It's rare to come across an academic program that allows considerable time for students to ruminate on potential design dilemmas of the far away future—for example, if robots eventually replace a good number of our jobs, where will this leave us? In a hypothetical tomorrow where raising meat is not only unsustainable, but rather not even an option, how will we satisfy our deeply embedded cravings for the taste of meat while also providing proper nutrition? A few programs may see these explorations as an indulgent fiction, a sort of sci-fi rendering of product design not applicable to the present day—but what these critics would be missing is the fact that as a designer today, you must be able to postulate and think about concerns of the future. As things evolve culturally and technologically, working in the design field requires a kind of elasticity, chameleon-like ability to adapt to changing times, and finally, astute thoughtfulness. 

At the exhibition from Central Saint Martins' "Material Futures" degree class at Ventura Lambrate, we were confronted by a hypothetical future reality that felt quite plausible. The results were prescient in that they addressed common concerns in society today, but took these ideas a step further by objectifying solutions through ambitious and often surreal product prototypes.

One example of the surreal nature of the exhibit, this student's project asked participants to listen into headphones plugged into a glistening bodily organ sitting over ice.

Let's take a look at some of the projects that caught our eye: 

"Sea-bacon 04518" by Hana Alkouh

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This project addresses an entirely relevant concern of the present in an extreme manner—positing a potential future where we stop the traditional production of meet entirely. One solution to satisfying our cravings? Dulse seaweed, a red marine algae that, when fried, apparently tastes no different than bacon. Using this algae as a communicative tool, Alkouh aims to design the infrastructure of a production cycle logistically similar to the way we produce meat now, only using alternative and more sustainable processes and materials. 

"Dew" by Apilada Vorachart

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In Northern Thailand it is common after a corn harvest to burn the remaining waste of husks and cobs. Unfortunately, this practice also contributes to significant environmental haze. Vorachart's project hopes to find alternative, highly practical uses for these materials otherwise seen as waste, ranging from small objects like baskets to even architectural building materials. 

"Through the Skyglow" by Manuel Thiessart

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I loved this project perhaps for more poetic reasons (also as a city dweller who never gets to see the stars it felt especially relevant)—in his brief, Thiessart asks, "how can we preserve the magic of darkness in an artificially illuminated world?" Through a series of prototypes that allow people to experience a more authentic sense of darkness in our light-polluted world, this project helps people develop a higher awareness about our current relationship with the overabundance of artificial light. Another prototype supposedly allows people to stargaze past the light pollution in city landscapes. 

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"Inedible Futures" by Valentina Coraglia

Photo by Valentina Coraglia

Sometimes design can help create possible solutions for dealing with humanitarian issues, as proven in Coraglia's project that tackles the topic of disaster relief and cleanup. The project proposes feeding rubble from disaster sites into a "pasta machine" she developed that molds the refuse into new shapes and building materials—the entire presentation is a clever effort to demonstrate how post-disaster waste management could and should look even in the near future. 

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"HUMANMADE" by Charlotte Nordmoen

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Nordmoen's project explores the implications of a potential future where many jobs are taken over by robots. The display included a robot specifically meant to create pottery along with a video demonstrating the "artist" at work. By displaying a robot performing an activity we would not normally reserve for an unconscious being, the installation brings up the question of what role jobs play in the life of humans and how might we cope in a world where this aspect of our lives becomes obsolete.