Function of Speculative Design in Envisioning Alternative Worlds of the Future

Speculative design serves dual purposes: encouraging imagination about potential futures while critiquing the present. Its core concept is "design fiction" — creating intentionally unreal, discursive concepts freed from commercial constraints. These function as "imaginative conversations" sparking debate and unrestricted thinking.

The work distinguishes between future categories — possible, plausible, probable, preferable — using the "Cone of Futures" framework. Speculative stories take forms such as what-if scenarios, cautionary tales, and thought experiments. Designers bridge current and fictional worlds through contextual design, verisimilitude, observational comedy, and alternative presents.

My research proposal incorporates marginalized contexts, particularly Middle Eastern perspectives, into speculative design. The methodology combines storytelling as qualitative research collecting visions of futures in Middle Eastern cities, and worldbuilding through research-by-design via VR, AR, or MR visualizations.

Expected outcome: essays and digital visualizations depicting multiple speculative futures, functioning as "future-telling machines" that dismantle singular future narratives and invite communities toward alternative imaginings.