metropolitan agriculture

A Thousand Tomorrows 07/02/2011 16:08

Growing vegetables in your rooftop garden, soil+crop-leasing contracts with local farmers, vertical gardens, school gardens, … urban farming takes many forms. Amsterdam, Chennai, Detroit/Flint, Johannesburg, London, São Paolo … six cities exchanging ideas and experiences in the area of metropolitan agriculture. From 28-30 September 2010 the first Global Summit on Metropolitan Agriculture was held in Rotterdam (NL).

The event, and the MetropolitanAgriculture.com learning network as such, are an initiative of TransForum (& Reos Partners), a project-cluster partially funded by BSIK money which concluded its 5 year long series of activities at the end of 2010. TransForum focussed on the sustainable development of dutch agriculture in relationship to its urbanizing context.

The MetroAg Innoversity set out with joint scenarioplanning workshops “explore the opportunities for Metropolitan Agriculture based on contextual characteristics, assets and challenges in each city”, inspired by input from stakeholder interviews within participating cities. Later on, groups were formed to incubate ideas and draft prototypes. The summit gathered experiences and insights gained and looked ahead as how to scale and create enduring projects and processes.

At the occasion of the Summit, Jan Kees Vis, programme director of Unilever’s division of Sustainable Agriculture, used three words to sketch the pillars of his image of the future: “The right to food, ethics, metropolitan agriculture”. In the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, the company commits “to source 100% of [their] agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020.”

Via Ventiquattro

BMW Activate The Future

A Thousand Tomorrows 04/02/2011 17:32

BMW has a history with film on the web. Remember The Hire ? Now – like Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota and many other automobile companies – they have turned to look at “the future of mobility”. The initiative is entitled Activate the future and features four installments (to be launched one by one this February 2011) : The new city, The future just isn’t what it used to be, Reinventing mobility and How we’ll learn to stop worrying and love the future. Each episode contains bits of interviews with well-known scientists, travellers, authors, entrepreneurs, etc. intended to provoke thoughts and discussion.

As the website mentions, the initiative

[...] is not meant to provide definitive answers, but rather, to ask the right questions from the right people in an attempt to generate discussion, provoke thought and stir the imagination. [... It] was created to get users actively involved in the ever-evolving conversation on the future of mobility. Over the coming months, this site will continue to explore new ways to shape the future of mobility and will encourage users opinions and participation along the way.

the imagination challenge

A Thousand Tomorrows 24/01/2011 15:06

Those of you who follow up on our blog, know that we like to emphasize the importance of exploring and envisioning ‘positive, optimistic futures’ (read here or here for example), to remind people to look forward through the lense of opportunity. Although optimism is a moral duty, as Sir Karl Popper reminds us, people often tend to end up all too easily assessing doom-scenarios, thereby confining their mindspace to the dark angle of threat rather than the open window of opportunity. No one said thinking in terms of opportunities is easy, but boy is it worthwhile when you do! Imagination clearly plays a central role in this. It is reflected in one’s ability to leave the present behind for a while and dream up answers to the ‘what if ?’ question.

In “The imagination challenge”, a video produced as part of Eastman Innovation Lab’s Design Insights series, designer Richard Seymour, looks into the future and notes: “We are dealing with a world where what we can do extends beyond what we can imagine. The future is actually inhibited and retarded by a lack of imagination.” Furthermore, he notes: “We are now at a stage in the 21st century where we don’t need to talk about what we can do; we need to think about what we should do.”

Image from Design Insights video, Eastman Innovation Lab

a 100 year starship

A Thousand Tomorrows 24/01/2011 13:55

Spotted some time ago … NASA and DARPA have freed up some budget ($1.1 million) to envision what a 100 year starship could be like (see article). According to NASA Ames director Simon P. Worden we could be on the moons of Mars by 2030. Check out his conversation with Peter Schwartz over at the Long Now Foundation.

Considering distance and travel-time, first missions will most likely be one-way only. Transporting first settlers, implies the need to turn our destination into somewhat of an inhabitable context for human and terrestrial life. According to Prof. dr. Dave Wilkinson, we might learn from the way in which Darwin succeeded in ‘terraforming’ Ascension island in the middle of the Atlantic about 160 years ago.

