Week 1 - Liftoff: Ground control to major Tom

Watching the Movie

The initial lecture provided an overview of the semester's plan. Following this, we formed four groups; our group consisted of Timo, Niklas, Frédéric, Gabriel, and myself. We began by watching the assigned movie, „The Fifth Element.“ During the viewing, we took detailed notes, which we later consolidated into a comprehensive megatrend map.

Megatrend Map

Die Visualisierung wurde von Gabriel Klassen unternommen.

Week 2 - Reality is wrong, dreams are for the Real

In the second lecture, we began with a group exercise designed to foster team collaboration and creativity. The goal was to draw a micky mouse while everyone holds onto a pen while not talking. This was followed by Professor Lecuna's lecture on prospective thinking and scenario development. The presentation emphasized several key concepts, including normative, strategic, exploratory, and critical futures, all of which are fundamental to understanding and shaping possible futures.

We learned about Gaston Berger, a pioneering philosopher in the field of future studies, who introduced the idea of 'la prospective,' focusing on creating detailed and plausible scenarios to inform present-day decisions. Berger's approach highlights the importance of human-centered futures and the notion of surpassing current limitations to envision better possibilities.

After the lecture, we engaged in an exercise where we created two fictional scenarios based on identified megatrends. This involved reviewing major trends such as technological advancements, climate change, demographic shifts, and socio-economic transformations. We then used these insights to craft detailed and imaginative future scenarios, helping us practice foresight and speculative design.

Through this process, we explored the intersection of emerging technologies and cultural trends, using storytelling and design artifacts to visualize potential futures. This exercise not only reinforced our understanding of prospective studies but also enhanced our ability to think creatively and critically about the future.

Scenarios

The failed Hero

- Niro Temptudo Kim

- 26 yr.

- M

- Middle floor

- Imitating Society

My grandfather worked long ago in a small flying boat from house to house, cooking food for the people. Little by little, working hard while staying positive and humble he saved up enough money to give us, his family a wonderful life in the middle floor area in New York. Now it’s been already 60 years after all that happened and earth has changed a lot. More and more space on earth is destroyed or polluted by us humans, to the point that the people started moving away, into space…just nowhere on earth. The city became less crowded by every day, that was something that I witnessed while gazing out of my home office window. My room was cramped, full of paperwork and everywhere was something lying around. Either some leftover dishes, clothes or any other kind of stuff. While typing on my holoboard I looked out and that was when my life changed. My window which was just a bit dirty because of the outside world, showed just another high building on the other side of my apartment. My sight swung around the city and finally landed on the streets of the lower floor. This was a rare occasion because most of time I avoided to look down, for once because of my fear of height and for second because I felt bad for the people down there. But this time was different. I saw a woman walking on the rusty, brownish and dirty street. I already noticed that three suspicious men followed her the whole way. Everyone of them dressed different but in the same shady kind of clothes, nothing special but I remember that one of them was bold. My concern proofed to be right because that’s when they started moving towards her and tearing her into a street alley. I was shocked, I couldn’t believe what I’ve just witnessed. My body froze and my breath weighted me down. After a second I could get a hold of me again and somehow started to act. Grabbing my air mask and sprinting out of the door. I ran as fast as I could and slammed the door away. Luckily we’ve got a teleporter in our apartment building and thanks to that I was able to get into a second downstairs. Even the air at the bottom of middle floor is already foggy and almost unbreathable. The streets are also way too dirty and you can see some trash piles on the street corners. It’s not as bad as on the lower floor but it’s getting worse day by day. I put my bag down and press on a big button, then it folds and transform into a floating scooter. Thanks to it can I easily fly to every floor I like with ease. The small wings start to shoot out neoblue flames and I evelate from the ground, speeding up down to the lower floor. While dodging all the other cars and vehicles, I try to search for the alley. I found it! Fast! That’s what went through my mind. I slip through the walls and dodge the trash cans. When I finally arrived. It was too late…just one person was left. The body of the woman from before on the floor, beaten up and soulless. I tried to wake her up in hope that it’s not too late, grabbing her shoulders, shaking and shouting. Nothing. She was already gone. I was too late. What was I even thinking? That I could become some kind of hero? What a failure…

Nidam Ekbat de Multas

- 17 yr.

