IN PROGRESS // Ephemecampment: poetically coping with climate disaster in 2050
Small scale prototyping
exploration of material, scale, weight distribution, encapsulation ratios, creation and degradation of space, etc.
Initial full scale prototyping
The climate has been deteriorating at an accelerated pace. In addition, the US is currently fast-tracking legal precedent that is expected to remove the voting rights of marginalized populations in addition to reversing or further blocking the rights of historically marginalized populations, reinforcing a theme of patriarchal and colonial values. When looking at 2050, we will start to see mass-migration and displacement of climate refugees in response to growing inhabitability of climate regions globally. The current legislative support of housing inequality and late-capitalism shows the potential for a future where those in power are not displaced by climate change while the historically marginalized will be displaced with few options; exacerbated by voter suppression, reserving the best living opportunities for those in power.
Ephemecampment uses speculative design practice as a way of demonstrating poetic ways of coping with displacement through nomadic satirical solutions for climate refugees to escape and retreat within our dystopian future, highlighting the marginalized populations that will be most affected by our legislative reinforcement of inequity in the US. This paper displays a forecast of our future in 2050, our future day-to-day, and uses theoretical designs to generate two inflatable installation pieces paired with visual graphics to narrate the experience of the climate refugee in 2050. One inflatable presents viewers with the emotional experience of their daily life, focusing on enticing the viewer to interact with the inflable to experience the discomfort and escapism of the future. The second inflatable presents a critical and satirical speculative design of the climate refugee’s nomadic living solution of spatial environment and household objects. The purpose of this work is to challenge the design community on generating speculative narratives to approach our bleak future as well as engage the public with these concepts through the installation of playfully designed objects.
Confuscian philosophy refers to the wind as a guide for political leadership to guide citizens as a tranquil element that peacefully directs forces towards calm for all. In current times, this connects to the parallel relationship of global shifts in tyrannical political leadership to disastrous wind patterns that signal inevitable climate disaster. Global precedents to further silence the voices of marginalized populations, reinforce a theme of patriarchal and colonial values. When looking at 2050, we will start seeing mass-migration and displacement of climate refugees in response to growing inhabitability of climate regions globally. Trends in world-wide political support of housing inequality and late-capitalism shows the potential for a future where those in power are not displaced by climate change, while the historically marginalized will be displaced with few options; exacerbated by voter suppression, reserving the maintenance of the best living conditions for those in power.
Ephemecampment brings the representation of the wind as a destructive voice of mother nature retaliating back to tyrannical political leadership and points to these two sides of our bleak future; climate crisis intersecting with political regression. This paper first displays a trend forecast for 2050, our future day-to-day, and presents the satirical speculative design representation of the wind through seemingly ethereal and playful inflatable spaces partnered with designed objects for climate refugees in 2050; representing escapism and poetic ways of coping with disaster.
One inflatable presents viewers with the emotional experience of future daily life, focusing on enticing the viewer to interact with the experience of discomfort and escapism. The second inflatable presents a critical and satirical speculative design, a climate refugee’s nomadic living solution of spatial environment and household objects. The purpose is to challenge the design community on generating speculative narratives to approach our bleak future and engages the public through installation.