Mission:
Critical Utopias

"Critical Utopias: Migration 2070" is a transatlantic design studio class that challenges students to step into the role of strategic futurists. Working across borders in mixed American and German teams, we address the mid-21st century's defining issue: human movement driven by climate niche collapse.

01. The Challenge: Migration 2070
In the year 2070, rising global temperatures and shifting political landscapes will force hundreds of millions to move. Some suggest it may be one-third of the world's population by 2070. This course confronts the reality that displacement will reshape urban life, labor markets, and governance. We move beyond survival statistics to explore conviviality, examining how we can design systems where both those who move and those who host can live together well.

02. The Method: Strategic Foresight
Students apply rigorous foresight methods to imagine the possible, probable, plausible, and desirable worlds of 2070. They research real-world "signals of change,' from the EU’s Migration Pact to climate debates in California, and trace how they might expand into full-scale futures. We investigate systemic drivers like automation, water scarcity, and political polarization to model the world these migrants will inhabit.

03. The Output: Speculative Interventions
The goal of this course is to prototype and provotype the future. By developing deep user stories, from families fleeing flooding coastlines to cities grappling with cultural integration, students create tangible interventions. Whether designing service blueprints, interactive installations, or critical artifacts, their work is designed to provoke audiences, expose blind spots, and offer hopeful visions that counter dystopian imaginaries.