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Future Observatory Journal
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Future Observatory Journal: New Narratives for Design, Ecology and a Future weaves the journal’s founding themes – Bioregioning, More Than Human, and In Abundance – into a cohesive and richly layered publication.
Issues 1–3 · September 2026
In Abundance
What do we mean by 'abundance'? Surely not just more stuff, more growth, more profit.
Reimagining abundance within planetary boundaries means finding plenty in repair, circularity and biodiversity.
Issue 3 · December 2025
More than Human
What does it mean to design not just for ourselves, but for other species and for the health of natural systems?
Issue 2 · November 2024
Bioregioning
Bioregioning redraws the boundaries of climate action, using the immediate landscape as a template for design, politics and regeneration.
Issue 1 · April 2024
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The Stone Demonstrator
A low-carbon construction prototype putting pre-tensioned stone building techniques to the test. Visit The Stone Demonstrator at Empress Place on the Earls Court Development site.
opened on
Publication: Design Researchers in Residence 2025/26 MINERAL
This publication features the work of the 2025/26 Design Researchers in Residence. It accompanies an exhibition staged at the Design Museum from June to September 2026. This year's theme, Mineral,
Authors:
Alfred Yatlong Yeung, Elise Limon, Rafael El Baz, Rosa Whiteley, Abbie Adams & Leilah Hirson-Comley
Research updates
What does the world sound like to a tree?
An interview with Mike Thompson
Weaving Voices into Place
Tools for Transition
South Powys Design Lab
UK 2040
Combing the digital coastline
Tools for Transition
‘We all have a stake in biodiversity’
In conversation with Future Observatory coordinator Leilah Hirson-Comley, Nick and Rupert share how their Design Exchange Partnership is exploring new ways to record and experience urban biodiversity.
Nick Dunn & Rupert Griffiths
‘Tech is shaping the conversations and culture around climate action’
An interview with Jo Walton, University of Sussex
Joseph Walton
Solar material mapping: Wonky Brick
Wonky Brick makes visible the journeys of the materials used in Design Researchers in Residence: Solar
Author:
Alys Hargreaves
Open call: Artificial
The time for the residency open call has rolled around once again. For its fourth consecutive year, Future Observatory is excited to share the open call for our programme, Design Researchers in
The return of the grand narrative
Justin McGuirk revisits his three-tiered framework for impact in design research, with a particular focus on stories. Does the ‘green transition’ not demand a new grand narrative?
Author:
Justin McGuirk
The impact of design: symptoms, systems and stories
At Future Observatory we increasingly think about impact in terms of three different levels: symptoms, systems and stories. Design can help us to imagine a different future, tackling the climate
Author:
Justin McGuirk
Contaminating our current thinking
Cher Potter, Future Observatory's Curatorial Director discusses the role of design research with the Design Researchers in Residence Solar cohort.
Jamie Gatty Irving, April Barrett, Freya Spencer-Wood & Eliza Collin
What is the potential legacy of a research project?
In late May, we held a networking event at the Design Museum for the researchers and industry partners involved in our Design Accelerator, Design Exchange Partnership and Design Researchers in
Author:
Leilah Hirson-Comley
How do you solve a housing crisis in a climate crisis?
Over the past year, Future Observatory has been pursuing a strand of research focused on low-carbon housebuilding. The UK has a longstanding housing crisis, and yet any large-scale housebuilding
Author:
Ruth Lang
Future Observatory Journal launches with issue on bioregioning
“If ever there was a time to consider alternative ways of building a future, it is now. What we do this decade will shape the rest of the century. But what if, rather than fetishising innovation, what
Author:
Justin McGuirk
Nine new biodiversity research projects join the Design Exchange Partnerships programme
Supporting biodiversity is becoming an increasingly urgent focus of design research practice. With many ecosystems and species in decline, human interdependence on natural systems is ever more
‘Furniture is a platform whereby we can tell new stories about the environment’
An interview with Dr Shaun Borstrock and Mark Bloomfield
Shaun Borstrock & Mark Bloomfield
Six Design Accelerator projects to drive a new generation of green innovation
Building on the theme of ‘communities,’ the new cohort of six projects will 'commercialise' their innovative solutions to accelerate the green transition across the UK.
Author:
Salah ud Din
‘Learning from each other’
At the end of November, we held a forum for the researchers and academic partners on our Design Exchange Partnership and Design Accelerator programmes. Marking the end of both cohorts’ research
Author:
Leilah Hirson-Comley
meet the future observatory network
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