Pilot projects

Counterfactual histories

Simply stated, counterfactual histories use the technique of modifying the outcome of a historical event and then extrapolating a new version of history leading to an alternative present. In literature, imaginaries based on a poignant counterfactual history can offer thought-provoking insights and perspectives on contemporary life.
Counterfactuals have a long and diverse history across many cultures. They often turn on political or military events, such as a different election outcome (Franklin Roosevelt being defeated in 1940 in Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America) or the outcome of a war (the victory of the Axis Powers in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle). Sometimes history is ‘flipped’ in a prolonged ‘what if’ thought experiment, as in Malorie Blackman’s novel series Noughts and Crosses (2001– 2021), in which Europe has been colonised by Africa. They may also serve a pedagogical purpose by revealing the path of a life unloved or unlived, as in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1853) and Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). 
Historians especially tend to focus on military ‘decision points’ – a battle lost instead of won, a war avoided instead of launched – at which events could have taken another path (Bernstein 2000). Alternatively, counterfactuals imagine the absence of powerful individuals from specific events to speculate on how things might have played out differently. (In the context of design, for example, this might be something like: what if Steve Jobs never visited Xerox Parc in 1979?). Alternative presents, developed from poignant counterfactual events, can offer thought-provoking insights and perspectives on contemporary life, as well as an examination of the past. Since history is often written by the victors, it tends to “crush the unfulfilled potential of the past”, as Walter Benjamin so aptly put it. By giving a voice to the “losers” of history, counterfactual histories allow for a reversal of perspectives’ (Deluermoz and Singaravélou 2021). 
In this way the approach can open up new possibilities for the future beyond the narrow path of iterative design and the blinkered view of ‘capitalist realism’ (Fisher 2009) to assist in the envisioning and building of alternative futures. This approach is not limited to the future, either: a rich parallel history of what-if counterfactuals exists in tandem with future-oriented speculations. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1989) famously defined the term ‘faction’ as ‘imaginative writing about real people in real places at real times’; here instead we are engaging in unreal or parallel or alternative times.
This then is the basic premise, and promise, of counterfactual histories especially as applied to design pedagogy: to break out of constraining lineages and narrow pathways through the imagining of alternative narratives and the application of alternative values. Such speculative proposals ‘question existing paradigms through the use of different ideologies to those currently directing product development. These are speculations on how things could be, had different choices been made in previous times’ (Auger, 2012).

ap-sfsf

At the top left is an emerging technology in the context of laboratory research – the higher the line the more naïve the technology. The potential of the technology can be extrapolated (through theories of domestication) to inform speculative futures (extrapolations of the product lineage). For the SUrF project we focus on the counterfactual approach – stepping outside the lineage at some relevant point in the past to develop a different version of the present. 

Counterfactuals provide an almost surreptitious method of combining design theory with practice. Through a rigorous analysis of history as it relates to a specific subject, the designer can identify the key elements that are problematic when viewed through a contemporary lens of practice. The approach can expose dominant structures of power and the influence these have on design culture and metrics: for example, the pervasive influence of legacy systems and the attention economy, and how they limit the imagination and constrain possibility.

So, how to teach a different version of design? Here are a few key steps that describe a new methodology based on the counterfactual approach. The design brief is structured in the following manner:
• Definition of the theme or subject followed by a broad mapping of its related systems. These can then be examined historically to create a detailed and diverse timeline of the subject – the key moments that led to the current world (for example, a political decision, an invention, a celebrity endorsement, a natural disaster). These can then be analysed critically to identify the event(s) that contributed to the problematic contemporary situation.
• The creation of a counterfactual timeline based on a different outcome of an event identified on the real timeline. One of the key benefits of this approach is the necessity to understand complex histories and how they inform, influence or constrain design practice. Experiment with different themes and examine the potential consequences. Remember that the further back in time, the more divergent the alternative present will be, and therefore more fictional and complicated to manage – as Ray Bradbury’s classic tale ‘A Sound of Thunder’ illustrates (Bradbury 2005).
• The design of things along the new timeline – hypothetical products, advertising campaigns, images, texts – as evidence of the new value system in action. In a longer project this can culminate in well-rendered imaginaries of an alternative present.

Perhaps the most vital use of counterfactuals in design, and its most valuable contribution to design education, is the possibility for different paths to emerge that were drowned out by the dominant or ‘standard’ narratives. Conjuring into being or simply recognising alternative histories can open up valuable future paths, and create space for rich new possibilities and new imaginaries to flourish.

Project for Counterfactual histories, PhD project (in progress), Sep 2021

The Symbiotic House, Valentin Graillat

Today, "smart" is commonly associated with increasing levels of comfort and daily automation. But what would our definition of a "smart" home be if the 1973 energy crisis had reshaped our expectations of domestic technologies?

