1 The XXI International Exhibition photographs Curators of the Triennale di Milano, respective authors & Robert Sošić, Ivica Mitrović & Oleg Šuran “The 21st Century. Design Ivo Martinović, Glorija Lizde, After Design”, presentation Darko Škrobonja, kontejner.org Exhibition equipment design of the Republic of Croatia Filip Havranek & Kristina thanks to Lugonja ( Havranek+Lugonja ) National Museum od Science General Consulate of Republic 2 and Technology Leonardo of Croatia in Milano: Authors da Vinci / Cavallerizze ( Iva Pavić, Emina El Majzoub ), Lina Kovačević, Robert Čanak, 2 April – 12 September 2016 Dunja Miličić, Luciana Škabar, Anselmo Tumpić, Nikola Bojić, Maja Mrduljaš, Jure Grgić, Jelena Damir Prizmić, Ivica Mitrović, Speculative – Post-Design Perišić, Marko Golub, Filip Rogošić Oleg Šuran, Andreja Kulunčić, Practice or New Utopia? Nina Bačun, Anders Mellbrat English translation & Silvio Vujičić Publishers Mirna Herman Baletić & Leo Štedul Ministry of Culture of ( Jezični laboratorij d.o.o. ) Organisers the Republic of Croatia & Ministry of Culture of Croatian Designers Association Italian translation the Republic of Croatia & Erika Koporčić & Katja Anić Croatian Designers Association for publishers Zlatko Hasanbegović, PhD graphic design coordination & Ivana Borovnjak Oleg Šuran Mirjana Jakušić, Iva Mostarčić & Nevena Tudor Perković editors Typefaces Ivica Mitrović & Oleg Šuran Thema, Thema Moderato, speculative.hr Typonine Sans, texts Typonine Sans Condensed Zagreb, 2016 Ivica Mitrović & Marko Golub ( Nikola Đurek, Typonine ) The exhibition is financed with participation of print by the Ministry of Culture James Auger, Nicolas Nova, Matt Tiskara Zelina of the Republic of Croatia Ward, Ramia Mazé, Michael Smyth, Cameron Tonkinwise, Print run Francisco Laranjo, Lina Kovačević, 1000 Robert Čanak, Anselmo Tumpić, Nikola Bojić, Damir Prizmić, Nina ISBN 978-953-6778-15-7 Bačun, Andreja Kulunčić, Silvio Vujičić, Demitrios Kargotis & CIP data is available in the Dash Macdonald, Tobias Revell, digital catalogue of the National David Benqué, Anab Jain, Estelle and University Library in Hary & Bastien Kerspern Zagreb, number 000928035 Speculative – Post-Design 3 Practice or New Utopia? Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia & Croatian Designers Association — april 2016 Introduction 4 to Speculative Design Practice Ivica Mitrović Extension of “Introduction to Speculative Design Practice” text published in the Introduction to Speculative Design Practice – Eutropia, a Case Study booklet.1 The relation between design and art ( and Discursive and other related disciplines ) can be observed in several stages, i.e. from the high modern- Critical Design ist synthesis of applied arts, visual arts and design in the 1950s, to the scientification of Practice design throughout the 1960s and the em- phasis on its rationality and the postmod- ernist position in which it is once again po- 5 From the modernist perspective, design sitioned at the centre of the interrelations has been primarily regarded as a prob- of various disciplines, no longer through a lem-solving practice, usually dealing with complete synthesis, but, above all, through problems detected by other professions. In their interaction. Therefore, it comes as no this sense, the mission of design is closely surprise that an increasing number of de- linked to the needs of the industry or, in a signers take upon some new approaches to broader sense, the creation of a better living design. These “new designers” act on the standard. From such modernist perspec- borders of traditionally defined disciplines, tive, design is seen as a service activity that removing the borders between them.3 primarily addresses clients’ needs. Howev- In their research, these new design- er, as graphic designer and publicist Dejan ers relate to diverse fields of science, pri- Kršić points out, design has always been a marily computer sciences and engineering, signifying practice that generates, analyses, sociology, psychology, architecture, and, distributes, mediates and reproduces social in the recent times, increasingly to bio- meaning, especially nowadays, in the con- technology, all with the goal of critically text of the new social, technological, media reflecting on the development and role of and economic conditions.2 technology in society. Designers re-think ice cr n ct it g a ic i r a s p l e d d n e l g s i i a s g e n n speculative design practice d o i p e t r v a i d s c r t a i u c r c e s t d fig. 1 Traditional design vs Speculative design. the role of technology in everyday life, commonly associated with the design of without dealing with the applications of digital products, applications or services. technology, but rather by considering its In this context, through