The term “Anthropocene” defines the time period in which human activity has been the dominant influence on the environment and climate, which at the moment would be the current geographical age we are living in. From about 2.6 million years ago up until the present day, human beings have been substantially altering Earth’s surface, oceans, atmosphere, and the natural systems of nutrient cycling. Most of this is a negative effect given the current climate change problems that we have been combating to try and reverse the damages, but it is an important concept for any designer to take into consideration.
These ideas will of course have an impact on the designs of the time. Most take the approach of trying to make as little environmental impact as possible to try to help. Design with nature and how it is achieved with the level of success is what makes or breaks a civilization. All eyes are on the designers and how they can create the most eco-friendly building given whatever budget they have. Despite technological advancements, designers and architects still face issues in the Anthropocene that are unique to this era. Human activity is what has changed and affected the planet so much, and the point of design is to enhance these activities, by making it more desirable and viable for whatever line of work. Design has to evolve beyond just serving the industrial age which is both in the hands of the designers and the clients.
The Anthropocene challenges the idea of sustainability since things have changed and will continue to change. We cannot undo what has been done already, but we can make strides to maintain what we are left with. The idea is to make the change now before it is forced upon us by breakdowns of the various life systems. All people would need to come together to have this be an option in the future — designers and clients, businesses and competitors, suppliers and consumers.
How does Cyberpunk play a part in the concept of the Anthropocene? For starters, it usually depicts a dystopian future that is closer to reality than it seems at first. Both deal with this idea of a changed environment affected by human activity, and it causes its occupants to have to adapt and change to this new life. There is a degree of artificiality mixed with scientific achievement, which is the natural progression of the world. Cyberpunk, however, teaches us how we need to treat these new advancements in order to steer clear of the futures it depicts. Sustainability, though it poses its own sets of challenges in this age, is a needed step to combat the negative change. We can change the Anthropocene into a positive epoch that is looked highly upon by future generations, but it will take the knowledge and effort of all those willing to take the first step into making a difference and reversing the effects we have already put forth for ourselves.
The Hyperloop will be one of those advancements that will change the events of the Anthropocene. Though the idea of it looks great on paper — clean energy transportation, moving between cities faster than standard travel, reduced risk of human error with automation — it comes with its own set of problems. Like any kind of transportation, it has to take up space in the environment, and because it cannot possibly have routes between every city in the world, it will still have an impact on the environment. Life as we know it now will be drastically changed, and the urban fabric will be altered to something we may no longer recognize. Perhaps the lens we view the world through will continue to narrow.
But it starts with us and how we treat the technology we are given.
Works Referenced
“Anthropocene Epoch.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
www.britannica.com/science/Anthropocene-Epoch.
Reason, Ben. “Designing in the Anthropocene.” Liveworkstudio, 30 Apr. 2020,
www.liveworkstudio.com/articles/designing-in-the-anthropocene/.
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