This counterfactual project imagines a California-based laboratory introducing a "symbiotic" home for the future, where technologies are used to achieve energy self-sufficiency by harnessing it from local living species.

angle-2

1An alternative history of the smart home

The smart-home, seen as a symbol of progress, embodies modern comfort through an increasingly automated lifestyle enabled by connected technologies. However, "smart" concept has developed with little attention to the ecological and environmental challenges, particularly in terms of energy consumption in a world with limited resources.

The genesis of the smart home was traced to the Houses of Tomorrow, conceived in the United States during the Cold War by the hegemonic corporations of the time (Disney, Monsanto, General Electric). These seductive and spectacular future visions conditioned long-term expectations in the West by positioning as desirable a technology-driven lifestyle centred on consumption, disengagement, and entertainment. The legacy of yesterday's Houses of Tomorrow is the crystallisation of desire for technological futures and market-driven “smart” technologies. “Smart” came to represent “automation” in the home: reducing the need for human labour while increasing comfort and leisure in daily life.

However, the “smart” dream was built on the illusion that our way of living would face no environmental constraints—energy, resources, and so on—a notion often referred to as the “myth of abundance.”

But what if, after the 1973 oil crisis, the US launched a massive strategic policy to develop domestic energy production? In 1973, the United States was profoundly shaken by the oil crisis. The "Project Independence" initiative aimed to reduce reliance on foreign oil, eventually leading to other policies such as the National Energy Act. This counterfactual project envisions a radical research group receiving substantial government support, paving the way for a new trajectory where the concept of ‘smart’ shifts from a market-driven, automated culture to one more symbiotically aligned with natural systems and habitats.

2From automation to symbiosis

As part of the National Energy Act signed by President Carter in 1978, and in anticipation of the 1979 Biomass Energy Act, the U.S. government awarded endowment funds to various laboratories, such as the Farallones Institute in California, to continue research on energy self-sufficiency and renewable energy at the domestic level. This counterfactual project thus begins at the turn of the 1980s in a new laboratory called the SHI (Symbiotic House Institute), focusing on a "symbiotic" dwelling capable of harnessing locally generated energy from living organisms. The early work of the SHI, though experimental, would have a decisive influence on the future direction of technological development for the home.

After a series of publications in the journal Science, the scientific community discovered that termites—major methane emitters that feed on housing structures and are highly invasive on the U.S. West Coast—pose a significant environmental impact. Researchers in California at the SHI launched an initial experimental project, code-named "Nested House" (or more commonly "termite house") envisioning a home powered by a termite colony, turning this pest into its primary energy source.

schema-1
schema-2

The envisioned domestic ecosystem relies on a process for harnessing the methane gas emitted by termites. Methane gas can be converted into biogas energy to power a stove burner or boiler, or as fuel for engines. Rather than being captured and eradicated, the insects are then domesticated in the underground part of the home and acts as an on-site, large-scale version of a biodigester. The project speculates on how a coexistence between inhabitants and termites could be established: the inhabitants provide the food necessary for the colony’s survival, and in return, the termites meet the daily energy needs of the inhabitants. The SHI researchers project the development of this system from the domestic scale to the urban scale, outlining how this technology, as it expands geographically, could improve over decades.

In this regard, this first “symbiotic house” consciously aligns with the futuristic visions that emerged during the 1970s and 1980s following the first oil crisis (blueprints, diagrams, graphic style). The termite-house belongs more to the realm of fantasy than operational reality, however, its influence on collective imagination would prove decisive in shaping expectations for domestic technologies.

3Archives from the past

Revisiting past visions of the future proves to be a strategic endeavour: the “smart home” we know today could not have emerged without the profound influence of the technologist, futuristic, and often eccentric visions created in the 1950s. These visions were spread across a variety of media, often complementing one another—films, exhibitions, pseudo-scientific documentaries, and more. The Symbiotic House, as a scenario of massive technological change, also relies on evidence.

Project includes not only blueprints but also a collection of artefacts that are preserved, archived, and displayed in exhibitions. These “fake” artefacts can be viewed as archives of an unrealized history of the smart home, yet to be shaped. By playing with the codes of inventory, exhibition, and heritage objects, the project leverages what is known in fiction as “suspension of disbelief,” allowing viewers to momentarily accept and consider avenues of reflection they might otherwise reject. The collection of artefacts includes, among other items, a series of blueprints, equipment belonging to scientists, and a set of models created for public display.

cardboard

One example is the punch card, which continued to be used by research centres influenced by ecology and cybernetics until the late 1970s for collecting data on living organisms. Popularised by IBM from the 1930s, punch cards could be read by a device that detected the presence or absence of holes and relayed this information to a processing unit. Although rendered obsolete by the rise of computers, they were still used in certain experimental projects of the time, such as the USIBP Grasslands Biome program, an attempt to model insect interactions within a natural ecosystem. The project also includes a “fake” collective work by the researchers, documenting their experimental efforts.

photo-maquette-retouchee-mai-2024
p1033169

At the heart of the project lies a series of models created for the public by the SHI researchers. Models like these, with their ability to simplify complex technical issues, were highly valued by inventors, businesses, and laboratories as powerful communication tools. The termite-house project includes three models, each representing a different scale (domestic, suburban, urban). Each model features a visible section, corresponding to the living space of humans, and an underground portion, observable through a peephole, representing the termites' domain. Together, these three models illustrate the imagined symbiotic and collaborative relationship between termites (underground) and inhabitants (surface) within a shared inhabited ecosystem.

