Design Forecast 2016

Gensler Design Forecast 2016
A closer look at
the metatrends’
impact on how
we will live, work,
and play.
Live
Community Forecast
Contemporary life’s disruptions and
opportunities form the working agenda
for cities and their community-facing
institutions and infrastructure.
iHumanity
is redefining
livability.
No journey, treatment, or curriculum is
fixed, as digital tools and open resources
encourage people to shape their experiences
and own their destinies. As they reclaim
their cities, people are redefining livability—
with sharing and wellness at the core. The
growing capacity for personalization continues
to generate the kind of disruption that
challenges tradition’s sclerosis and high cost.
New priorities
give resilience
a new math.
Resource shortfalls spur across-the-board
rethinking to increase supply, temper
demand, and prevent waste. Pollution,
sea-level rise, and other manmade and natural
threats to community life lead to a “new
math” about priorities. How resilience is
defined will vary, but investing in it is seen
as a communal responsibility.
Growing
complexity
demands synergy.
Proximity is less of a requirement as remote
medicine, education, and convening ramp
up. At the same time, research, practice,
and education are increasingly combined,
implying more integrated facilities. Crossing
boundaries is necessary in a complex,
distributed, and interconnected world.
Collaborative synergy that generates holistic
solutions is widely valued, and communities
of practice that deliver it will thrive.
Creativity
is fueling an
urban revival.
Grassroots artists and artisanal activity,
leveraging low rents, meld with startups
to revive depressed neighborhoods. For
cities, accommodating them is a challenge,
but also a necessity to reap cultural and
economic benefits. Look for companies and
institutions to step in where rents are high
to provide shared workspaces that spur
innovation. Urban agriculture has similar
benefits as a means of community-building.
Adaptability
and versatility
are the norm.
Community life evolves through trial,
error, and new solutions. If a key part of
the system falls short, there’s an app for
that. If public space isn’t available, curbside
parklets pop up. Large venues will support
intensive and varied use, orchestrating
smaller settings that activate the city as a
whole. Low-tech, mobile venues will well
up around them—creating micro-markets
for entrepreneurs and quickly-deployed
platforms for spontaneous local events.
San Francisco International Airport Terminal 3,
Boarding Area E, San Francisco
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