VISUAL CONVERSATIONS ON URBAN FUTURESParticipatory methods to design scenarios of liveable cities

Serena Pollastri - Lancaster University

A VISUAL HISTORY OF THE FUTURENick Dunn, Paul Cureton, Serena Pollastri. 2014

RESEARCH QUESTIONWhat would be ways of building visions and scenarios of urban

futures that articulate the plurality, differences, and conflicts that characterise the city, rather than being based on consensus and

internal coherence? Image from the Collision workshop:http://blogs.lgru.net/collision/?page_id=2

(the Collision-workshops are an initiative of Pierre Huyghebaert in collaboration with

http://lgru.net and Constant)

RESEARCH QUESTIONWhat would be ways of building visions and scenarios of urban

futures that articulate the plurality, differences, and conflicts that characterise the city, rather than being based on consensus and

internal coherence?

Processes and artefacts that utilise visual language to enable or document voices imagining and debating

possible futures for life in the city

VISUAL CONVERSATIONSON URBAN FUTURES

SUBJECTIVEFUTURES.WORDPRESS.COM

UTOPIEFrance, 1968-197X

UTOPIEFrance, 1968-197X

“the fact that the critical column reacted to the text or the drawing was good; it produced fights, overlaps, critiques, everything you can imagine” (Jean Aubert, 2010)

IMAGINARYGUIDELINESTurkey, 2014

SUBJECTIVEFUTURES.WORDPRESS.COM

SUBJECTIVEFUTURES.WORDPRESS.COM

visual reports

gamesplatforms

little magazines

VISUAL CONVERSATIONS ON URBAN FUTURESProcesses and artefacts that utilise visual language

to enable or document voices imagining and debating possible futures for life in the city

DESIGNEXPERIMENTS

VISUAL WRITING

PARTICIPATORY SCENARIO MAKING

CREATIVE SPECULATIONS

DESIGNEXPERIMENTS(in the paper)

VISUAL WRITING

PARTICIPATORY SCENARIO MAKING

CREATIVE SPECULATIONS

DESIGNEXPERIMENTS(in the paper)

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIES

FUTUREVISIONINGBREAKFASTS

FUTUREVISIONINGBREAKFASTS

FUTUREVISIONINGBREAKFASTSProcesses of Visual Conversations on Urban Futures

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

SEREMIRU.COM/ATLAS/EXPORT/INDEX.HTML

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

1.WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE?

FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY as discussed in theRETAIL SECTOR WORKSHOP (a summary)

The urban environment is rationalised to maximise effi-ciency, . The cyclical economy makes systems mode self sufficient. Needs are met by efficient solution, and activi-ties such as travelling and growing are just for leisure.

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

1.WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE?

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

1.WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE?

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

2.WHAT WILL CITIES OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? HOW WILL WE LIVE IN THEM?

wellbeing

eco-systems

energy

city structure

prodyction/consumption

governance

policy

living

communities

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

2.WHAT WILL CITIES OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? HOW WILL WE LIVE IN THEM?

wellbeing

eco-systems

energy

city structure

prodyction/consumption

governance

policy

living

communities

ARCHITECTS AND URBANISTS

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

2.WHAT WILL CITIES OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? HOW WILL WE LIVE IN THEM?

wellbeing

eco-systems

energy

city structure

prodyction/consumption

governance

policy

living

communities

EDUCATION SECTOR

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIESMaking Visual Conversations on Urban Futuresreadable

2.WHAT WILL CITIES OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? HOW WILL WE LIVE IN THEM?

wellbeing

eco-systems

energy

city structure

prodyction/consumption

governance

policy

living

communities

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT SECTOR

AN ATLAS OFFUTURE IMAGINARYCITIES...have a look, tell us what you think!

SEREMIRU.COM/ATLAS/EXPORT/INDEX.HTML

VISUAL WRITING

PARTICIPATORY SCENARIO MAKING

CREATIVE SPECULATIONS

DESIGNEXPERIMENTSthis is where I have been able to try the approach so far...

VISUAL CONVERSATIONSON URBANFUTURESfurther research is needed!

OTHER CONTEXTS?

DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS/ PURPOSES?

MORE EXPERIMENTS WITH PROCESSES, TECHNIQUES, MEDIA?

TOOLS FOR SELF-DOCUMENTATION?

CONCLUSIONS(WHY DOES IT MATTER)

- Visual conversations on urban futures are not themselves agents of change, but can offer a significant contribution in the early stages of processes of building scenarios for possible futures.

- Visual conversations on urban futures are not themselves agents of change, but can offer a significant contribution in the early stages of processes of building scenarios for possible futures.

- Building alternatives to the dominant order by “making possible what apperar(s) to be impossible” (Lefebvre, 1970, cited in (Buckley & Violeau, 2011).

CONCLUSIONS(WHY DOES IT MATTER)

- Visual conversations on urban futures are not themselves agents of change, but can offer a significant contribution in the early stages of processes of building scenarios for possible futures.

- Building alternatives to the dominant order by “making possible what apperar(s) to be impossible” (Lefebvre, 1970, cited in (Buckley & Violeau, 2011).

- While in times of urgent change seeking clarity and agreement might seem a much preferable route, we argue that articulating divergence is a necessary step to explore truly radical solutions. Stepping back from a solution-oriented approach allows us to critically question the present and the underlying assumptions of current research and political discourse on “growth” and “sustainability”.

CONCLUSIONS(WHY DOES IT MATTER)

THANK YOUSerena Pollastri

Lancaster University

s.pollastri@lancaster.ac.uk@sere_miru

subjectivefutures.wordpress.com