(9)Micromort Speculative Design Installation
- (project type)
- University @Politecnico di Milano
- (Course)
- final synthesis lab
- (year)
- 2020
- (role)
- Interaction & Visual Designer
- (fields)
- Interaction Design, Speculative Design, Data Viz
Micromort is a speculative design project exploring the relationship between mortality, economic inequality and the value assigned to human life. Developed in 2020 during a six-month Final Synthesis Lab at Politecnico di Milano, the project questions how nationality, geography and socioeconomic conditions influence the way human lives are perceived and valued. At its core is a fictional currency that transforms mortality data into a speculative economic system. Set within an imagined Death Stock Exchange, Micromort draws on the visual language of financial markets to expose inequalities in how societies perceive and respond to human loss. Through data visualization and an interactive installation, the project invites viewers to question the political and economic forces shaping the value attributed to different lives.
The Stock Exchange Experience is an interactive installation comprising 16 screens, a touchscreen interface and eight metres of LED panels. Drawing on more than 21,000 data points related to deaths and disasters worldwide between 2000 and 2017, the installation presents mortality through the visual language of financial markets.
A printed brochure extends the project's visual identity, introducing the fictional currency, documenting the installation and explaining the system behind its calculations.
An interactive touchscreen invites visitors to explore Micromort through a navigable 3D globe. The interface visualizes mortality-related data across countries and time periods, allowing users to examine geographical differences and historical changes.
Micromort was exhibited at The Lost Graduation Show during Supersalone 2021, part of Milan Design Week. The exhibition brought together 170 projects by emerging designers from around the world, presenting Micromort within a broader conversation about contemporary design practices.
The accompanying bachelor's thesis expands on the project's conceptual framework, investigating the relationship between speculative design, mortality, nationality and economic inequality. It also examines the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting on how different societies assign value to human life through political, economic and technological systems.
- (designers)
- Carlotta Bacchini, Pietro Forino, Davide Perucchini, Elisa Carbone, Enzo Taboada, Alvise Aspesi
- (printedy by)
- Tipografia Reali
- (awards)
- Interaction Design Award by Core77
- (exhibitions)
- the lost graduation show at supersalone 2021
- (press)
- fuorisalonetv.com speculativeedu.com domusweb.it azuremagazine.comDomus MagazineFuorisalone TVAzure MagazineSpeculative EduPittogramma