Preview: Bistro In Vitro

Bistro In Vitro takes the form of an online interactive documentary, co-produced by Next Nature Network and Submarine Channel, that imagines a restaurant where lab-grown meat is the central ingredient of each dish. Visitors to a microsite can book a table for 2028, and choose from a selection of fictional dishes from meat fruit to synthetically cultivated oysters.

‘We now live in a time of rapid technological developments. Culture can hardly keep up. I believe that envisaging the potential impact of technology via tangible design fictions can help us to get a better grip on it,’ says Koert van Mensvoort, head of Next Nature Network. ‘In-vitro meat is a good example of a technology that feels completely artificial and unnatural today, yet how natural is it to keep millions of animals in small cages for meat production?’ he asks.

The Big Picture: Create design fictions. Whether planning internally or creating consumer-focused campaigns, we must imagine the future before we can create it.