Speculative thinking is a common approach in contemporary science, art, design, technology, literature and other elds. It often involves developing scenarios or narratives that explore alternative present and future states. Speculative thinking can be employed to challenge assumptions and biases, and to push the boundaries of what is considered possible and to raise critical discussion and public engagement on science, technology, and society.
This seminar aims to explore the potential of speculative thinking as a critical practice, while highlighting and problematizing certain aspects. Building on the work of Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Benjamin Bratton, Suhail Malik, Holly Jean Buck, we will aim to answer the following questions. How can we introduce more radical alternatives to the existing ideologically restricted narratives and worldviews ? In what ways speculative thinking can help designers, architects and researchers to formulate hypotheses, experiment, and engage with complex questions in a more meaningful way? How to balance creativity and imagination with practicality and feasibility? What sort of soft skills, or rather sensitivities and sensibilities, need to be developed to eectively address the complexity and fast-moving political and technological ideas?