In the collective imagination, design is almost always seen as a problem-solving process. Even in its most artistic and expressive forms, it ultimately remains tied to the idea of fixing something, of providing an answer, whether aesthetic or functional. But what if design could instead become a tool for questioning the present, or even for imagining the kinds of futures we would actually want to live in?
This question lies at the core of Speculative Design, an approach that began to take shape in the early 2000s as a way of exploring alternative future scenarios, rather than simply addressing problems through rational or functional solutions.
In other words, Speculative Design presents itself as a practice that does not seek definitive answers, but new questions. It is a form of design that opens up scenarios, sparks dialogue, encourages exchange, invites critique, and fuels the imagination.
What truly matters here, however, is not so much predicting the future as using the idea of possible futures as a lens through which to better understand the present. These alternative futures, as mentioned earlier, do not provide solutions, they raise questions. One above all: “What if…?”
It is precisely within this suspended space that the possibility emerges to think the unthinkable, to explore alternatives that would otherwise remain invisible or unexpressed.
