The Speculative Design Resource Guide
A curated collection of studios, practitioners, tools, readings, and pathways for worldbuilders, futurists, and critical designers. Last updated: January 2026
How to Use This Guide
This is a living reference for anyone working at the intersection of design, futures, and speculation. Bookmark it. Share it with students. Return when you need inspiration or want to discover new practitioners.
The field goes by many names—speculative design, design fiction, critical futures, worldbuilding—but shares a common commitment: using design to imagine and interrogate possible futures.
Studios & Collectives
The Established Players
Superflux (London) Founded by Anab Jain and Jon Ardern. Creates immersive installations exploring climate futures, AI, and more-than-human worlds. Known for “Mitigation of Shock” future apartments and Venice Biennale work. → Studio Profile → Projects Archive
Near Future Laboratory (Los Angeles) Julian Bleecker’s practice that operationalized design fiction. Created the TBD Catalog and Manual of Design Fiction. → What is Design Fiction? → Shop / Publications → Design Fiction Newsletter
Extrapolation Factory (Brooklyn) Elliott Montgomery and Chris Woebken. Participatory futures, dollar store interventions, public engagement. → About → Operator’s Manual
Tellart (Amsterdam) Strategic speculation for institutions. Work with World Government Summit, V&A, World Economic Forum. → Projects → About
Automato.farm (Shanghai) Simone Rebaudengo and collaborators exploring algorithmic everyday life. → About → Ethical Things Project
Emerging & Independent
Nonhuman Nonsense (Berlin/Stockholm) Leo Fidjeland and Linnea Våglund. Posthuman speculation, including the Pink Chicken Project. → Pink Chicken Project
Marshmallow Laser Feast (London) Multi-sensory immersive experiences exploring perception and nature.
Design Earth (Boston) Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy. Architectural fictions addressing planetary challenges.
Protopia Futures (Global) Monika Bielskyte’s practice advocating for proactive, livable futures.
Key Practitioners
Foundational Figures
Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby Coined “critical design” and popularized speculative design through RCA’s Design Interactions program and Speculative Everything. → Designed Realities Studio (Parsons)
Julian Bleecker → Personal Site → LinkedIn
Bruce Sterling Science fiction author who coined “design fiction” in Shaping Things (2005). → Wikipedia
Stuart Candy Pioneer of experiential futures. Co-created The Thing From The Future. → Medium → Faculty Profile (Tec de Monterrey)
Speculative Architecture
Liam Young Speculative architect, filmmaker, runs SCI-Arc Fiction & Entertainment and Unknown Fields Division. → SCI-Arc Faculty Profile → WePresent Profile → IMDb
Alex McDowell Production designer (Minority Report, Fight Club), runs World Building Media Lab at USC. → Wikipedia → World Building Institute
Contemporary Voices
Anab Jain (Superflux) → TED Talk: Why we need to imagine different futures → Superflux Team Page
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg Synthetic biology and design, Designing for the Sixth Extinction. → Personal Site
Simone Rebaudengo → Personal Site
Phil Balagtas Founded Design Futures Initiative and Speculative Futures network. → Design Futures Initiative
Tools & Methods
Imagination Games
The Thing From The Future Stuart Candy & Jeff Watson’s card game for generating speculative scenarios. 3.7 million+ possible prompts. → Teach the Future → Situation Lab
Worldbuilding Games
The Quiet Year – Collaborative map-drawing game
Microscope – Fractal history building
The Ground Itself – Place-based storytelling
Frameworks & Canvases
The Futures Cone (Joseph Voros) Visual framework for possible, plausible, probable, preferable futures. → Original Paper
Causal Layered Analysis (Sohail Inayatullah) Four-layer framework: litany, systems, worldview, myth. → Overview
Design Fiction Canvas → Near Future Laboratory Template
Publications as Method
The TBD Catalog (Near Future Laboratory) 166 products from a mundane near future. The canonical design fiction artifact. → Shop
IKEA Catalog from the Future Near Future Laboratory project imagining IKEA in 2030s.
