Sustainable Columbia | “2100: A Dystopian Utopia”, A Conversation with Vanessa Keith

November 18, 2020


November 18, 2020

Join us for a special event featuring Vanessa Keith, a SIPA alumni and the founder of Studioteka. Vanessa will share insights from her multi-year project, 2100: A Dystopian Utopia, which designed the cities of 2100 given a business-as-usual emissions scenario. 

“How can we change our way of life to be more in keeping with natural systems and processes? Climate change unquestionably represents the biggest challenge to the continued presence of humankind on this planet, not to mention the many other species currently at risk. Managing and attempting to limit the effects of global warming should be our biggest priority, marshalling our collective will, energies, and creativity toward the achievement of a common goal. Although the work is speculative, its premises are supported by the latest climate research and predictions, while the design solutions proposed to build upon existing and emerging technologies.  The future the book envisions is dystopian but the work is utopian, in that it sees the best in human potential rising to the occasion. 2100 serves not as a prediction, but rather as a warning and a call to action.  It offers architecture’s response to climate change’s most challenging scenarios with design solutions that suggest the profound adaptability of the design field to meet environmental challenges in the future. Through 2100: A Dystopian Utopia, Vanessa Keith and StudioTEKA visualize possible design solutions to suggest the profound adaptability and possibilities of the design field to meet environmental challenges in the future. The issue is framed by noted sociologist, Saskia Sassen, with her preface and advocacy of “delegating back to the environment”.” – StudioTEKA