NICOLE ANN-BOYER, ADAPTIVE EDGE, TRELLO RESOURCES
Comments:
Joe T: (This looks suspiciously like the planet Naboo from Star Wars) http://michaeljallen.org/Teacher%20Plans%20-%20October%203rd%20-7th%202011.html Erika Gregory - So I agree with your note, Joe, but where I find images like this to be really useful is as theatrical backdrops for a "drama" we want to highlight in the foreground, which is nearer-in, more accessible (hence, for many people, more credible) strategic conversation. When we've done big installations, where we've had hundreds of people "touring" several alternative futures, a few of these images carefully placed have really helped to transport people outside the present just long enough to remember they're meant to think differently. |
Erika Gregory: Ah, nothing like a deadline to focus the mind!
So I agree with your note, Joe, but where I find images like this to be really useful is as theatrical backdrops for a "drama" we want to highlight in the foreground, which is nearer-in, more accessible (hence, for many people, more credible) strategic conversation. When we've done big installations, where we've had hundreds of people "touring" several alternative futures, a few of these images carefully placed have really helped to transport people outside the present just long enough to remember they're meant to think differently.
Joe T: I tend to have a weak spot for these type images as well, but I fear that they veer to close tothe utopian to be really valuable.
Nicole AB: Artists are still the best when it comes to captivating the human imagination. Both in pictures and moving ones. Jules Verne, Leonardo de Vinci (not the other one :), Matrix, Tolkein, Game of Thrones, Disney, Lucas -- you get the gist of this -- a best when balancing "whole brain" visuals (head, heart, gut, spirit) with a plausible story (enough newness but still the familiar) with a sense of magic and mystery (without overdoing it, so easily done). This picture, though not overtly a sustainability picture, gets at the latter for me which is often missing in many sustainability stills of the future
So I agree with your note, Joe, but where I find images like this to be really useful is as theatrical backdrops for a "drama" we want to highlight in the foreground, which is nearer-in, more accessible (hence, for many people, more credible) strategic conversation. When we've done big installations, where we've had hundreds of people "touring" several alternative futures, a few of these images carefully placed have really helped to transport people outside the present just long enough to remember they're meant to think differently.
Joe T: I tend to have a weak spot for these type images as well, but I fear that they veer to close tothe utopian to be really valuable.
Nicole AB: Artists are still the best when it comes to captivating the human imagination. Both in pictures and moving ones. Jules Verne, Leonardo de Vinci (not the other one :), Matrix, Tolkein, Game of Thrones, Disney, Lucas -- you get the gist of this -- a best when balancing "whole brain" visuals (head, heart, gut, spirit) with a plausible story (enough newness but still the familiar) with a sense of magic and mystery (without overdoing it, so easily done). This picture, though not overtly a sustainability picture, gets at the latter for me which is often missing in many sustainability stills of the future
Comments:
Nicole: Interesting winner of a NG competition. This is another example of an emerging "genre" of sustainable future city depictions worth analyzing more closely. I picked this because it looked like a good place to be after a number of rainy days. It was also intriguing. Again: appealing to the non-rational is a good criteria for successful candidates! Stuart: Interesting. Did this have anything to do with (Silicon Valley libertarian group) the Seasteading Institute? Francois Jegou: ...it remind me of some visions of the 80's of floating cities (actually I also committed some of these visions see http://www.amazon.fr/2100-récit-du-prochain-siècle/dp/2228887307 and attached below)... But they were visions more of 'expanding civilization', of 'populating the see when the continent would be too full'... Therefore I wonder why is it supposed to be a 'sustainable' future?
