Courses and workshops exploring speculative design as a practice to imagine what life might look like if society prioritized different values.

Cover image by Wauson Liang and Sully Bacerdo, Spring 2019, Washington University

“As we innovate rapidly in technology and communication, the economic and political structures that govern us have become largely assumed and unchallenged. This course explores the daily objects, interactions and spaces that make up these large systems (like a police ticket, or the layout of a courtroom), and experiments with how re-designing these elements can help us question the status quo. Building on diverse political mindsets and current trends, we will imagine fictional worlds, and craft the objects, procedures and interactions that inhabit them. Along the way, we’ll discuss the value of designing for fundamental change alongside more incremental reform.”

Read more about Radical Design and the ideas behind it at www.designradicalfutures.com

This class was developed at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, at Washington University in St. Louis, taught in Spring ’17, Fall ’17, Fall ’18 and Spring ’19. It was highlighted as an option for socially engaged practice on the Sam Fox website.