Mitigation of Shock

  • 2016
  • 5 Person Team

Conducting early design research and prototyping for Superflux's project Mitigation of Shock, which explores how we might mitigate the shock of climate change through the lens of food production. I spent a summer with the team, supporting initial prototyping, and helping to organize and make sense of research that supported our 2050 projections. After I left, Superflux continued development of the project, which turned into a few exhibitions.

Material Exploration

One area of research was in the materials, tools, and aesthetics of DIY growing systems. These experiments were guided by what we thought might be available in the 2050 we imagined.

Tools scattered on a table
Wooden frame laying sideways on the ground
Arduino electronic in a plastic box, labeled risk of death

Mapping Secondary Research

Mapping extensive secondary research onto a breadcrumb timeline, helping to draw extrapolations to 2050. Research was split into major categories including food infrastructure, food insecurity, water, energy, and housing. 

Research and projections mapped onto a timeline

Growing Experiments

Prototyping with different ways to grow food indoors as a way to identfy the building blocks of home growing systems, and how to build the minimal viable growing system. 

Homemade hydroponics setup
Plants growing in a soda bottle
Bags of materials used to grow plants with hydroponics
Six tomato plants growing out of a plastic tub.