Last week, some of our Washington D.C.-based team members were inspired by a visit to the Smithsonian’s Futures Exhibit.
Let’s travel to the Futures shall we?
FUTURES – with the s – is part exhibition, part festival feature at the Arts and Industries Building in Washington, DC that allows visitors to experience humanity’s potential future(s). The point of the plural is intentional, forcing visitors to reckon with the fact that our future is not set in stone, nor is its path decided, and that there are in fact multiple possible futures on the horizon. In the face of a future of climate catastrophe and environmental degradation, the FUTURES dares us to be hopeful. It asks us, how will we create a future we want to live in?
Futures Past
Understanding where we’re going means looking to our past to see how far we’ve come. Moving through the past, we watch as materials made from wood and metals slowly shift to being predominantly plastic – an innovation that achieved its goals, at the time, to be affordable, durable, and lightweight. As our team found through our work in the Microfiber Innovation Challenge, plastics have played an enormous role in the clothes we wear. We are still discovering the long-lasting impacts of plastics and microplastics, which are expansive and pervasive. We walk past the experimental telephone, patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. Our phones today are much more powerful, and multifunctional, but we also understand the implications of this progress – as seen through our work understanding where our gold comes from, which is widely used in mobile phones and most electronic devices. Leaving the Futures Past, we leave with questions of what our progress today means for the futures we create.
Futures that Work
The Futures that Work lures us in with the notion that “The challenges in our future are certain, even if the solutions are not.” Humanity can solve big problems, and this part of the exhibit allows us to see glimpses of possible solutions. Many of them rest on blocks of mycelium bricks – including a solar-powered water harvesting system and bioreactor that captures carbon to feed algae, which then can be used for food or fertilizer. We see a hyperloop train that could cut commute times and airplane traffic, and even a hand welded space-time capsule for Indigenous Futures – including instructions on nurturing plants to survive and thrive long after the original creator. In the back, we see a fridge of alternative proteins, and bags made from fish skins, both offering an alternative to our current reliance on meat and fast fashion. We leave with a few key questions – what will our new “normal” look like? What will we prioritize, and who is making those decisions?
Futures that Unite
Collective humanity, planetary genius, and collaboration are the themes of the purple hall directly across from Futures Past. Artificial intelligence is highlighted here, from sculpture to iterative game-play, humanity is learning from the machines and the machines are learning from humanity. Co-Lab allowed visitors to create complex designs that impact so many lives - skyscrapers, public services, parks. The AI partner helped solve conflicts that were not even anticipated by the designer, showing the power of processing speed to predict and solve complex issues. We also see clips of Futures We Dream - where filmmakers hand-selected grassroots organizations to tell stories of social justice issues across the U.S. They included topics from healthcare, Indigenous rights, immigration, and more. The goal of this space was clear – we must collaborate and connect to turn our future dreams into reality. What will it take to live more equitably in our desired future? How can we be more inclusive? These questions linger as we move to the last hall: Inspiration.
Futures that Inspire
Giant leaps for mankind and tackling grand challenges, can be daunting. This hall begs us to look at the future with the spirit of play. It asks us to be adventurous and brave in our endeavors. It is hard to ignore the giant Air Taxi in the back of the room, but less obvious showcases capture the imagination as well. We see a miniature version of communities living on the ocean, where floating communities could allow 10,000 people to live on the surface without harming marine life. We see Marvel Studios’ Eternals original costumes showcased, allowing us to see how storytelling and new innovations create an experience that can actually be envisioned. Lastly, thanks to augmented reality, the Futures that Inspire hall transforms into a meadow of wildflowers - insects and all - thanks to Tamiko Thiel and /p’s ReWildAR, which makes us question the reality right in front of us. Thiel worked with Smithsonian horticulture experts to create a future Washington D.C. ecosystem that has been affected by climate change.
As the exhibit said: The future is not a fact – it is a decision. We must focus on solutions and harness the power of technology and human ingenuity to create the future we’re inspired by. A future that works, unites, and inspires.
We'll end with one quote adorning the periphery of the Futures that Unite hall:
“Look closely at the present you are constructing: It should look like the future you are dreaming.”
We couldn’t agree more, and encourage you to Dare Mighty Things for our Futures along with us.
