Oh, I'm Drowning
- Speculative scenarios explored emotional responses to the climate crisis, shifting from storytelling to simulation.
- A LEGO city game visualised rising sea levels, where choices could slow but not stop inevitable flooding.
- Reflection highlighted the setup’s limits and the need for clearer, more intuitive representations of environmental change.
Recap
As global temperatures continue to rise, countless future scenarios can be imagined. Our group decided to explore emotional experiences through speculative settings such as drought, urban paralysis, and rising sea levels.
Concept: Old Earth Stories Heard in 2100
This idea began with the image of people gathered around a bonfire, sharing stories. Set in London, a hundred years after climate-driven desertification, a storyteller recalls the past—our present day—reflecting on the choices that led to environmental collapse. Through this speculative narrative, we aimed to raise awareness of how today’s decisions shape the world inherited by future generations.
Story Written by Priyanka
Long, long ago, when the sun still slept behind gentle clouds and rivers ran full, this land was not the dry bones you see now. The earth was green and abundant, filled with fruit and grain.
In those days, our ancestors built towers that touched the sky, and the Great Stone City of Londaaahn overflowed with things—more than they could ever need. But they were hungry in a way you cannot imagine—not for food or water, but for power and wealth. They tore open the earth, drained its fire-stone, its black blood, and its hidden light, believing they were masters of land, rivers, even the sky.
A young one asks, “Did they know what they were doing?”
Some did, yes. But most were blinded by greed, and those who warned were mocked. They continued to build, dig, and burn until the skies filled with thick smoke. Eventually, the Earth grew weary. She had given all she could. Her rivers began to crack and dry, and when the sun turned fierce, the people of Londaaahn realised their riches were worth less than a single sip of water.
They had forgotten how to live off the land, how to read the earth’s signs. They fought over the last drops, the last grains, until the city crumbled. The towers fell to ruins, leaving only bones of stone and glass.
We are the children of those who survived. They left the burning cities and learned to live as our oldest ancestors once did—close to the earth, grateful for her gifts. And every season, we return here, to this shattered place, to remember the price of greed.
Do not forget, children. If we forget and crave the old ways, we too will fall as they did. Remember this, and respect the Earth, for she is the only mother we have.
However, we soon realised that our concept was limited by physical constraints, as we couldn’t safely use actual heat sources. The storytelling also risked becoming overly theatrical, which led us to develop a new direction.
Concept: Protect the City
We shifted focus to climate crisis awareness, designing a participatory simulation. Using materials like heat pads, ice, water, and LEGO, we built a miniature city that would visually react to rising sea levels.
Initially, two player roles were proposed, one as the mayor protecting the city, and the other as the entrepreneur seeking profit. To simplify, we later allowed each participant to pick decision cards affecting the city’s fate, where each choice had positive or negative environmental outcomes.
Realisation
We intentionally designed the system so that, no matter what players chose, the city would eventually flood, illustrating the irreversibility of the current climate crisis unless radical change occurs.
However, we also wanted to leave a trace of hope: that thoughtful choices can slow the damage. Izzy and I built the city from LEGO; Priyanka implemented Arduino-controlled heat pads; and Jiayi and Shivangi designed the decision cards. Participants drew two cards and selected one; the resulting action directly influenced the city’s environment.
Feedback & Reflection
Feedback suggested that the concept could be enriched by including two-player dynamics and exploring engagement models similar to the single-player game Papers, Please. There was also a suggestion to allow the LEGO city to transform physically based on players’ choices.
Although we attempted to simulate sea-level rise using lights, heat pads, and ice, the technical execution was limited. In future iterations, I would focus on how to represent environmental change more intuitively while maintaining emotional depth.
Reference
- Fuller, R. B. (1969) Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Lars Müller Publishers.
- Soleri, P. (1969) Arcology: The City in the Image of Man. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Available at: https://www.organism.earth/library/document/arcology
- Postcards from the Future (n.d.) Available at: https://www.postcardsfromthefuture.com/
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