The Pluriverse revolves around achieving a decolonized world, stripped from possessed knowledge and regulations, to support all. The term has gained traction in the last few generations due to rising environmental and socio-economic issues putting pressure on individuals (Friends of the Earth Australia, 2019).

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These conditions have consequently raised violence between communities and caused the Pluriverse to carry the symbol of reorganizing societies and nature. The graphic below helps frame this concept, as it shows that by working towards a ‘Pluriversal society,’ we will be heading away from a ‘Colonial society’ that disregards the unprivileged.

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Pluriversal design is a design mode that combines work derived from diversity to create multicultural conversations. This inclusion of many worlds can educate the commonly oppressed without the influence of the colonial way of thinking. Overall, this builds trust between the design and its viewers through respect and open-mindedness.

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To recap, a Speculative Design is an output of critical forecasting that goes against conventional standards. For example, Star Trek would have elements of Speculative Design for envisioning a space crew consisting of multicultural characters, which was abnormal during its time. A Pluriversal Design consists of multiple different perspectives. It acknowledges our differences, which means that when this same approach is applied to a Speculative Design, it becomes more effective at raising questions that break current paradigms. For example, imagine an invention in the future that takes the form of a small box with a red button. It allows any individual to become ‘rich’ to their liking once pressed. Through the lens of Pluriversal Design, one individual may be ‘rich’ in monetary value and another ‘rich’ with a swarming crowd of puppies. Neither desire is wrong because the invention/ the Pluriverse caters to everyone. This approach creates more possibilities and radical imaginations.

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I believe that Pluriversal approaches should be incorporated with more design frameworks to ensure that designers understand who they are, including and excluding.

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‘The World as an Architectural Project’ is a book by Hashim Sarkis, Roi Salgueiro Barrio, and Gabriel Kozlowski. It consists of fifty case studies that speculate the possible futures for our planet through the lenses of architects. The project examined the social and environmental issues “regarding geographical, infrastructural, (and) the biosphere” (Madson, 2021). It speculates with a mission to draw more architects and designers to envision our future and thus create proposals that will significantly serve the Earth. This passionate project communicated its ideas by expressing speculative designs of world-scale projects, such as alternate worlds and societies. These projects derived from the team’s study of historical architecture and social dynamics. One example from the team's exercises was the creation of a late-capitalist New Babylon. They took pages out of our current societies to form a dystopian city world. This world comprised of prosperity and entertainment that only the rich could access. It doesn't sound like we are currently that far off.

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Through its reflection, this case study extends and challenges speculative design's ideas and assumptions, specifically Dunne and Raby's version. Although the collection of work comes from a diverse and multicultural team, Sarkis reflects on how important it was to have different perspectives on worldmaking. These different perspectives replace the binary systems of thought that can quickly occur in Speculative Design. One of the projects within the book offers the idea of a future metropolis accommodating vast sub-cultures, identities, and preferences, and had gotten there by encouraging the differences and tolerance between its designers. The case study did not speculate based on one view of history to envision the future. Instead, it took a step back and broadened its perspective as it understood that its designers and readers had their own preferences for living.