The balance between work and life that has prevailed since the end of global crises and wars is starting to unravel as new technologies, climate stress factors, political shifts, and social upheavals reshape our priorities.
Tobias Revell opened the festival programme with a glimpse into a perhaps not too distant future. Instead of the promised five scenarios, he invited the audience on a journey of the mind with seven stories:
1. VINEYARDS OUTSIDE VIGRA – SUNRISE
Samiha, born in Bangladesh, kneels in her vineyard, halfway along the coastal road from Egersund to Stavanger. Drones monitor the vines and soon the grapes will be harvested...
2. THE SEA BEYOND STAVANGER – EARLY MORNING
Samiha looks out to sea. Her father used to work as a ship breaker in Bangladesh. Now he converts diesel freighters into autonomous sailing vessels. This helps the family stay within the strictly regulated CO2 limits...
3. A ONE BEDROOM FLAT – MORNING
Simone spent the night weaving artificial D rhizomes. Like their natural counterparts, digital rhizomes capture all the potential positive and negative effects of investments. AI alone would be overwhelmed by the task...
4. DEEP IN THE KALLENWALD FOREST – MIDDAY
Simone thinks of the beech forest of her childhood. Invasive species and global warming had almost completely destroyed it. Today, turtle doves are helping to restore the forest’s balance. And they are doing so thanks, in part, to the grapes from the Samiha vineyard...
5. MID-FLOOR OF A DOWNTOWN OFFICE RETROFIT – AFTERNOON
Sara belongs to the Beta generation. When she was 14, she left for the US to attend business school. She organized hackathons and traded bots for the financial markets. At 19, she managed to get a one-bedroom apartment in a converted office complex, where she also works – in the financial sector of the future...
6. THE SUNNY ROOFTOP OF A BLOCK OF FLATS – EARLY EVENING
Gerrit left the financial sector some time ago. He now works as a high-tech janitor in one of the new apartment blocks. This is part of a growing trend that has emerged from the increasing use of biomaterials, regenerative surgery and decentralized networks...
7. A BUSY SHARED KITCHEN – NIGHTFALL
Arne has to ask Gerrit for help preparing dinner. Cooking for many people tires him out, but the block of flats is the right place for him. Recently, designers have been creating buildings with more centralized utilities and services to stop the energy and CO2 consumption that comes from everyone having their own range, fridge, dishwasher and washing machine...
All seven scenarios can be read on Tobias Revell’s website.
Photo: © IBA
