Design Map · Eindhoven
Winds from optimistic futures
Graduation project by Lucas Geiger at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
‘Winds from Optimistic Futures’ is an installation that presents climate simulations as political choices rather than neutral forecasts. Developed through close collaboration with climate scientists and research on Integrated Assessment Models, the project shows that all climate scenarios that achieve the 1.5°C target rely on speculative future carbon-removal technologies while assigning less value to future generations in economic cost-benefit calculations. At its centre, a white flag flutters in the simulated wind from a future in which global temperatures rise “only” 1.5°C. Alongside it, screens display interactive climate models that show the temperature and emissions pathways underlying this scenario, including decades of overshoot before temperatures decline. Visitors can alter the model’s discount rate, exposing how valuing the future less can make higher temperatures appear economically “optimal”.