We’ve controlled population growth. There are far fewer people than there are resources. Nature is no longer under pressure. Everyone has enough and more. LA is now a city of abundance and decadence. Automation has freed everyone from all kinds of serious work and stress. People pursue what we would have called ‘trivial,’ back in 2018 (and we were pretty lazy and vapid then).
In this wider context, it’s not just the humans that have become spoiled and indulgent. Pets have too! Now, almost anything can happen at a pet’s whim or fancy. Our LA River Garden, which was inaugurated in late 2018, has evolved into a chic “LA River Dog Retreat.”
The garden no longer grows fresh produce. It is now purely an ornamental garden where dogs can relieve stress and find happiness. Dog owners can book this space by the hour, by appointment only. Humans and cats are strictly forbidden from entering the garden and prohibited from disturbing them in any way. Dogs are free to roam and play, destroy all kinds of exotic plants, pee and poop anywhere they like, and mate to their heart’s content. When a dog runs along the river and jumps into it, it’s considered auspicious. It is their way of blessing the pristine blue waters of LA River.
Reflection:
Always design with the long-term in mind. What looks like a solution today, might become a constraint tomorrow. Even worse, it might be deemed ugly and irrelevant in the near future. [Car designers call this the “How will this age?” test. The Honda CrossTour 2009 is an example of a car whose design did not age well, while the original Mini’s design (1970) is still going strong.]
Hi Yao, thanks for the feedback. We sure could have done better by going deeper into the discipline aspect of our imagined future. We should have also thought more about translating decadence for Dogs . The design of the garden is still human-centered.
Going beyond dogs and thinking of other animals is another missed opportunity.
Team 4 – Discipline, Pets, Gift, Decadence
The utopian future in your opening is melting my heart and thanks for writing such a great story with great visuals. It seems like the decadence leads to a very optimistic reuse of existing human architecture to elevate the quality of life for other living creatures. Love the idea but not sure if dogs would appreciate the fancy concretes and fountains better than just nature and wild life. As this idea develops, hopefully you have more room to further investigate “discipline” as I see some potential issues related to lack of governance once we let animals take agency and control. Just something to think about.
BTW. As a cat lover, I hope there’s a future version for cats too, or all animals. 🙂