This is not new, but I want to call attention to the “What If” exhibition at the Science Gallery in Dublin.

The exhibition features the work of Dunne and Raby, Tobie Kerridge and the Material Beliefs project, and many other students from the RCA and Goldsmiths. Some of the work I had not seen before, and it is always exciting to discover new examples of critical and speculative design.

In addition to providing new examples of work, the museum site itself is worth noting and considering.

Can we, and should we, consider the science museum as a (if not “the”) principal site for speculative and critical design? Certainly the museum as institution aligns with many of the central themes of critical and speculative design. It provides a space and context for exploration. Dunne and Raby’s installation Is This Your Future? at the Science Museum of London was an early example of critical design in the context of the science museum. In addition to providing an interesting institutional site for speculative and critical design, the museum can also provide the organizational and resource scaffolding for such endeavors, primarily through their educational and outreach programs. The Material Beliefs project provides an initial example for how critical and speculative design might be integrated with existing museum programs.

The question is, Why are we not seeing even more of this?

And how might critical and speculative design expand from the science museum to the natural history or history museum?