The Extrapolation Factory's award-winning 'Testing Hypotheticals' project is a design-friendly community initiative that brings people together with two-day workshops. Developed by Elliot Montogomery and Christopher Woebken, the program "invites members of the public to come up with solutions for possible future issues."
As a community initiative, 'Testing Hypotheticals' has a multitude of benefits. Firstly, it engages people with various backgrounds and levels of knowledge to think critically about the future. Secondly, it exercises creativity, motivates and empowers these individuals to think in a collaborative way about pressing issues with design solutions. For its award-winning workshop, the community initiative came up with ideas for a "reimagined subway system with an onboard community garden" and "a recycling system that rewards good participants by reallocating recycled raw material back to them based on need."
Design-Forward Community Initiatives
The Extrapolation Factory Focuses on Solving Future Issues
Trend Themes
1. Community Design Workshops - Opportunity for businesses and communities to engage in collaborative design thinking to identify innovative solutions for future issues.
2. Future Issue-focused Initiatives - Opportunity to create design projects that address possible future issues in a creative and collaborative way, empowering communities to be proactive about future challenges.
3. Sustainable Design Solutions - Opportunity to develop design solutions that prioritize sustainability, incorporating natural elements and recycling incentives for positive social and environmental impact.
Industry Implications
1. Design - Design firms and agencies can offer community design workshops and future issue-focused initiatives to engage clients and communities in innovative, sustainable design solutions.
2. Urban Planning - Urban planning firms can utilize community design workshops to gather input from residents and stakeholders to create future-focused plans that address societal issues and prioritize sustainability.
3. Sustainability Consulting - Sustainability consultants can incorporate community design workshops and future issue-focused initiatives into their services to provide clients with innovative sustainability solutions that integrate natural elements and recycling incentives.