The Future Is Here
28.08.2014 – 11.10.2014

We are in the midst of a transformation in the way we design, make and consume the objects that we depend upon. New techniques, technologies and relationships mean that the boundaries between designer, manufacturer and user are becoming increasingly blurred. Greater access to information about how objects are made, as well as access to those who traditionally make them, is revolutionising the role of the consumer so that more people than ever before are taking part in the production of our physical world. The Future is Here asked what this means for all of us.

Mass customisation, emerging technologies and platforms such as crowd funding, social networking, online marketplaces, robotic manufacturing processes, 3D printing, nanotechnology, routing and open-source micro computing, are all removing the barriers of access to manufacturing.

The Future is Here was a touring exhibition created by the Design Museum, London. When on show at RMIT Design Hub Gallery, the exhibition included additional local design research projects that demonstrated the importance of speculation and prototyping to innovation and design. Alisa Andrasek was a special guest, in partnership with RMIT School of Architecture and Design. Her project, Bloom was exhibited in conjunction with The Future is Here in Project Room 3. The urban toy, distributed social game and collective ‘gardening’ experience was first installed in London, as part of the capital’s city-wide celebration during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Bloom is designed and developed by Alisa Andrasek and Jose Sanchez from The Barlett School of Architecture at UCL. 

DESIGN MUSEUM CURATOR: Alex Newson.
RMIT DESIGN HUB CURATORS: Kate Rhodes, Fleur Watson.
EXHIBITION DESIGN: Studio Roland Snooks.
EXHIBITION GRAPHICS: Stuart Geddes and Brad Haylock.

The Future is Here installation view, images courtesy of Tobias Titz