The collection of artefacts is infused with the style, aesthetics, and techniques of California's tech entrepreneurship scene in the late 1970s. The punch cards were crafted from sturdy, thick cardboard, and the models were entirely made from North American walnut, as was common among West Coast equipment and electronics companies. This counterfactual approach requires a thorough understanding of the era’s aesthetic codes, which involved extensive preliminary research, including consulting archives (such as those at the Computer History Museum), documentaries and vintage advertisements.

4Exhibitions and Manifesto

At a broader level, the project introduces the past as a means to reconsider both the present and the future, questioning our current definition of “smart” since its adoption by post-war corporations. The project was showcased at exhibitions and conferences, where interactions sparked numerous reflections. What technical innovations and types of artefact could have resulted from such visions of the future? What 'smart-home' have we missed out on?

angle-1
p1033208

In this regard, the project stands apart from the typical speculative design project. Despite its provocative nature, the project highlights areas of work that, due to a lack of political ambition and financial resources, remain unexplored  (for e.g. local energy production, biomass, etc.). As a counterfactual approach, the Symbiotic House is a vehicle for further investigation. Exhibitions become spaces for reflection, culminating in a manifesto that outlines the values which would have guided the future activities of the California-based laboratory: Energy autonomy, 'symbiotic' collaboration with other living species and the valorisation of local and natural resources. This manifesto serves as a guide, and even a tool, for forging potential collaborations with other researchers and building an alternative version of the "smart home."

 

Project for Counterfactual histories, Session n°1, Oct 2023 – Jan 2024
School 2

Moteur=Chaleur, Juliette Oulié

In 1911, a well was drilled in Wittenheim to extract potash. What if we had taken the opportunity to dig a geothermal well?

Today in France, the largest electricity consumption is linked to the use of appliances such as ovens. In this case electricity is used to produce heat. Here, I imagine that steam has become a common feature in households. By utilizing geothermal energy as a heat and electricity source, we aim to reduce consumption, thereby enabling direct utilization of heat to power various kitchen appliances. By leveraging geothermal energy as a heat and electricity carrier, the proposal is to reduce overall consumption by directly utilizing steam heat.

capture-decran-2024-01-11-a-16.31.44-1

The counterfactual history begins with the drilling of the Théodore well in Wittenheim in 1911, the year in which the first geothermal power station was built in Larderello, Italy. If, when the Théodore well was drilled to extract potash, a slightly deeper well had been dug nearby to start extracting heat from the ground, today's urban settlements would have been different. With the arrival of the mines, the architecture of the towns was established as a place where houses were grouped together close to the workplace, giving rise to new types of housing. In this case, this architecture could not only have been closer to the mines but also to the source of heat. The beginnings of a network allowing a tap of running steam into the house would then have developed for washing clothes or heating water.

capture-decran-2024-01-11-a-16.36.49-1
sujet-45
Project for Counterfactual histories, Session n°1, Oct 2023 – Jan 2024
School 2

Domesche, Inès Minfray

Domesche (adj.): plants cultivated by humans

Cultiver et domestiquer les aliments exotiques en Europe

Avocados and bananas are the most widely consumed exotic foods in the world. These foods have become an integral part of our diet, but we typically eat them with little consideration for the disastrous environmental impact of their cultivation and transportation.

Based on discussions with biologists at the École normale supérieure and the founder of synthetic cuisine, Hervé This, the project proposes the creation of new hybrid fruits that combine the exotic with the local - this aims to domesticate exoticism in regional and seasonal contexts.

photo_pomme

Recent advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to modify the genes and alleles of fruits and vegetables - this allows for the potential hybridisation of different organisms. Eating local hybrids would be a way of satisfying our desire for the exotic, while at the same time providing an alternative to the absurdities of transporting such foods across the planet. This project is a critical examination of the way we produce, distribute and consume exotic foods.

Firstly, a timeline based on the the provenance of food products and their industrialisation was created, followed by a counterfactual history that began when food production ceased to be local and seasonal and was informed by an alternative value system. The aim was to maintain the local and seasonal element whilst embracing technological advances to incorporate the exotic.

timeline-originale

Two hybrid food products were developed - an avocado modified to grow like a pea, and a banana modified to grow like an apple.

planches-botaniques-a
planches-botaniques-b