Bâcti

Conceived for the Lab Postal – the innovation exhibition hosted by French national postal service – Bâcti is a design fiction experience (keynote-fiction) that questions the dominant techno-solutionist mindsets and future visions prevalent in innovation circles.

Without immediately revealing its fictional nature, the startup Bâcti enthusiastically presents Digelec, its latest revolutionary breakthrough in biotechnology. At the heart of this innovation is Bacilla Digestiva, a bacterium designed in the lab to “digest” the city’s buildings. These obsolete urban infrastructures, transformed into giant biopiles, are gradually disintegrated while simultaneously generating energy to power smart city technologies, and perhaps even, in the future, its inhabitants.

In this future – utopian for some, dystopian for most – the ultra-connected city is presented as an unquestioned presupposition. The priorities are clearly laid out: when faced with the choice between solving the housing crisis or ensuring the massive energy supply required to power the smart city, the preference is given to the latter. Cynicism reaches its peak with the startup’s second bacterium, developed to feed disadvantaged populations using the residue of buildings “pre-digested” by the bacteria.

The audience, invited to step into the role of investors, was tasked with advising Bâcti on which of its future innovations they should fund. However, they were equally free to express outrage at the values embodied by the startup’s proposed solutions. The more curious members of the audience, harbouring doubts, may have visited the (fictional) Bâcti website, further blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

The pitch ended with the revelation of its fictional nature, surprising the participants and introducing them to how Design Fiction can foster critical reflection on innovation.