel Geddes' “Futurama” as Immersive Design. Design and Culture, 4(1), 7982. 10.2752/175470812X13176523285264CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzini, E. (2015). Design, when everybody designs: An introduction to design for social innovation. MIT press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzini, E. (2019). Politics of the Everyday. Bloomsbury Visual Arts. Kindle Edition.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolin, V. (2007). Design, the Future and the Human Spirit. Design Issues, 23(3), 415. 10.1162/desi.2007.23.3.4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazé, R. (2019). Politics of Designing Visions of the Future. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(3). 10.6531/JFS.201903_23(3).0003Google Scholar
Meadows, D. H. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. The Sustainability Institute. Retrieved from: http://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdfGoogle Scholar
Monteiro, M. (2019). Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It. Mule Books. Kindle Edition.Google Scholar
Ollenburg, S.A. (2019). A Futures-Design-Process Model for Participatory Futures. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(4). 10.6531/JFS.201906_23(4).0006Google Scholar
Papanek, V. (1988). The Future Isn't What It Used to Be. Design Issues, 5(1), 4. 10.2307/1511555CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pschetz, L., Bastian, M., Speed, C. (2016, June 25). Temporal design: Looking at time as social coordination. Design Research Society Conference 2016. 10.21606/drs.2016.442Google Scholar
Roßmann, M. (2020). Vision as make-believe: How narratives and models represent socio-technical futures. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 124. 10.1080/23299460.2020.1853395Google Scholar
Sardar, Z. (2010). The Namesake: Futures; futures studies; futurology; futuristic; foresight—What's in a name? Futures, 42(3), 177184. 10.1016/j.futures.2009.11.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, H. A. (1996). The sciences of the artificial. MIT Press. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?bknumber=6267338Google Scholar
Teli, M., Foth, M., Sciannamblo, M., Anastasiu, I., Lyle, P. (2020). Tales of Institutioning and Commoning: Participatory Design Processes with a Strategic and Tactical Perspective. Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference 2020 - Participation(s) Otherwise - Volume 1, 159171. 10.1145/3385010.3385020Google Scholar
Tharp, B. M., Tharp, S. M. (2019). Discursive design: critical, speculative, and alternative things. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tonkinwise, C. (2017). The structure of structural change: Making a habit of being alienated as a designer. Routledge handbook of sustainable design (pp. 433-455) https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315625508 Retrieved from www.scopus.comGoogle Scholar
Urry, J. (2016). What is the future? Wiley. Kindle EditionGoogle Scholar
Valtonen, A. (2020). Approaching Change with and in Design. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, 6(4), 505529. 10.1016/j.sheji.2020.08.004Google Scholar
van Lente, H. (2012). Navigating foresight in a sea of expectations: Lessons from the sociology of expectations. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 24(8), 769782. 10.1080/09537325.2012.715478CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wangel, J., Hesselgren, M., Eriksson, E., Broms, L., Kanulf, G., Ljunggren, A. (2019). Vitiden: Transforming a policy-orienting scenario to a practice-oriented energy fiction. Futures, 112, 102440. 10.1016/j.futures.2019.102440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, C. (2009). Futures Narratives, Possible Worlds, Big Stories: Causal Layered Analysis and the Problems of Youth. Sociological Research Online, 14(5), 231242. 10.5153/sro.1969Google Scholar
White, D. (2020). Just Transitions/Design for Transitions: Preliminary Notes on a Design Politics for a Green New Deal. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 31(2), 2039. 10.1080/10455752.2019.1583762Google Scholar
Willis, A. M. (2006), Ontological Designing, Design Philosophy Papers, 4:2, 6992, https://dx.doi.org/10.2752/144871306X13966268131514CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, A. M. (2021). The Designing of Time. In Fry, T., Nocek, A. (Eds.). Design in Crisis: New Worlds, Philosophies and Practices (1st ed.). Routledge. 10.4324/9781003021469Google Scholar
Willis, A.M. (2015). Transition Design: The need to refuse discipline and transcend instrumentalism. Design Philosophy Papers, 13(1), 6974. 10.1080/14487136.2015.1085687CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaidi, L. (2019). Worldbuilding in Science Fiction, Foresight and Design. Journal of Futures Studies, 23(4). 10.6531/JFS.201906_23(4).0003Google Scholar
Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), 7589. 10.1057/jit.2015.5Google Scholar