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The implausible futurist: Steven M. Johnson

September 29, 2011 by Fosco Lucarelli Leave a Comment

Since the 70’s, Steven M. Johnson, (not to be confused with the almost homonymous Steven B. Johnson ) amused himself drawing utopian products on paper, designing alternative scenarios in a style for he was once described by Dwell editor Allison Arieff as “R. Crumb meets Buckminster Fuller”.

Working as a former urban planner and future trends analyst for Honda, he developed his passion somewhat alongside, until he was asked by Neatorama.com to produce one new invention each week. Concepts – yet lacking patents – like shoes with headlights and left and right directional signals, front and back bras, a human powered washing machine, pre-scratched cars, thought as possible solutions to real or imagined problems.

In fact his first book “What The World Needs Now”, was even designed to spoof an L.L. Bean catalog.

During the 90’s he shifted his attention to social issues, trying to solve them.
Here’s a house with a swimming pool moat, a way for him to address crime prevention:

Until he worked on his most utopian idea, but possibly the one we could see materialize: “a vast intercontinental highway system that is designed for solar, electric, and other qualifying benign vehicles“.

Via: Archinect

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