Weak Signals in the Wild
Syllabus⇝
Every future scenario is built by detecting “weak signals” that set trends and point to certain directions, based on the analysis of the main change factors we can detect in the present. And the present for 2022 is a convulsed place, subjected to immense systemic crises that generate doubts about the survival of the status quo in multiple spheres. As a transversal and ongoing project of the Masters in Design for Emergent Futures, the Atlas of Weak Signals presents a space and a structure in which to navigate and position ourselves in this complex panorama, allowing for students and faculty to find design and intervention contexts and opportunities. The goal of this first Weak Signals in the Wild Week is to give the students a general overview of the signals and toolkit that constitute the ongoing Atlas, a showcase of the research projects developed by former students and research faculty, and finally, a glimpse into a specific context which offers a hyper-local and situated view of some of the possible vectors that the Atlas presents.
Deliverables⇝
One post on the personal student website with a reflection of the outcomes and experience of the week. High-resolution image of their first Multiscalar Design Space.
Additional Resources⇝
(https://www.elisava.net/en/publications/temes-de-disseny-36-design-futures-now-literacies-and-making)
Faculty⇝
Multimedia developer, interaction designer & researcher, Mariana Quintero works and develops her practice at the intersection where digital fabrication technologies, digital literacy, and information and computation ethics & aesthetics meet, contributing to projects that investigate how digital information and technologies translate, represent, and mediate knowledge about the world. She is currently a faculty member and part of the strategic team at the Masters in Design for Emergent Futures at IAAC | Fab Lab Barcelona.