Educational Pathways
Graduate Programs
SCI-Arc M.S. Fiction and Entertainment (Los Angeles) 1-year program with Liam Young. Film, games, immersive media. → Program Page
Royal College of Art (London) Design Futures MDes, Information Experience Design MA. → RCA Design
Carnegie Mellon Transition Design PhD Speculative methods for systemic change. → Transition Design
Parsons Futures Studies and Speculative Design Certificate (Online) Accessible professional training (~$1,760). → Program Page
IAAC/ELISAVA Master in Design for Emergent Futures (Barcelona) → Program Page
Short Courses & Workshops
School of Critical Design Online courses from basics to advanced. → Speculative Design Basics
CIID Summer Schools (Copenhagen) 5-day intensives on futures and interaction design. → Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
Community & Meetups
Speculative Futures Network 70+ local chapters worldwide. Free meetups and events. → Helsinki Chapter → Berlin Chapter → Chapter Values & Requirements
Residencies
Eyebeam (Brooklyn) Art and technology residencies. → Eyebeam.org → Speculating on Plurality Program
Microsoft Research Artist in Residence → Program Page
Google X Design Internal speculative practice. → Designing for the Unknown → Google Design: Rehearse the Future
Essential Reading
Books
Speculative Everything – Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby (MIT Press, 2013) The foundational text. → MIT Press → Amazon
The Manual of Design Fiction – Near Future Laboratory (2022) Practical methodology guide. → Near Future Laboratory Shop
Discursive Design – Bruce & Stephanie Tharp (MIT Press, 2018) Expanded theoretical framework covering critical, speculative, and alternative design. → Amazon
Building Imaginary Worlds – Mark J.P. Wolf (Routledge, 2012) Theory of worldbuilding across media.
Synthetic Aesthetics – Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg et al. (MIT Press, 2014) Design meets synthetic biology.
Making Futures Work – Phil Balagtas (2024) Integrating futures thinking for design, innovation, and strategy.
Essays & Articles
“Design Fiction: A Short Essay on Design, Science, Fact and Fiction” – Julian Bleecker (2009) The original methodological text. → Near Future Laboratory Blog
Superflux Interview – SpeculativeEdu Tools and methods for making change. → SpeculativeEdu
Automato.farm Interview – SpeculativeEdu → SpeculativeEdu
“Decolonising Speculative Design” South African perspective on design and futures thinking. → DEFSA
Wikipedia Deep Dives
→ Speculative Design → Design Fiction → Critical Design
Aesthetic Movements
Solarpunk
Optimistic, sustainable futures integrating technology and nature. → Solarpunk Manifesto → r/solarpunk
Afrofuturism
African diaspora culture meets technology and speculation. → Wikipedia
Indigenous Futurisms
→ Initiative for Indigenous Futures → Center for Native Futures
Gulf Futurism
Conferences & Festivals
Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) Art, technology, and society. → ars.electronica.art
Transmediale (Berlin) Digital culture and art. → transmediale.de
Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven) Major design showcase with speculative exhibitions. → ddw.nl
ISEA (International Symposium on Electronic Art) 2026 edition in Dubai. → isea-international.org
PRIMER Conference Annual Speculative Futures gathering. → Design Futures Initiative
ACM CHI / DIS Academic venues for design research including speculation. → CHI 2026
Awards & Recognition
Core77 Speculative Design Category → 2024 Winners
Lexus Design Award Extrapolation Factory won Grand Prix 2018.
Royal Designers for Industry Superflux founders recognized 2022.
Media & Journalism
Dezeen – Design and architecture news → dezeen.com
Core77 – Design community and awards → core77.com
CLOT Magazine – Art, science, technology → clotmag.com
Ding Magazine – Futures-focused interviews → ding.com
It’s Nice That – Creative industry coverage → itsnicethat.com
Related Fields to Explore
Experiential Futures
Making futures tangible through immersive scenarios. → Stuart Candy’s Experiential Futures Ladder
Science Fiction Prototyping
Using SF narratives for R&D. → Brian David Johnson’s work at Intel/ASU
Critical Making
Hands-on critique through fabrication. → Matt Ratto (University of Toronto)
Transition Design
Design for societal transformation. → Carnegie Mellon Transition Design
Game Studies & Ludic Futures
Games as speculation tools. → Game Developers Conference → A MAZE Berlin
Stay Connected
Newsletters
Superflux (subscribe via site)
Social
Search #speculativedesign #designfiction #criticaldesign on Instagram/LinkedIn
Follow studio accounts listed above
Academic
Design Issues (MIT Press)
She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
Journal of Futures Studies
Contribute
This guide is maintained as a public resource. If you know of studios, practitioners, programs, or resources that should be included, reach out.
The field grows through sharing.
Created by [Your Name/Hyperdense] — teaching, making, and speculating at the intersection of architecture, games, and worldbuilding.
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