ANTICIPATION Conference - 5-7 November 2015, Trento, Italy

Design and Anticipation; When Design Shapes Possible Futures

Anticipation and design are both future-oriented activities, although they usually operate in different environments and, as a consequence, their aims and means are (partially) different. Design cultures are able to go beyond the existing ambience; they innovate by shaping objectives and indicating directions of change. Design cultures overlap with futures studies in many different ways: both are future-oriented, both serve people and social institutions, both deal with uncertainty, fuzziness, complexity and cultural issues. Both design and futures studies negotiate the needs of different stakeholders, aiming at developing more complete and integral viewpoints.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to

  • theoretical reflections and case studies on the cooperation between design disciplines (product, communication, services, interior design and architectural design and technology) and futures studies
  • histories of design and architecture that have anticipated future directions
  • methods and tools to anticipate within design practices (trends, scenarios, design fiction, etc.)
  • visualization and projection of the possible future within enterprises (Advanced Design case studies).

Conveners

  • Manuela Celi (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Daniele Fanzini (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Elena Formia (Università di Bologna)

Relevant information:

  • To submit an abstract to this session send an email to: designanticipation2015[at]gmail.com