Week Two : Thoughts on the Design Charette

The design charette for week two saw a vast number of ideas compressed into a very short space of time. Our group in particular jumped from one topic to another as our different perspectives emerged. The following mind maps offer a general summary of our thoughts on possible what if scenarios for the future:

It took a little while for the conversation to pick us pace during the charette as we still felt some ambiguity about what was required. I think we discovered that in imagining future scenarios it was impossible to divorce ideas from our opinions and understanding of the current situation. We see and hear predictions continually from numerous sources but as an individual we never imagine what the reality of these would actually produce. Playing with this notion our group was able to explore the possibilities more freely and we discovered that while each of the themes incited unique scenarios there was also quite an overlap between them. Namely the implications that technology, sustainability and culture presented. We also found that it was quite easy to focus solely on common issues such as food, energy and consumption while we had to continually reiterate the potential for healthcare, education,  personal welfare and transport. Personally, I found the charette insightful, there are a lot of points that I wouldn't have considered and the depth of the topic is too much for one person, indeed it's too much for a group or even a class but collectively I think it offered me the opportunity to consider my ideas from a range of perspectives and perhaps with more complexity.