Glossary

  1. Science fiction
    fiction based on imagined future worlds portraying scientific or technological changes.
    It is imaginary writing based on current or projected scientific technological developments
    This fiction deals with the influence of real or imagined science on society or individuals.
  2. Futurism
    It is a movement that promotes a type of art reflecting life in the modern age, characterized by simultaneity, dynamism and speed.
  3. Speculative design
    is an emerging practice-based research methodology that promotes designed objects as tools for critical reflection. It serves as an alternative to existing strategies by channeling research findings through symbolic material objects. Rather than being represented as situated consumer products intended for mass production, these forms live in exhibition and publication environments. As a result they express knowledge as symbolic information through form and interaction as opposed to a more sequence dependent linear reporting. The interaction and experience one has with speculative objects are used to initiate further design—generating an iterative design practice that reflects upon cultural realities by elevating the significance of formal and interactive elements.. (Nikhil Mitter, Speculative Design: Creative Possibilities and Critical Reflection (pdf). Graduate Media Design Program, Art Center College of Design. www.speculativedesign.com)
  4. Sustainability
    The characteristic of being able to coexist with another system indefinitely, without either system being damaged
    The quality of a state or process that allows it to be maintained indefinitely; the principles of sustainability integrate three closely interlinked elements—the environment, the economy, and the social system—into a system that can be maintained in a healthy state indefinitely.
  5. Eco-efficiency
    “Doing more with less”, Henry Ford, 1926.
    The ability of organizations to make savings and increase profit margins by becoming more 'sustainable'.
  6. Urban environment
    Includes the physical urban area and the complex and dynamic interaction among its key components—the terrain (natural and manmade), the population, and the supporting infrastructure—as an overlapping and interdependent system of systems. Effects of this interaction may extend well into surrounding rural areas, as well as significantly influence smaller neighboring urban areas. Critical elements of the infrastructure may well lie outside the area's physical confines.
  7. Bioenergy
    Bioenergy is actually solar energy—it uses organic (living) materials, which ultimately get their energy from the sun. For example, plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make food, in the form of sugars and starches. When plants are harvested and processed, that food becomes energy we can use in cars engines or power plants.
  8. Nanosolar technology
    extremely low-cost printable solar cell manufacturing process. Nanosolar, Inc. has developed proprietary ink that makes it possible to simply print the semiconductor of a high-performance solar cell. It uses nanostructured components as the basis for creating printable semiconductors, printable transparent electrodes, and novel forms of advanced nanocomposite solar-cell architecture.
  9. Design Science
    The conceptual framework for a Design Science was probably first articulated by R. Buckminster Fuller as a panacea for problems caused by natural resource depletion, overpopulation and many other 20th century problems. Fuller's answer to the various dilemmas involved a concerted effort by design engineers to anticipate the needs of humanity and meet them before it was (is) too late. The core mission of Design Science Research is to develop general knowledge, which can be used by professionals in the field in question to design solutions to their specific problems.
  10. Unit
    an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity.
  11. 3D
    three-D: having a three-dimensional form or appearance; work which extends in depth and is intended to be viewed from every aspect (side, front, back, top).