- W

- High Society

- Functional Apartment

I lived with my Fatho, Matha and my little Brotho Akalt in a beautiful home. It was decorated by pretty lightwood-colored furniture. The special thing about our home? We never had to do anything. It was almost like a part of us. It cleaned itself and it was also very minimalistic by default, so that also gave our home that clean feeling. We had everything; we wore the latest clothes and it was almost like life in heaven. Still, my hatred against my family grew and I started to slowly dress less like the upper class clean white people that we were. Even though our home looked like those perfect shiny commercials, the reality behind it was ugly. My Fatho was never home, my Matha had nothing to do except complain and bother other people and my brotho just started his teenage phase, which also means he started to be more and more disgusting. Anyways, I always take our private autopilot ispacecar to school, and I love that feeling when everyone looks at me while I arrive. The school's technology is not as modern as that of our house but it’s the same minimalistic clean style, which I like. Recently, I have been meeting with this handsome boy, whose dad is famous for designing the modern mystery. It’s a housing style that uses pretty dark colors and plays with black as their main furniture color while using blueish lights as an accentric support. They don’t make nearly half as much income as my dad but I still like the products that his dad is producing. His son Pakson also dresses in that dark color way and I think this mystery is what turns me on about him. After a while he introduced me to his friends in an underground low floor bar which, I know are all lowies but still I accepted them because of Pakson. The bar was pretty old and rusty, nothing gave a glimpse of smart furniture in that hole down there. They used old cinema seats as chairs and broken down sofas which they compensated for by piling up a hill of smelly old pillows. It stank and the lighting was just some old LED lightbulbs from the street, they had this dark orange-yellow beam. The table on which we sat down was really used up and sticky. I felt uncomfortable but with Pakson sitting next to me, it was durable. All of his friends wore second-hand clothes, which looked more like washed-up hanging cloths. They had old, self-prepared Adapters implanted on the side of their head and messy clothes. Then Pakson started to take out a little black box and opened it up to only show a bunch of micro chips but they were a bit weird-looking. Coated up with some kind of slime, and also, the connections were a bit broken up or missed fully. Everyone started to smile hysterically and stare like crazy at those chips. Before I could actually look any longer at the chips, everybody struck towards the box to grab one. Only two were left and Pakson gave me one of them. He told me not to worry and just stick it in my adapter. While looking around and seeing everybody else fainting away in some anesthetic state, I hesitated and slowly put it in my slot. It was gross. I felt like my brain got some kind of cold rush. It went through my whole body, and then slowly I realized how light my body became. I started enjoying it and all the old furniture turned into the same light wood color and minimalistic style, like at home. I felt great but after a while, I blacked-out and woke up with some heavy headaches. I looked up and saw the dirty ceiling. Next to me lied Pakson and another guy friend of his, still deep asleep. That’s when I suddenly realized I was naked. My body hurt and I lied with my soon-to be boyfriend and his, who were both also naked. I started sobbing. I wanted to cry but the only thing coming out of my mouth were some dry attempts of weeping. Tears slid down my cheeks while I looked around and saw a disgusting old Storeroom with a bed inside of it and huge piles of worn clothes lying around it. I couldn’t believe it. What happened? The air was so thick and humid that someone else would instantly throw up. Unfortunately that was only the start of my downfall. After that incident I stayed at Pakson’s place because I was ashamed to come home and I couldn’t face my mom. After some days, the next big hit, the rent increased drastically and my dad’s factory went bankrupt. Pakson moved to the lower floors and I followed. I stuck to him because I love him and I could do whatever I wanted. But with that comes also the price of this life, my drug addiction. I started taking CP3 (The chip drug) regularly and Pakson always bought them for me. I felt so bad about that but it also felt like a small family life was starting to evolve. He comes home with new CP3 for me while I try to keep the apartment clean, almost like wife and husband. The apartment in which we lived was small only a square room with a small toilette. Everywhere was some stuff of Pakson lying around but that’s alright, I can clean it up for him. I know how hard he has to work for my addiction and for the money. That’s what real love is like. After some months we broke up and he kicked me out, I was heartbroken and I wandered through the lower floor alleys in search for… I don’t even know. I tried my luck in the middle floors. That’s when one day I came across my brotho Akalt. He was all grown up now. I nearly couldn’t recognize him. I stood in front of him and cried when suddenly a backhand slap came across my face. I instantly fell down and looked up at him. With a big disgust over his face he looked down at me and said that crazy lower floor people shouldn’t contaminate the middle floor. He spit at me and kept walking. He didn’t recognize me. I was so broken down and sad. My life really hit rock bottom but that’s when I started to collect myself and slowly get up. The next weeks I tried to get into a job in the lower floors. Luckily a weapon factory took me in and my life was turning around again. I had money, food and a little apartment. I was so happy to start living again, after working so hard for me. Then one day I was kidnapped while on the way to my job. I was brought into a small street alley with year old rubbish cans around me and a foul smell of rotten eggs in the air. With a huge huge puddle of some green liquid at the other way out. I looked at the face when I saw them. Pakson’s old friends hold me in place while asking about the drug money. I had no idea, all these years he stole the drugs and ran away. After I told them that I had no idea, they started punching me and kicking me. I tried to escape but they threw me to the ground and beat me up. My body swole up and I couldn’t even speak clearly anymore. It felt like hours of beating but luckily they left me. I knew this was my last breath and my body slowly gave up step by step. Even though my eyes were swollen up, I still could catch a small glimpse at one of the apartments in the higher floors. It was my old home and the only thing I could think about was…how good my life was…

