The world is full of invisible “dark matter.” There are bound to be things around us that are invisible but have a great influence, or things whose existence is not recognized but play a fundamentally important role.
The suffering that certain people experience and the absurdity of the world are sometimes created based on such “tacit understanding” regarding dark matter. Rent is putting pressure on household budgets — does it make sense for a landlord to own a house and someone else to rent it temporarily? It’s tiring to see so much concrete in our daily lives — have plants been recognized as something that everyone can access? Behind these “absurdities” that no one can avoid, there are things that people perceive as “normal,” and this raises the question “in the first place.”
There is an organization that uses the power of design to unravel the questions behind this, working with diverse stakeholders. That company is Dark Matter Labs, based in the UK. They are international organizations that come up with ways to respond to the social transformations brought about by climate change and technological advances, among others, by designing policies, reshaping models of governance and citizen participation, and how we use land, energy and resources. Specializes in redesigning etc.
What is the current status of their activities that question the world’s “assumptions” and provide new knowledge? In the second half of this article, we asked Jack Minchella, a designer based in the UK, about the projects his company is involved with and what he has learned from them.
Speaker profile: Jack Minchella
Strategic design lead that combines design thinking, process management, and systems strategy. Studied architecture and joined Dark Matter Labs in 2017. He leads a wide range of strategic research and future visualization projects. He has extensive experience in social innovation, sustainable urban futures, and policy design, including co-founding the think tank In-Between Economies in Copenhagen.
What is Dark Matter Labs?
Dark Matter Labs is a strategic design company founded in the UK in 2017. As mentioned earlier, they play a role in confronting the invisible “dark matter” and questioning what we take for granted.
Currently, there are approximately 60 members, each specializing in design, economics, geography, finance, etc. The diagram below, which is also posted on their homepage, clearly shows their business.
Image via Dark Matter Labs
Arcs represents the direction of the company’s business to create tangible impact on society and the environment. Examples include Net Zero Cities, which aims to make cities climate neutral, and Radicle Civics, which aims to promote democracy and citizen participation. Each arc takes a holistic approach to tackling social challenges. There is.
Labs represents the experimental efforts of Dark Matter Labs. Examples include “Civic Tech,” which focuses on urban technology, and “Conversational Design,” which focuses on interactive design. These Labs function as places to explore new social frameworks and technological possibilities.
In layman’s terms, the arc refers to the theme and destination that Dark Matter Labs deals with, and the lab refers to the means and methods used to deal with that theme. This table shows that the company has a different perspective than other organizations that deal with a single theme related to environmental issues.
Dark Matter Labs’ project tackles unanswerable questions
Dark Matter Labs’ unique efforts are increasingly being featured in the UK media. Here, I would like to take a closer look at the three projects they are working on.
“3ºC Neighborhood” is a neighborhood that can cope with the 3ºC increase caused by climate change.
3ºC Neighborhood is a project that explores sustainable designs for communities and cities based on the premise that climate change will progress and the average global temperature will rise by 3 degrees Celsius. This initiative explores how communities can adapt and become more resilient in the face of the inevitable reality of the climate crisis.
The project, set in Birmingham, focuses on identifying local vulnerabilities and developing countermeasures through community-participatory workshops and design processes. For example, plans are underway to improve infrastructure to cope with extreme heat waves, droughts, and water shortages, and to become self-sufficient in energy and food supplies in times of disaster.
A painting showing how ‘retrofit and densification’ will be achieved in Birmingham’s Reddette area | Image via Dark Matter Labs
The project is unique in that it combines technical and nature-based solutions. For example, consideration is being given to mitigating the urban heat island effect by promoting greening of local areas and stabilizing energy supplies by introducing renewable energy. Additionally, mechanisms are in place to strengthen the social cohesion of the community and allow residents to work together to address issues.
Reconsidering the concept of “home”. Exhibition at Design Museum/Future Observatory
Dark Matter Labs was also part of the Future Observatory exhibition at the Design Museum in London. This exhibition focuses on design research to address climate change and explores the future of living and cities in response to the environmental crisis.
Among them, the company is exhibiting a project called “FreeHouse.” This project seeks to rebuild the house not just as an asset, but as a system that creates sustainable value. The exhibition featured works that embody this concept.
QR codes were attached to building materials based on the question, “What if the materials used in buildings were rented rather than owned?” Photographed by the author
A receipt showing environmental costs was created based on the question, “What if the value of a house was measured in terms other than economic value?” Photographed by the author
“Tree as Infrastructure”: Redesigning cities using trees as infrastructure
Tree as Infrastructure is a project that redefines trees and forests as part of urban infrastructure. In conventional urban planning, trees have been limited to a decorative role, but in this project, trees are positioned as beings that fulfill important functions in the urban environment, including their climate regulation, carbon absorption, rainwater management, It focuses on the multifaceted role of conserving biodiversity.
Image via Dark Matter Labs
Viewing urban trees as “infrastructure” enables new approaches to incorporating natural elements in urban planning. For example, strategically placed trees can reduce the urban heat island effect and reduce demand for air conditioning.
Tree as Infrastructure presents a new vision for increasing urban sustainability, aiming to redesign infrastructure where cities and nature coexist.
Don’t assume that you can predict everything. Knowledge gained by on-site staff from the project
Of course, the projects I’ve described so far were not made possible solely by the contributions of Dark Matter Labs. The project was completed not only with the cooperation of other organizations, but also with the help of government agencies and local people. Since they are dealing with a topic that is “new” even in the UK, how did they start their project and what are they learning from it? Jack answered mainly based on his experience working on the “3ºC Neighborhood” project.
Team｜Image via Dark Matter Labs
Q. I think Dark Matter Labs’ projects are basically born out of the overlap of the interests of various people. How do they begin?
