Xixi Chen + Mollie Karasch

Re: Survival
Returning to the past to move forward

Oryx and Crake and The Year of The Flood are two novels by Margaret Atwood that occur simultaneously within the same world. We enter this society following the lives of the main characters as they navigate a world struck by disaster, and through their recollection of memories to understand the events that led up to this point. Through flashbacks we encounter a society, living in a post-climate change environment, and managed by biotechnology corporations. Technological advances lead to a waterless flood (an orchestrated pandemic) with the goal of human extinction. The flood leaves the world in further ruin and a small population of humans survive.

The project proposes a series of survival necessities, constructed using remnants of past technologies, materials and objects, for the remaining humans as they navigate their future without the societal structure of the past. The elements consist of a carry-all wearable shelter, a water harvesting system and hydroponic garden structures. Each of these constructions has the capability to be transported to various locations, or can be used within a proposed elevated platform community.