From a ‘what if?’ perspective, a 100 year voyage raises interesting questions, especially when they extend beyond the technological realm: How will ‘grandchildren’ born in space, who have never seen their ‘home planet’, think about ‘their mission’? How will they relate to ‘Mother(planet) Earth’? What would be needed to keep people focussed on a multigenerational mission and live peacefully and in good physical and mental health within a confined space? How could/would their society develop? Which plants, animals and terraforming equipment would be sent along? The challenges are manifold (see ‘Mars is hard’).

Image courtesy of NASA

bionic handling assistant

A Thousand Tomorrows 19/01/2011 20:00

The 2010 German Future Prize – aka the Deutscher Zukunftspreis, a true prize with 250.000 euros for the winner(s) – went to Festo and Fraunhofer IPA for their Bionic Handling Assistant. Festo has a long history in biomimetic systems and also this time nature provides inspiration for their innovative design: the elephant’s trunk. Robust yet gentle, flexible yet precise.

“The plastic trunk is made of bellows structures arrayed in series, a movable hand axis and a grabber with three fingers,” explains Dr. Post, who heads up the research and development project at Festo. The structural elements are flexible and can be manipulated using compressed air. If air is pumped into the trunk, the bellows structures extend as an accordion would. This is how the high-tech trunk can be extended from 70 to 110 centimeters in length.

“The plastic trunk is made of bellows structures arrayed in series, a movable hand axis and a grabber with three fingers,” explains Dr. Post, who heads up the research and development project at Festo. The structural elements are flexible and can be manipulated using compressed air. If air is pumped into the trunk, the bellows structures extend as an accordion would. This is how the high-tech trunk can be extended from 70 to 110 centimeters in length.

The three fingers fitted to the trunk are also designed with a biological model in mind the tail fin of a trout. The special feature: if you press these “FinGrippers” lightly with your finger, rather than retract in the direction of the pressure, they respond by moving toward the source of pressure.

The individual structural elements of the flexible arm are produced in additive manufacturing.

Via Research in Germany

gender revisited

A Thousand Tomorrows 11/01/2011 21:14

Most of us see gender as either male or female. Nevertheless for years, people have argumented for and against the introduction of a third option for people biologically or socially belonging neither to the male nor female group. Years ago, Prof. dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling conducted a provocative thought-experiment distinguishing between as much as five gender categories: male, female, merm, ferm, herm.

In Nepal’s latest national census, people will have three options when compiling their form (see article).

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said this is the first time census forms would grant the option for transgendered people to list themselves as something other than male or female.”In the past, we only had two sections under gender, as male and female,” said Bikash Bista, director of the department.”With the new provision, the third gender will also be able to acquire citizenship.”

Sexual minorities moving beyond the traditional gender duality are often wrongfully portrayed as ‘recent phenomena’. In the fashion world, which has a history of androgynous models, Marc Jacobs’ latest shoots (by photographer Juergen Teller) for example, feature Andrej Pejic, a highly androgynous male model featuring in both male and female shootings. In many cultures ‘third gender’ history goes back for centuries, millennia even (see Wikipedia).

Thinking in terms of possible futures, one might ask oneself: how would the future look different in a world with multiple recognized gender classes? How would social relationships change? Which products and services might cater to the needs of people belonging to the different groups?

Photo of Andrej Pejic via models.com

the world in 2036

A Thousand Tomorrows 23/11/2010 21:17

Nicolas Nassim-Taleb, author of “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” and professor of risk engineering at New York University, wrote a brief but throught-provoking piece envisioning a future scenario for The Economist. Taleb looks at the world in 2036 and envisions “what will break, and what won’t”. Among other things, he sees top-down nation-states withering away in favor of city-states and statelings. The world will see waves of biological and electronic pandemics, a revival of religious thought etc. Rightfully, Taleb foresees many technologies we know today – at least the robust solutions – to still be around, while others will have been superseded by ‘better’ successors.

Enjoy your read.

Image via this blog.

robots

A Thousand Tomorrows 10/09/2010 16:22

BaR2D2 serves drinks, Asimo walks the planet as man’s new best friend, NASA’s Robonaut 2 takes to space and loves to twitter. Robots continue to inspire. Several exhibitions currently on show give a glimpse of some highly creative – even poetic – robotic tinkering by artists.

Hangar311 in Mechelen (B), puts the inspiring work of Stéphane Halleux on show. Tinguely meets ToyStory in a steampunk version.

