19 April 2017

The Why Factory MSc3/4 Graduation Studio 2017-2018

Hypothetical Horizons for a Better World

Can you imagine an infinite iteration of future worlds? What would the world look like if free migration was the norm? Can we maximize change by prioritizing projects that secure a multiplier factor? What kind of world could survive constant volcanic eruptions? What if all urban development was perfectly energy efficient and sustainable? What would happen if we all lived like middle class or if we could all live forever? How does our life change when luxury is achievable by everybody? How do we commute and how do we consume if everything is printed on demand? What the world would look like if it had only one country and one leader? What type of new territories might emerge if roads were considered obsolete?

The Why Factory is dedicated to creating and visualizing future cities; the Ball Fiction  Studio will scale up this vision. Starting from a precise “What if…?” question to draw a hypothetical scenario, and continuing with global data projections and research, each student will develop one of those scenarios that will change the world (dramatically) in the next 100 years. This change will be explored on all scales; from global to territorial, to architectural typology, down to innovation on a building technology scale: what are the details that change the world? With the support of the Building Technology tutors, this studio will challenge students to interrogate the fundamental shapers of their scenario on a 1:50, 1:20, 1:10, 1:1… scale.

We want to explore hypothetical thinking that includes radical conceptions of ecosystems, transport networks, cultural formations, economic principles, and health paradigms. These vectors of change then become the guiding factor in how we design the cities of the future. The research graduation studio is interested in finding out what architecture changes and innovations could support each of these new worlds. How to visualize a radically new world urbanism brought about by rapid change(s) and founded on radical architectural innovations?

Ball Fiction  will guide students through this process of formulating and visualizing their future fantasies: learning to dream big, to prepare them with the skills and tools to imagine – then effect – change. How does our life change? How do we commute and how do we consume? What is the urgency and how can we communicate this to global leaders? At the end of the studio, each student will be asked to produce, among other material, a physical model -their World (i.e. their Ball)- depicting their future fantasies, as well as an animated movie exploring the implementation of their scenarios and their impacts on – literally- the horizon.

The resulting collection of fictional balls  will be part of an installation to be setup in Delft and other venues to be announced.


The Why Factory MSc3/4 Graduation Studio 2017-2018
Professor: Winy Maas
Tutors: Adrien Ravon, Javier Arpa
Future Models Seminar: Arend van Waart