Near-Future Technology Plagues
In how many ways does design disappoint humankind?
More than we can count, but no one is counting. Design has aided in catalysing many problems without taking a firm stand or ideology in its practice. What is the reformed role of design in capitalist culture? How do you design for realities that have not happened yet, but that must be considered? We take a look at the new bio species that might emerge, dive into the complex behaviours of different AI, understand the possibility of the emergence of at home religious agents, peer into deaths that are quantified, and accept that the networks that are ruled by non humans will have a life of its own. This branch of design, called speculative and critical design, detaches itself temporarily from the resitrictions of the curent to find alternative and parallel realities to reveal the noir areas of upcoming life and survival.
Tatiana Toutikian
Less interested in designing products and services of today when the near-future is pending, Tatiana centers her work around building and uncovering non linear futures through research and objects/systems. She has been studying at practicing design for 10 years through a holistic scope of architecture, industrial /interaction design, design research, and design strategy. Through this ten year process, participatory and collaborative methods are always at the core. She has previously graduated from Aalto University in Helsinki where she spent 4 years tinkering with intaginble interfaces in the Media Lab. She has worked for numerous consultancies primarily at Frog in Shanghai, and collaborated with Unicef, GSM mobile, and the Green Party for the EU parliament. Upon returning to Beirut she has lead the programs and themes of Beirut Design Week and spearheaded workshop programs at the MENA Design Research Center revolving around design extrapolations. Through exhibitions, collaborations, films, performances, objects, strategies, teaching and documentation she find avenues at creating foreseeable futures that individuals, companies, and non designers can either plan towards or mitigate. Her works are covered by Monocole, Dezeen, DesignBoom, The Future Laboratory.
