Mirai Toshi (未来都市): Speculations on Social-Ecological Urban Futures

The work of this studio will depart from the careful reading of two recently written philosophical texts on ecology and the Anthropocene – Kohei Saito' Capital in the Anthropocene and Speculative Everything by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby – intersected with a contemporary pedagogical text on design method.

Reflecting on these texts, the product of the studio—undertaken in pairs—will be the visual and narrative depiction of a short piece of socioeconomic climate fiction (Being Ecological by Timothy Morton in the form of a book and corresponding physical diorama(s). To help facilitate this work, a fourth tex (Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada) will be read alongside the framing texts. Two of these four texts are by Japanese authors. The other two are authored by western academics.

The principal site of this studio’s work is Tokyo Bay. The historical occupation of this waterbody is a story of physical transformation driven by centuries of population growth and corresponding economic expansion. The result is a radically modified landscape characterized by extreme biodiversity loss and relentless urbanizations. While the land reclamation in Tokyo Bay has driven economic growth and urbanization, it has also led to significant environmental degradation and increased vulnerability to climate change.