Futuro 50|50
Exhibition Design, Film Production
Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro
January 2018
Inspired by the Futuro House designed by Matti Suuronen, the Futuro 50|50 exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne looked fifty years back to think about life in fifty years. The two-week exhibit tried to give visitors glimpses into possible futures, inspiring reflection and introspection.
Listen to the episode of my podcast, Cognitive Snap, where I talk about this project.
Context
Seven teams worked on the different aspects of life. We worked collectively on the topics of the Environment, Climate Change, Mobility, Education, Society, Health and Work. My main focus (along with my team) would be on Work and the workplace of the future.
What would a typical workday look like? What industries would persist? What new fields of work would technology bring into existence? And how will we as a society deal with the consequences?
“What we are interested in, though, is the idea of possible futures and using them as tools to better understand the present and to discuss the kind of future people want, and, of course, ones people do not want.”
The interior layout of the Futuro House, and the layout of the installation inspired by it.
Story
An abstract concept like the one we chose easily becomes confusing and intimidating. We needed a story that would serve as the guide for discussion. After several creative brainstorming sessions, we ended up asking ourselves what the future of crime looked like and how the investigators of these crimes would work. We wanted to explore how technology would improve crime prevention and crime detection, but also where it might be lacking.
After narrowing the theme to "the future of criminal investigation", we set about trying to communicate this idea. Being heavily inspired by science fiction books and movies, we made a "movie trailer" for the concept.
We only wanted to hint at the "plot" at this stage, without giving too much away. This was only a vehicle for us to represent the scenario and to gauge the reactions to it. We deliberately stuck to just silhouettes. This made the scenario mysterious and ominous.
Installation Concept
The physical installation was to be a reflection of the technology shown in the concept film. Through "augmented reality", the visitors could follow a cold-case detective as he travels back in time to solve a crime.
In essence, the physical setup was two projectors that worked in sync to tell one combined story. One projector tracked the location of the detective by projecting animation onto an architectural model of the city, and the other one showed the film. The installation was made attractive and story-driven but would be engaging regardless of at what point the visitor starts watching.
Production and Editing
The film was shot in Munich, in and around the museum itself. We used handheld cameras and a drone. We also were the "actors" in the film ourselves. Animating the visual effects proved to be a lot harder than anticipated—given that I was learning it from scratch during the project. We used Adobe After Effects for the visual effects and Premiere Pro for the final production.
Bringing it all together
Even though we had all the elements of the installation, they were still just that: individual, separate elements. Bringing them together seamlessly with limited time and resources was challenging and, as it always is, fun. We had to constantly put out small fires ranging from figuring out the power source to the installation to finding a place to put the tablets that were the video source for the projectors. It was a lot of prototyping and failing forward. I now have a new-found respect for museum curators and installation designers.
Installation
Takeaway
Over the course of the project, we questioned the validity of our prediction. But judging speculative design based solely on the accuracy of the speculation is not only wrong, it misses the point of speculative design entirely. I now feel better-equipped to really test the boundaries of possibility and innovation through design.
I also learnt about the medium of film and animation, and other forms of visual communication—something that was quite new to me as a mechanical engineer. By exploring a new medium, I have learnt to appreciate the power of the medium in communication and how important it is to select the right medium.
“It is often said that if something is conceptual, it is only an idea, but that is missing the point. It is because it is an idea that it is important”
Project done in collaboration with Alex Graf, Lukas Schwabenbauer, Katharina Steinbach and the curators of the Pinakothek der Moderne.
Original Futuro House picture by Gili Merin.
See more of the project: here.