There are three types of ways to start a project. One type, which is probably used by many companies, is to receive requests directly from the client and proceed with the project within their budget. The second type is the type that has something they want to do within Dark Matter Labs and raises funds for it. Third, and this is the most unusual pattern, is the way in which multiple institutions invest in each other when solving public problems. It brings together institutions interested in ideas and issues, and this is a method that has emerged over the past few years.
Q. The graphic visuals published on your website are also impressive. Is there anything you are particular about in terms of the format of your output?
The way a single photo feels varies from person to person. I believe that photography is a technique in the sense that it leaves interpretation to the viewer. I think there are some people who cannot read a 50-page text report due to time or skill issues.
What we care about is how the viewer connects their own experience with the painting. I think it can be called an “emotional journey” for the viewer. Even in 3ºC Neighborhood, Dark Matter Labs was in charge of the drawings that required architectural knowledge.
However, visual design is not mandatory. For example, in projects such as Tree as Infrastructure, it is not easy to translate an idea into a single picture, so the goal itself was to develop web tools and create a digital platform.
Q. How did 3ºC Neighborhood, which Jack is involved with, start? Also, how did the project actually proceed?
3ºC Neighborhood was originally a project in collaboration with Birmingham-based CIVIC SQUARE, and they also provided funding. CIVIC SQUARE began as a project to renovate an industrial building in the Reddette area of Birmingham.
Applying donut economics to regional transformation. CIVIC SQUARE, a popular civic group in the UK
When considering the effects of climate change, for example, companies and government agencies often communicate positive results by saying, “We have reduced CO2 emissions by this much.” However, I think we are only slightly aware of it. In reality, these efforts are not working effectively enough to lower global temperatures. Abnormal weather events are occurring not only in the UK, but also in other parts of the world, and temperatures are actually continuing to rise.
In response to these facts, our team not only became pessimistic, but also started thinking, “When renovating buildings from now on, wouldn’t it be better to assume that the temperature will rise?” is. When building a new building, think 5 to 10 years into the future. Let’s try to estimate the risks involved. We wanted to create an idea in Birmingham that would realistically capture the effects of climate change and could be used across the UK.
The project’s path was not smooth. First, estimating climate risks requires expertise. I began academic research based on the questions, “What is climate change?” “What if we looked at it on a regional scale?” and “What if we looked at it on a national/global scale?”
CIVIC SQUARE originally had a background of working on renovation projects with neighboring residents in Birmingham, so we asked them to take charge of “literacy building” in order to create an environment where we could talk about the future.
At Dark Matter Labs, we focused on creating questions. We asked questions that would become the core of the project, such as “What should the roads be like?” and “What should be the form of building ownership?”
Q. Jack, what was the biggest thing you learned from working on the 3ºC Neighborhood project?
The biggest thing was realizing how little we can predict in the first place, and how small a window we view the world through. We develop infrastructure based on the scenery seen through such “small windows.” For example, even the metal used in British railways is made based on predictions based on past outside temperatures. However, due to climate change, these assumptions are no longer able to keep up.
Future risks are black holes. It made me realize that.
The second thing we realized is that climate change is a major driver of social inequality. As climate change progresses, access to homes, schools, and green spaces will become increasingly limited. And their unequal distribution will accelerate.
By purchasing solar panels, you may be able to live in a house that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer without putting a burden on the environment. However, there are many people who want to “decarbonize” their homes but do not have that option. In this way, all the means to stop climate change are increasingly becoming ‘commodified’, creating a situation in which access is limited by economic disparities.
Q. In light of this situation, what will the future of design work be like?
What I value as a designer is to think holistically and understand what will become a “limitation” in the future.
Retrofitting, which involves retrofitting existing buildings and equipment to improve energy efficiency, and the introduction of solar panels are often talked about as good things in the context of sustainability, but there are also things that can be externalized by doing so. You have to aim for it. Where do those resources and energy come from? There are things that cannot be grasped at the scale of a “town,” and there are things that still carry the structures of colonization.
To install solar panels, fossil fuels are burned and critical minerals are mined to further warm the earth. It will also adversely affect agricultural production and reduce the rate of food availability. Everything is connected.
I think future design work will need to pay close attention to this chain and be honest with what we have learned from our research.
Editor’s note
The horror of climate change is not only the impact it will have, but also the fact that we may not know the actual situation until the impact occurs. “We will reduce CO2 emissions by 2050” and “How to achieve the 1.5℃ target”…Nowadays, we increasingly see and hear numbers that seem to show that humans can control this. Can we continue to talk and take action about climate change, which we cannot grasp the reality of? Listening to Jack’s story made me think about this.
If you take a look at the Dark Matter Labs homepage again assuming that you are stepping into such uncharted territory, you will see that they have never “conclusively determined” the problem. Words included include “Next Economies,” “Beyond Labor,” and “Capital Systems.” It does not indicate which is good or bad.
Climate change is definitely starting to affect our lives. Rain falls more than the region can handle, flooding occurs, and people are exposed to heat that would be life-threatening if the energy supply were cut off. In such situations, we tend to look for an instant “solution” that will solve everything. However, I believe that focusing on something in search of an early solution will only create new social issues. This may be the case with recent hot topics such as solar panels, building renovations, and electric cars.
Questioning the assumptions of systems like Dark Matter Labs will become increasingly important in the era of VUCA, where the future is difficult to predict. From now on, we need to not only create engines with good performance, but also consider where the car will go.As I learned about their activities, I realized the importance of brushing up on the question.
[Reference site]Dark Matter Labs
[Related article]Applying donut economics to regional transformation. CIVIC SQUARE, a popular civic group in the UK
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