his own implications. Turning away from the com- personal design practice, and later through mercial aspects of design with the focus on the establishment of a novel educational the demands of the market, they are now approach as the Head of the Design Interac- engaged with a broader social context. The tions Department at the Royal College of Art 6 new designers use design as a medium and ( the RCA ) for many years, Anthony Dunne, focus on concepts and artefacts, and, rath- in an approach he termed “critical design”, er than solving problems, ask questions has dealt with the aesthetics of the use of and open issues to discussion. new technologies in the context of elec- The researcher and educatorRamia tronic products.5 However, over the years, Mazé says there are three different ap- and in collaboration with Fiona Raby, he proaches to critical design practice: the first expanded the focus of his activities to the sees designers reflecting on and critically cultural, social and ethical implications of questioning their own design practice; the new technologies, and, most recently, on second approach is based on a macro-per- speculations about broader social, eco- spective, re-thinking the design discipline nomic and political issues.6 as such; whereas in the third approach the design discourse is directed towards broad- er social and political phenomena.4 Mazé points out that these approaches are not Speculating mutually exclusive, as they most often inter- twine and supplement each other in practice. through Design: a Historical references of critical de- sign practice point to radical architecture question instead of the 1960s, and partially to the critical practice of avant-garde and neo-avant-gar- of an answer de art. They are particularly inspired by the narrative quality and imaginary worlds of literature and film. Design and critical Speculative design is a critical design prac- practice create more intense links in the tice that comprises or is related to a series of interaction design, a specialized field of similar practices known under the follow- design that emerged in the early 1990s as ing names: critical design, design fiction, a result of the accelerated development of future design, anti-design, radical design, digital technologies. The classical definition interrogative design, discursive design, of interaction design describes it as a prac- adversarial design, futurescape, design art, tice dealing with the ways in which people transitional design etc. For instance, design connect via the products and technologies fiction is a potential genre of speculative they use, i.e. with the design of our everyday design practice, and “critical design”, as de- lives via digital artefacts. Today, it is most fined by Dunne, is a possible approach. now domestication → technologies 7 here 1. speculative futures → 2. alternative presents fig. 2 Alternative presents and speculative futures ( Auger ). Here and now: everyday life and real products available on the market. The higher the line, the more emergent the technology and the longer and less predictable the transit to everyday life. Speculative futures exist as projections of the lineage in future. The alternative reality presents a shift from the lineage at some point in the past to re-imagine our technological present. Speculative design is a discursive practice, from the constraints of the commercial based on critical thinking and dialogue, practice ( steered by the market ); ( ii ) uses which questions the practice of design ( and fiction and speculates on future products, its modernist definition ). However, the spec- services, systems and worlds, thus reflec- ulative design approach takes the critical tively examining the role and impact of practice one step further, towards imagina- new technologies on everyday life; ( iii ) tion and visions of possible scenarios. Spec- and initiates dialogue between experts ulative design is also one of the most repre- ( scientists, engineers and designers ) and sentative examples of the new interaction users of new technologies ( the audience ).7 between various disciplines. It is therefore Today we can see that capital uses pro- interesting to see how new designers view motion and investments in the technology their practice: they call themselves trans-dis- by programming the technological develop- ciplinary, post-disciplinary or even post-de- ment to actually colonialize the future.8 In signers, quite often even simply – designers. this technological context, design often acts Sometimes they do not even declare to be in the so-called “Western melancholy”9 dis- acting from the design perspective at all. course where “the problem” of technologi- By speculating, designers re-think cal alienation, manifested as