Week 3 - Subterranean homesick alien & here comes the Hero

In the third week's lecture, led by Professor Alejandro Lecuna, we explored advanced concepts of design fiction and postphenomenology, with a thematic focus inspired by Radiohead's „Subterranean Homesick Alien.“ The session began with team presentations of „Berger style scenarios,“ emphasizing speculative future scenarios.

Professor Lecuna's lecture covered Don Ihde's postphenomenology, examining the different ways technologies mediate human-world relations. We discussed embodiment, alterity, hermeneutic, and background relations, providing a critical foundation for our exercises.

Midway through the lecture, we paused for a practical exercise where each group built a typical day in the life of their characters, created a timeline of the world, and compiled a collection of relevant technologies. This helped us visualize and contextualize our speculative futures.

In the afternoon, we continued with team presentations and the „Tech Doodle Timeline“ exercise, sketching the evolution of technologies and their societal impacts. The day concluded with a discussion on the role of drama in design fiction, highlighting narrative tools to explore and anticipate future technologies. Professor Lecuna ended the session by outlining the homework requirements.

What If..?

Week 4 - Sci-Fi & Design Fiction Aesthetics

FigJam Board

Liftoff to work

Moodboard

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The world

Posterdesign

Final poster

Regisseur Interview

Thank you to Niklas :)

Conclusion

It was amazing to see how much AI grew and what kind of products it could develop. Most of all it was again a challenge for me personally to fight my inner spirits but in hindsight it was a successful project and a fun one aswell.

To mr. Lecuna, thank you for your guidance and your spirit, you make every lecture special and motivate thus everyone around you like a big fire in the wood.

Thanks Niklas Jossa for doing all the dirty work and cutting such a amazing video, you really deserve your vacation now. Even tho you were taken from our group, you will always be our fifth element ;) 

At last thank you to this amazing group of fantastic designers Gabriel Klassen, Timo Müller, Frédéric Carvalho Ferreira. It wouldn't nearly be this fun without you guys and it was also really cool to see your work during this time. Thank you all for this time and opportunity.