I came across THU’s golden ticket contest through artstation and immediately knew that I had to submit something as I had already begun the early stages of generating environmentally-informed fictional landscapes, using artificial intelligence. My background is in interaction design and human-robot interaction but I had no interest in theming this piece about robots, rather I wanted to create images of the future that I already envision in my heart and head daily. 

Originally, I thought I would generate a few images, and choose and submit the best one, but instead, my designer brain took over and I generated, probably hundreds of images and sketches, trying to visually encapsulate all of the technology ideas and principles I have studied and absorbed throughout my life. I found myself continually researching and reading to refine my prompting and ideas. I found that the images I was able to render were able to give me entryways to even more creative ideas, which in turn created a delightful and enlightening creative process, that was more valuable in itself than any one picture could ever be. I played around with generating images of sustainable homes, communities, interiors and cityscapes in a variety of ecosystems and the common themes that existed across the board that design was individualized, human and land centered. After creating a narrative for a boy living in the year 2112.  I plan to make an online gallery of the images so that others can add these possible futures to their imagination banks as they create and move through the world. 

The future will be resource-based, we will work with our environments to enhance them to work for us, in symbiotic ways, rather than seeing the environment as something just to take from. Education will be a priority, homes will be made sustainably and in ways that are suited to their environment, in a way that is good both for the land and the people, as ultimately what is negative for the environment, will eventually be negative for those that inherit the world we live in. I believe very strongly that we are all bound together in a mutual desire to see our children live in a world where they are free and happy and able to grow. I will end this by sharing a poem that I found while researching. It struck a chord with me and I think it reflects the tone that I wanted to convey with all the images that I generated for this project.

 

Poem of 1976

By Jaime Snyder (grandson of Buckminister Fuller, preserved by Fuller and published in “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” by R. Buckminister Fuller  

True Wealth 

Is the already accomplished 

Organization of human capabilities

To clothe

To shelter feed

Protect, inform

And accommodate 

The initiatives of human life 

The magnitude of wealth consists of the number 

Of forward days 

Of the number of human beings already provided for

 

 

Note: Attached image is an illustration I did with the intention of trying to put it into a designer's studio. I ended up deciding against the composite image idea, but I do enjoy the way it turned out. 

Even though I hadn't heard of this contest or THU just a month ago, I had such a delight creating this collection of images, it was absolutely what my imagination was itching to do. Here are some of the images that I didn't end up selecting but were informative to my process. 

The concepts behind these images are really important to me, and I think one of the biggest things I can contribute to the conversation as I have a lot of background in designing complex human factors-oriented systems. I hope this image helps shed some light on the thinking that went into my images. I could certainly talk about these things for hours on end, and just like the images I generated, it was somewhat difficult to decide what to include when distilling these principles down. 

I would love to hear if you thought this infographic was easy to understand, or any other feedback you have. Especially if you are a non-native English speaker. 

This is a portion of my iPad notebook for this project, I have been struggling with just choosing one image, so I used this to help tie the other ones to it and eventually decide on a final image. 

While reading the rationale behind different designs for sustainable-futuristic cities and economies, I quickly fell in love with how schooling and education are characterized and described. I do not think any of these will necessarily make it into my final image but the rationale and key points shown here are very informative to how I am approaching this project as a whole.  The video can be viewed here, compressing it wasn't doing it any justice. The video itself contains some key points and text as well as my original images. All text that isn't quoted (and attributed) directly is my own. 

A page from my process document and personal notes for this project. The images in the browser-like textbox are not my own but serve as reference material. The kitchen concept I featured in this document I did not record the source for because it is part of my reference images for a personal dream project of mine which I have already started designing to some degree, which is to build and design my own sustainable home. 

You can see in this document that I have been wrestling with the sheer variety of types of environments that could be featured in the final image. I do not think the desert homes will likely be featured in the final but it is a magical and practical form of home design and sustainable living, I could not resist trying to make some images that captured the concept. I am unlikely to include the interior kitchen image I made, as I do not think it captures what I am trying to convey as well, but I do really love the energy it has and how it pulls together and visually validates the concept. 

I am having a lot of fun with this project, I have been dreaming about solarpunk cities since I was a child. Generative art and CGI allows for a whole new way to iterate and explore sustainable living concepts, it is a delight to have a reason to play around in this area of my imagination. My primary guiding influences for this project are Jacque Fresco (The Venus Project), Luc Schuiten, Vincent Callebaut as well as cob architecture and Earthships in Taos, NM, US. I am trying to generate and perfect an image that can touch on a lot of technical concepts while still remaining visually stimulating and inspiring. Pictured here are some marked-up art of mine and some of the notes that I put together to help me plan.