Designers need to think of bigger, more ambitious solutions to the world's problems, according to speakers at Dezeen's talk about design in the anthropocene era during Dutch Design Week.
Discussing how design can help ensure the survival of life on earth, panellists called for more imaginative ideas and fewer small-scale experiments.
"I would say yes please, more science fiction," said designer Jalila Essaïdi. "Let's keep dreaming big and doing the impossible, making bulletproof humans flying into space."
"We need disciplines working together"
The talk was part of Dezeen's Good Design for a Bad World series, which examines how design can help solve some of the big problems the world faces.
Essaïdi said that big ideas such as Elon Musk's plans to colonise Mars were needed to help bring about realistic solutions to problems here on Earth. On the panel was Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, geologist Sjoerd Kluiving, designer and researcher Pirjo Haikola, designer Jalila Essaïdi and journalist Rab Messina"At first you have to think about the rockets to Mars before you can apply them here," she said. "It's a dream, an escape, but maybe you find aspects you can use here [on earth]."
"We need disciplines working together," said geologist Sjoerd Kluiving, who is an expert on the anthropocene.
"We need the humanities working with scientists and designers. We need social scientists working w...