exhibition explores how designers are shaping the future at the philadelphia museum of art

the major exhibition designs for different futures at the philadelphia museum of art explores how designers today are shaping the future. organized together with the walker art center, minneapolis, and the art institute of chicago, the exhibition brings together some 80 works that address the challenges and opportunities that humans may encounter in the years, decades, and centuries ahead.

installation view of designs for different futures (resources), featuring another generosity (see designboom’s coverage here), designed 2018 by eero lundén, ron aasholm, and carmen lee of lundén architecture company in collaboration with bergent, burohappold engineering, and aalto university (courtesy of the designers)

photo by joseph hu, all installation images courtesy philadelphia museum of art

open until march 8, 2020 at the philadelphia museum of art, the exhibition examines the role of designers in shaping how we think about the future. while no one can precisely predict the shape of things to come, the works in the exhibition are firmly fixed on the future, providing design solutions for a number of speculative scenarios. in some instances, these proposals are borne of a sense of anxiety, and in others of a sense of excitement over the possibilities that can be created through the use of innovative materials, new technologies, and, most importantly, fresh ideas.installation view of designs for different futures (resources), featuring another generosity, designed 2018 by eero lundén, ron aasholm, and carmen lee of lundén architecture company in collaboration with bergent, burohappold engineering, and aalto university (courtesy of the designers), photo by juan arce

‘we often think of art museums as places that foster a dialogue between the past and the present, but they also can and should be places that inspire us to think about the future and to ask how artists and designers can help us think creatively about it,’ states timothy rub, the george d. widener director and chief executive officer of the philadelphia museum of art. ‘we are delighted to be able to collaborate with the walker art center and the art institute of chicago on this engaging project, which will offer our visitors an opportunity to understand not only how designers are imagining—and responding to—different visions of the futures, but also to understand just how profoundly forward-looking design contributes in our own time to shaping the world that we occupy and will bequeath as a legacy to future generations.’

installation view of designs for different futures (powers), featuring handmaid’s costume, 2017, by ane crabtree, courtesy mgm television; ZXX typeface, 2012, by sang mun; and CV dazzle: camouflage from face detection, 2017, by adam harvey, photo by juan arce

the exhibition is divided into 11 thematic sections that explore the designers and architects’ speculations on the future, which, ranging from the concrete to the whimsical, can profoundly affect how we imagine what is to come. among the many forward-looking projects on view, visitors to designs for different futures will encounter lab-grown food, robotic companions, family leave policy proposals, and textiles made of seaweed.

‘some of these possibilities will come to fruition, while others will remain dreams or even threats,’ says kathryn hiesinger, the j. mahlon buck, jr. family senior curator of european decorative arts after 1700, who coordinated the exhibition in philadelphia with former assistant curator michelle millar fisher. ‘we’d like visitors to join us as we present designs that consider the possible, debate the inevitable, and weigh the alternatives. this exhibition explores how design—understood expansively—can help us all grapple with what might be on the horizon and allows our imaginations to take flight.’

installation view of designs for different futures (materials), featuring iris van herpen syntopia finale dress, 2018, by iris van herpen; kombukamui, 2018, by julia lohmann; and seaweed textile, 2019, by violaine buet, photo by juan arce

installation view of designs for different futures (generations), featuring resurrecting the sublime, 2019, by christina agapakis, alexandra daisy ginsberg, and sissel tolaas with support from iff and ginko bioworks, inc., photo by juan arce ‘raising robotic natives,’ designed 2016 by stephen bogner, philipp schmitt, and jonas voigt (courtesy of the designers), photograph © stephan bogner, philipp schmitt, and jonas voigt ‘cricket shelter: modular edible insect farm’, designed 2016 by mitchell joachim (courtesy of the designer), photograph © mitchell joachim, terreform ONE ‘phoeniX exoskeleton,’ designed around 2013 by dr. homayoon kazerooni for suitX (courtesy of the manufacturer), photograph ©suitX

‘svalbard global seed vault’, designed 2008 by peter w. søderman, barlindhaug consulting (exhibition display courtesy of usda agricultural research service, national laboratory for genetic resources preservation), photograph courtesy of global crop diversity trust ‘petit pli—clothes that grow,’ designed 2017 by ryan mario yasin (courtesy of the designer), photograph © ryan mario yasin ‘circumventive organs,’ electrostabilis cardium (film still),’ designed 2013 by agi haines (courtesy of the designer) ‘alien nation: parade 0,’ designed 2017 by lisa hartje moura at head-genève (private collection) photo © head-genève, michel giesbrecht, 2017 ‘ZXX typeface,’ designed 2012, by sang mun (courtesy of the designer), photograph © sang mun

the exhibition designs for different futures is on at the philadelphia museum of art until march 8, 2020, and will then be presented at the walker art center from september 12, 2020 to january 3, 2021, and the art institute of chicago from february 6 to may 16, 2021.

project info:

name: designs for different futures 

location: philadelphia museum of art, the walker art center, minneapolis, and the art institute of chicago

duration: october 22, 2019–march 8, 2020 (philadelphia museum of art), september 12, 2020–january 3, 2021 (walker art center), february 6–may 16, 2021 (art institute of chicago)