Erika: When I think about "what works and what doesn't" I find myself distracted by the emotional impact of the image, which in this case is one of sadness and isolation. Depending on the context that might mean the image is successful: if it's meant to provide a jolt, it works. If it's meant to guide me toward a solution, it fails, as it leaves me with a sense of anxiety which—for me, anyway—isn't a generative emotion. There is something about being at sea in the most literal sense that works against connectedness and interdependence that I suspect are greater motivators. |
Future of Real Estate Scenarios for the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
Nicole: This is part of work we're doing for the NAR - a strategic transformation process called RETHINK. http://rethinkfuture.com Format: motion graphics, which we are using these days to animate scenarios. I've attached 1) framework explaining the different scenarios for context 2) but focus on the other video which talks about an alternative future for real estate that is more sustainable. Pros: 1) these have been effective in communicating across about 20,000 complex future possibilities that are not black and white (the usual problem with scenario development). 2) they were relatively cost-effective 3) enabled any facilitator to scale the 3 hr strategic dialogue process without special training or knowledge of the scenarios Cons: they lack the emotional push/ draw that comes with human depicted futures Erika: Nicole: I would love to know what these cost, just for future reference |
Comments:
Nicole: Again, part of this yet-to-be-named genre of sustainable future city depictions.
What I like about this: the focus on showing how we can take a perceived negative (fog) into a solution (water harvesting). What I don't like: hard to interact with these images. I want to zoom in and out. I want the iPad effect. I want a little Google Earth capabilities in the mix.
Erika: Aha, city as kelp bed.
This works for its blend of familiarity and novelty and the plausibility of such a future in this social context. I agree with Nicole's note about zoom-ability. And what I always wish for is the ability to get inside one of the structures and see exactly what's going on there... so I want more detail about the components of the image as well as the whole gestalt it represents.
SOURCE
http://inhabitat.com/san-francisco-in-2108-the-hydro-net-vision-of-future/
San Francisco is already one of the greenest cities in the US, but check out this wild new concept from IwamotoScott Architects to completely remake the city into an ecotopia by 2108.
The design, which is as visually stunning as it is thought-provoking, recently won the History Channel’s City of the Future competition. It’s a full-scale urban system that combines the most innovative green technologies with San Francisco’s unique microclimate and geologic conditions, to produce a compelling vision for the future. Hydro-Net, as the project is known, will bring the lovely city-by-the-bay (which many Inhabitants call home) squarely into the 22nd Century with algae-harvesting towers, geothermal energy ‘mushrooms’, and fog catchers which distill fresh water from San Francisco’s infamous fog.
Nicole: Again, part of this yet-to-be-named genre of sustainable future city depictions.
What I like about this: the focus on showing how we can take a perceived negative (fog) into a solution (water harvesting). What I don't like: hard to interact with these images. I want to zoom in and out. I want the iPad effect. I want a little Google Earth capabilities in the mix.
Erika: Aha, city as kelp bed.
This works for its blend of familiarity and novelty and the plausibility of such a future in this social context. I agree with Nicole's note about zoom-ability. And what I always wish for is the ability to get inside one of the structures and see exactly what's going on there... so I want more detail about the components of the image as well as the whole gestalt it represents.
SOURCE
http://inhabitat.com/san-francisco-in-2108-the-hydro-net-vision-of-future/
San Francisco is already one of the greenest cities in the US, but check out this wild new concept from IwamotoScott Architects to completely remake the city into an ecotopia by 2108.
The design, which is as visually stunning as it is thought-provoking, recently won the History Channel’s City of the Future competition. It’s a full-scale urban system that combines the most innovative green technologies with San Francisco’s unique microclimate and geologic conditions, to produce a compelling vision for the future. Hydro-Net, as the project is known, will bring the lovely city-by-the-bay (which many Inhabitants call home) squarely into the 22nd Century with algae-harvesting towers, geothermal energy ‘mushrooms’, and fog catchers which distill fresh water from San Francisco’s infamous fog.
Comments:
Nicole: Pros: I like the visual depictions of the different scenarios of how the land physically evolves over 40 years. Cons: Still too high level visually for me to get much meaning out of it; and again, I want to interact with these! Stuart: Out of context these definitely lack deeper meaning as Nicole says. They remind me of the Metro Quest tool developed by John Robinson's students at UBC - which makes me suspect that there is probably some more data behind the story, somewhere. Which in turn raises the question; how well do these visualisations need to stand alone in order to count as successful models, for our purposes? |