The Lab for Sens-Fiction

What kind of future do we want?

Design in search of new visions and desirable futures

Narrative and fictional modes were used to great effect in the mid-20th century. From these popular tales, vocations and destinies were born, along with a powerful common belief in a future essential for uniting society. The convergence of ambitions among key players in innovation, due to the establishment of an unwavering belief in technology, generated an unprecedented level of enthusiasm. 

Those days are now over. We now face other challenges that require us to rethink our place and the meaning of our presence in the world. The use of imaginary visions, in this time of apocalypses and  breakdowns in established platforms, remains essential to help us craft, with renewed energy, the world of tomorrow.

Rediscovering the performative power of storytelling in our habits and usages: Sens-Fiction was created with this collective, visionary spirit in mind, uniting manufacturers, entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and thinkers, to envision desirable futures.

Desirable fictions

RF Studio and its Bureau des Usages are experimenting with a creative-design approach, where storytelling and design come together to envision alternative trajectories.

Here, we play our part as designers and as a research unit, rebooting the culture of future visions and predicting new ways of existing in this world. Thus, writers of fiction, experts, providers of everyday necessities, and designers joined forces within a virtual lab to contribute to the emergence of alternate futures.

To accomplish this, 5 main areas of transformation and 5 value trajectories were identified. They seemed to us as powerful as they were essential in helping to free us from seemingly inevitable collapse. These futures are embodied within truly unique fictions, through audio testimonials from characters who, from the future, challenge us and, through their life experiences, provide evidence of a more desirable transformation of the world.

Creative methodology for desirable fictions

Delimitation of the subject
Identification of a theme or a particular context to be put into fiction.

Creation of the Corpus
Compilation of references (Studies, scientific articles, innovations, fictions, etc.).

Writing of an article
Organization of issues related to the chosen theme from the agency’s point of view, giving a point of view on the trends identified and allowing the narrative to be centered around a proposed character..

Constitution of the team
Choice of the author and the appropriate experts.

Webinars
One to three discussion sessions between the author, identified experts and designers.

Fiction writing
The designer accompanies the author during the writing of fiction on design subjects

Production
Recording of the actors and post-production to create the sound environment of the fiction.

A luminous audio immersion device

Discover the 5 founding fictions

Based on an original idea by RF Studio, narrated by Benjamin Abitan, Catherine Dufour, Jean Echenoz, Xabi Molia, Maylis de Kerangal.

With the participation of experts: Marie-Angèle Hermitte, Yves Citton, Pr. Marescaux, Dominique Bourg, Antoine Asfar, Samuel Bernier, Tom and Jean-François Rial…

And the kind contribution of daily operators: The European Metropolis of Lille, Entreprises&Cités, Leroy Merlin, Décathlon, Veolia…