A Design Fiction. Multiple perspectives on a fictional United Kingdom, as imagined by designers and educators Dunne & Raby.
United Micro Kingdom: A Design Fiction presents multiple perspectives
on a fictional United Kingdom, as imagined by designers and educators
Dunne and Raby. The exhibition sees England devolved into four self-
contained counties or micro kingdoms, each free to experiment with
governance, economy and lifestyle.
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby use elements of industrial design,
architecture, politics, science and sociology to provoke debate around the
power and potential of design. The exhibition challenges assumptions about
how products and services are made and used, through reinterpretations of
the car and other transport systems.
Dunne & Raby interrogate the potential for design borrowing methods from
literature and art and apply them to the real world as thought experiments.
Their design practice uses design to explore the social, cultural and ethical
implications of emerging technologies.
The four micro kingdoms explored in the exhibition are:
1. Digitarians
Digitarians depend on digital technology and all its implicit totalitarianism:
tagging, metrics, total surveillance, tracking, data logging and 100%
transparency. Their society is organised entirely by market forces; citizen
and consumer are the same.
2. Communo-Nuclearists
The Communo-nuclearist society is a no-growth, limited population
experiment. Using nuclear power to deliver near limitless energy, the state
provides everything needed for their continued survival. Although they are
energy rich it comes at a price — no one wants to live near them. Under
constant threat of attack or accident, they live on a continually moving, 3
kilometre, nuclear-powered mobile landscape.
3. Anarcho-Evolutionists
The Anarcho-evolutionists abandon most technologies, or at least stop
developing them, and concentrate on using science to maximise their own
physical capabilities through training, DIY biohacking and self-
experimentation. They believe that humans should modify themselves to
exist within the limits of the planet rather than modifying the planet to meet
their ever growing needs.
4. Bioliberals
Bioliberals fully embrace biotechnology and the new values that this entails.
Biology is at the centre of their world-view, leading to a radically different
technological landscape to our own. Each person produces their own
energy according to their needs. Bioliberals are essentially farmers, cooks
and gardeners. Not just of plants and food, but of products too. Gardens,
kitchens and farms replace factories and workshop.
Dunne & Raby:
Anthony Dunne is professor and head of the Design Interactions
programme at the Royal College of Art in London. Anthony studied
Industrial Design at the RCA before working at Sony Design in Tokyo. On
returning to London he completed a PhD in Computer Related Design at the
RCA. Anthony was a founding member of the CRD Research Studio where
he worked as a Senior Research Fellow leading EU and industry funded
research projects. Anthony was awarded the Sir Misha Black Award for
Innovation in Design Education in 2009.
Fiona Raby is professor of Industrial Design (id2) at the University of
Applied Arts in Vienna as well as reader in Design Interactions at the RCA.
She studied Architecture at the RCA before working for Kei'ichi Irie
Architects in Tokyo. She also holds an MPhil in Computer Related Design
from the RCA. Fiona was a founding member of the CRD Research Studio
where she worked as a Senior Research Fellow leading externally funded
research projects. Fiona taught in Architecture for over 10 years.
Their projects include, Hertzian Tales, a combination of essays and design
proposals exploring aesthetic and critical possibilities for electronic products
(MIT Press 2005); Placebo, a collection of electronic objects exploring well-
being in relation to domestic electromagnetic fields (2001); and
Technological Dreams Series: no.1, Robots (2007). Design Noir: The Secret
Life of Electronic Objects was published by Birkhauser in 2001 and
Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction and Social Dreaming will be
published by MIT Press in 2013.
Their work has been exhibited and published internationally and is in the
permanent collections of MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Frac Ile-de-
France and Fnac (Fond national d'art contemporain), as well as several
private collections.
Please direct all press requests to:
E: Ashley@designmuseum.org T: 0207 940 8787
With thanks to:
Camira Fabrics - camirafabrics.com
Abet Laminati - abetuk.com
Exhibition graphics by Kollenberg - White
Exhibition Media View 30 April 10am – 12pm
Dunne & Raby will be available for interview at the media preview.
Design Museum
Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD
Opening: 10.00 -17.45 daily. Last admission: 17.15
Admissions: £11.85 Adults, £10.70 Concessions, £7.50 Students,
Under 12s Free.
Public Info T: 020 7940 8790 W: designmuseum.org