Our friends over at the Maison d’Ailleurs in Yverdon-les-Bains (CH) focus on the work of new media artist, author and theorist Ken Rinaldo in their exhibition entitled “Do robots dream of spring?”.

Ken Rinaldos art promotes communication between species. By creating immersive environments, the artist presents works to be experienced. He puts human beings in our rightful place, one that is integrated into vast systems, of which we are simultaneously the architects, the prisoners and the custodians. He shows us that our environment is an immense meeting place where worlds collide, a place of shifting borders, which he encourages us to explore.

The Tinguely Museum (in cooperation with Kunsthaus Graz) takes a closer look at artificial intelligence and robotics in their 1000m2 exhibition Robot Dreams.

Enjoy!

from stuff to platforms

A Thousand Tomorrows 09/09/2010 18:57

Future scenarios serve various purposes, one of which is to provide a contextual source of inspiration for new concepts for products/services/experiences. Throughout the years, working with scenarios as such in our participatory workshops brought to the surface many interesting insights.

For example, lately there appears to be an increasing tendency among people to stay away from the design of new physical objects as carriers of solutions for existing and possible future challenges. A few years ago, this still used to be different. Novelty, innovation, creativity used to be correlated rather unilaterally with new stuff. Now, the attempts of a growing number of participants in for example idea-generation or lo-fi prototyping/thinking-with-your-hands sessions that we organize, appear to be oriented towards trying to un-think ‘stuff’, to build further upon already existing ‘infrastructure’ or platforms for solutions, e.g. smartphones, social networks, etc.

A preliminary closer look at this phenomenon leads us to a series of possible explanations, which are most likely interrelated.

First, sustainability has become a top future challenge to most people, leading to a more critical stance when it comes to conceptualizing yet another physical object/product. Second, a paradigmatic shift has taken place in the way many of our technological tools have evolved: from mono-use type of objects, over multi-use, many of our tools have become platforms of/for solutions. Hence one can extend them, build upon them without the need for something completely new. Think apps, think modular hardware bodies combined with upgradeable software, open standards, etc. Third, thinking of solutions in terms of services is becoming more common. In many cases the services are the solutions without a new tangible product. Fourth, many of the major challenges identified when it comes to the future are increasingly complex and deal with designing for behavioural change, shifting focus to a people-based how? rather than an objects-based what?.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Social, cultural and economic context obviously also plays a role in whether people tend to focus on designing things vs. designing solutions. Nevertheless these observations lead to interesting questions when it comes to a changing attitude of innovation, of design, and also of the kind of skills and insights we would like tomorrow’s problem solvers and solution providers to have. Perhaps it is but a mere rediscovery of the notion of a solution, a broadening of its scope, beyond its most physical embodiment. A shift worth exploring further …

the future of our end

A Thousand Tomorrows 19/08/2010 15:12

Few aspects of our lives are so diverse yet again so similar across cultures as the way we say goodbye to our beloved ones. No matter how universal or how grounded in tradition, not even this aspect or moment in our lives is immune to the creative forces of reinvention.

A few weeks ago, funeral directors in Flanders (B) asked the legislative powers to allow for resomation , “a water and alkali-based process that turns bodies into a mix of liquid and minerals. Resomation uses less energy than cremation and emits significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions.” (read more)

While environmentally friendly coffins have been around for a while now (see also Citelli & Bretzel’s Capsula Mundi), complete sustainable funeral services are popping up as well (e.g. Groene Uitvaart). Yet sustainability is not the only buzz finding resonance in the way we deal with the ends of our lives. In their “Afterlife” project, designers Jimmy Loizeau and James Auger elaborated upon the idea of a microbial fuelcell powered by the decomposition of the body of the deceased. To what purpose would we want to put life’s last remaining energy of our beloved ones?

Back in 2006, Eindhoven’s Design Academy showcased fascinating student work under the heading ‘post mortem – rituals surrounding death and funerals’ at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. While much attention goes to objects, a more interesting question is as to how rituals might change over time. For example: suppose we do get to the point where people can download their brain to a computing entity – whether hard- or wetware – , what would the ceremony be like? Or how much poetry can be brought to cryonic procedures?

PS: also check out some of Nadine Jarvis‘ inspiring work.

Image courtesy of Nadine Jarvis. Bird feeder is made out of beeswax, ashes of the deceased and birdfood.

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