The Future Starts Here

What makes us human?
We are all connected, but do we feel lonely?
Does democracy still work?
Are cities for everyone?
Should the planet be a design project?
If Mars is the answer, what is the question?
Who wants to live forever?

The world of tomorrow is shaped by emerging design and the technology of today. Bringing together a range of objects either newly released or in development, The Future Starts Here begins to imagine where our society might be headed. Cute but intelligent robots, massive unmanned aircraft that deliver internet access, crowdfunded buildings, tools printed in space, mysterious black boxes that understand human genetic codes--how can these objects affect the way we live, learn, and love? And how are they challenging our understanding of what it means to be an individual, a citizen, a crowd, or a species?

With contributions from Arjun Appadurai, Zara Arshad, Teju Cole, Anne Galloway, Corinna Gardner, Rory Hyde, Jennifer Kabat, Alex Kalman, Natalie D. Kane, Kieran Long, Justin McGuirk, An Xiao Mina, Richard Moyes, Mariana Pestana, Susan Schuppli, and Leanne Shapton, this exciting book accompanies an exhibition on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, May 12 – November 4, 2018.

Rory Hyde is curator of contemporary architecture and urbanism. Mariana Pestana is curator of The Future is Here exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Kieran Long is Director of Arkitektur-och designcentrum, The Swedish Center for Architecture and Design, in Stockholm, and former keeper of design, architecture and digital at the V&A.