Framework: Speculative Design
Agenda: Discursive
Intention: Persuasive & Inspiring
In this project I attempted to create a future geothermal energy company named Pele established in Hawaii. My ultimate goal was to create a project that felt completely plausible and fully integrated in reality. The first step was to look at the past in order to get a grasp of what the possible futures may be.
Presentation
Inspirations
The concept, Afrofuturism was very influential during my ideation process. Movies, such as Black Panther, were helpful in creating a the visual and story elements of the speculation. Black Panther’s use of vibranium, a natural resource only found in the country of Wakanda, as a catalyst gave me the inspiration to draw from Hawaii’s natural resources. By looking at what was already present in the current environment, I found it easy to formulate a pseudo timeline that felt steeped in reality.
Ideation
Initially, I hoped to construct an alternate reality for 2019 Hawaii. In this iteration I would go back and find an event that greatly impacted Hawaii to make it what it is today and change it. My first instinct was to simply change the annexation of Hawaii; however, looking further into the history of Hawaii I found an interesting instance where a small change could have significant consequence. In 1881 marriage between Princess Kai’ulani and Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito was offered however, it was never fulfilled. This event offered an interesting opportunity to see how different outside influence would have affected the kingdom.
Instead I chose to follow the more traditional approach to speculative design and explore how Hawaii’s future looks given the current circumstances. The three aspects I began looking at were fashion, technology, and natural resources. Out of the three I felt that Hawaii offered a unique perspective regarding the use of natural resources. Its isolation and general dependency highlight a pressing issue Hawaii has been dealing with since the immigration boom experiences in the late 1800s.
Currently Hawaii’s two biggest sources of green energy are wind and solar; however, the recurrent volcanic activity offer an interesting opportunity for the clean energy business. Therefore, I decided to design an energy company of the future and process where geothermal energy can be harvested for energy.
Prototyping
To begin my prototyping process I started by thinking of popular vehicles meant to withstand rough terrain as the area surrounding volcanoes are often uneven, underwater, and quite hot. This got me to think about bots like the Mars Rover and the vehicles shown in the TV show ‘Lost in Space’ (both the 2018 and 1965).
Mars Rover Artist Rendition
Lost in Space (2018)
Lost in Space (1965)
While these vehicles achieve a functional purpose and can theoretically traverse over all terrain, I felt these designs did not connect directly with Hawaii. None held no particular attachment to the place and none of their designs possess any local inspiration. This led me to look at local animals in Hawaii. Animals that lived around and within the large rainforests that crop up post volcanic activity require the ability to traverse the jagged rocks and small crevices created by the lava flow. Insects such spiders and centipedes in particular are very good at this.
Battery Chamber
The battery chamber is meant to sit on top of volcanic fissures underwater. This way when the magma meets the water and battery chamber the heat generated charges up the batteries. For installation and removal, the spider bots are meant to work above and underwater.
Hina
One way I felt I could connect the company and its products to Hawaii was to look at Hawaiian mythology and folklore. Pele is the goddess of fire and volcanoes therefore, the company was named after her. The battery retrieving spider bots were named Hina after the trickster goddess that look the form of a spider.
Reflection
Given more time I would like to expand more on the company side of this project. Developing more materials based around how Pele (the company) would look like, business model, and how it would be integrated in the community.
Additionally, I felt this project gave me the opportunity to look at how speculative design can provide some sort of clarity to abstract future ideas.
Resources:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/mazie_hirono/412200