Thesis Faculty
The Planetary Bureau
Project Website
Abstract
The Planetary Bureau is a speculative design project created with the intention of rightsizing humans in respect to the Earth. Humans will assume they’ll go on forever, and one of the contributing factors toward this reality is our inability to recognise that we make up less than 0.01% of all biomass on the planet. Humanity is approaching a critical juncture in our time on Earth. We can see the beginning of the end materialise as we exploit the planet for our material gain, and that the planet will simply carry on without us. Breaking the assumption that Earth is human is an important step in realising our survival is closely linked to the health of the planet. It isn’t enough that we’re ‘environmentally’ friendly, we need to make larger and quicker strides towards a future which takes into account the well being of the planet. The creation of The Planetary Bureau is a speculative endeavour toward this. The Bureau imagines a multitude of futures, with the intent of having its viewers question the status quo and work towards a positive future for both the planet and humanity. This make-believe organisation presents speculative projects with the larger goal of challenging our stance that all that matters on Earth is humans, often through satire and parody. The Bureau’s website posits different visions of what a planet-first future could look like through make-believe artefacts and visuals.
World Wide Flora Network Intelligence System
WWFNIS imagines a system which can enable a tree in New York to communicate with a plant in New Delhi. It is well established that plants, trees, and fungi communicate with each other in local geographic areas, but what if they were connected to a planet wide network?
The Planetary Archive
Why does the planet archive? Does the planet see value in storing it’s own history? How does the planet think of the micro-biome that exists within and on its surface?
A Cyborg Crusade
Our ability to create machines has given human kind the tools to achieve far more than our bodies would be capable of. These machines have made cyborgs of humans even if we aren’t physically attached to them. What if other non-human entities were given similar cyborg abilities? How would they use them, and to what end?
