Ex01: Observing possible microfutures
- Flexible and mobile environments
I noticed that a lot of things objects are made to be mobile, from the most obvious example of having wheels attached to tables and other furniture, to having homes designed to be reconfigurable and having retail and educational experiences to be “on the spot”, such as pop-up shops and exhibits. There is a trend that things seem to be considered more valuable if it has more flexibility or adaptability, or has multiple uses. This sheds light on the fact that people in this age are constantly on the go and are accustomed to multi-tasking. People are grown to relate to their environment with less permanence, and lifestyles with frequent changes to environments are quite common. This emerging phenomenon also reflects an underlying desire for more return with least effort, which flexible modular environments afford.
2. Grunge, “nostalgia” and celebration of the “retro” /
less perfect and “genuine”
As there is a rise of homogenous aesthetics of clean, flat and minimalistic design, there is also an increasing appreciation towards things that are of the past or things that have flaws and imperfections. There is a return to handwritten texts, pictures with a dusty grungey textures, digital paintings and sounds/music with a glitch effect, etc.
3. Extended self
There are more and more outlets where we find our identity expressed, not only in social media, but also through forms of entertainment — gaming, spotify, pinterest. We are so accustomed to having multiple accounts that may potentially have different personas, that we can barely separate ourselves in daily life from these digital or alternative forms of “self”.
