Extreme Worlds, Radical Solutions: CERN x Domus Academy
A collaboration between Domus Academy and CERN IdeaSquare explores 2075 climate scenarios through sustainable fashion and design solutions. Read more below!
What would happen if we had to design for a world completely different from our own? This was the challenge launched by the workshop born from the collaboration with CERN IdeaSquare, CERN’s innovation centre that connects science, design, and sustainability to address major global challenges.
The project led students from the Master’s programmes in Product Design, Interaction Design and Fashion Design to imagine solutions for the year 2075, first on a hypothetical Planet Y with extreme conditions, then applying those visions to Northern Italy’s future. A world-building exercise that combines speculative thinking and systemic design to generate concrete innovations against climate change.
An interdisciplinary team composed of students from Fashion Design, Interaction Design, and Product Design created a collection that redefines the very concept of dressing.
Adaptive Clothing is a modular system where each garment responds dynamically to the environment and body. Smart fabrics that expand, contract, or regulate temperature and humidity. Detachable sleeves, transformable silhouettes, bio-compatible materials such as eco-friendly cellulose fibers and bio-polyurethane.
But the innovation isn’t only technological: the collection incorporates motifs and techniques from the Indian sari to the Japanese kimono, from desert nomadic style to global textile traditions. An inclusive, gender-fluid system detached from seasonality, designed for a mobile and culturally diverse population. Clothing thus becomes a form of cultural continuity in a rapidly changing world.
Another team developed a curtain system that leverages phase change materials (PCM) to passively regulate indoor temperature.
PCMs absorb, store, and release thermal energy during physical state changes: when it’s hot they melt, absorbing excess heat; when it’s cold they solidify, releasing heat. A completely autonomous cycle, requiring no electricity or mechanical input.
BLOOP combines the wisdom of traditional solutions like Indian Khus Khus curtains with advanced technology: a recycled polyester voile base for airflow, structured PCM gel inserts in panels, thermochromic indicators that change colour based on temperature for an intuitive and visually immediate experience.
The system is scalable from single homes to entire urban areas, representing a sustainable and accessible approach to living comfort in extreme climate conditions.
This collaboration between Domus Academy and CERN IdeaSquare demonstrates how design, when guided by predictive methodology and interdisciplinary approach, can transform extreme future scenarios into solutions applicable today. Not just dystopian visions, but concrete tools to address the climate and social challenges of our time with innovation, sustainability, and cultural awareness.
FAQ – Frequent questions
1.How does the collaboration between Domus Academy and CERN IdeaSquare work?
The workshop connects science, design, and sustainability through interdisciplinary student teams that develop tangible solutions for extreme climate scenarios, applying world-building and speculative design methodologies to climate change.
2. What innovations emerge from the Adaptive Clothing project?
A modular smart clothing system featuring fabrics that dynamically adapt to the environment, bio-compatible materials, and inclusive gender-fluid design, integrating advanced technologies with global textile traditions to address future climate challenges.
3. How does the BLOOP system respond to climate change without energy consumption?
Through phase-change materials (PCM) integrated into smart curtains that passively regulate temperature, combining traditional solutions with advanced technology and thermochromic indicators for sustainable and scalable living comfort.
4. Why is speculative design strategic for sustainable innovation?
It transforms extreme future scenarios into solutions that can be applied today, using an interdisciplinary approach and predictive methodologies to generate concrete innovations against climate change, from fashion to product design.
5. What interdisciplinary skills do students develop in this project?
Systems thinking, speculative design, sustainable innovation, and collaboration across Fashion Design, Interaction Design, and Product Design to create climate-responsive solutions with cultural awareness and reduced environmental impact.