Speculative Form — Exploring New Possibilities Between Design and Technology

Written by Natasha Wilson

As the new year begins, it's worth revisiting one of late 2025's most thought-provoking design exhibitions for inspiration. On November 22–23, 2025, Minerva Gallery hosted Speculative Form, a duo showcase led by designer Taoran Jiang and Minzhou Wang. Over two days, the gallery became a testing ground for forward-looking ideas at the intersection of design and technology. The exhibition centered on a dialogue between innovative product design and cutting-edge technology, offering a glimpse into how creative speculation might shape the future of our tools and environments. It was a fitting finale to 2025 and a springboard for creative minds entering 2026, illustrating how technology can be more than functional—it can be cultural, ecological, and deeply human.

Taoran Jiang, who led the exhibition, is a UX designer whose practice connects digital experiences with living ecologies. A Santa Clara–based designer with an MFA in Interactive Design from SCAD, Jiang has earned international recognition for projects that integrate technology and sustainable design. She has a strong personal interest in plants and garden environments, often translating ecological patterns into intuitive interfaces and systems. Joining her was Minzhou Wang, the first UX/UI designer for Husqvarna's North American robotics division, known for her work on human-machine interaction.

At Speculative Form, these perspectives converged. Both designers used their work to ask how emerging technologies—like artificial intelligence, smart devices, and interactive systems—might reshape the way we live and interact. The exhibition's premise treated technology as a design material and design as a form of inquiry into the future. Visitors entering the gallery found themselves between two worlds: one a vision of intelligent green ecosystems, the other a reimagining of familiar digital tools. Together, the works spoke to how design and tech can merge to create not just new products, but new ways of thinking about our relationship with the world around us.

Taoran Jiang's centerpiece showcase was GreenHub, an AI-driven ecological platform imagined as an interactive installation. Originally conceived as a smart lawn care system that unifies diagnosis, scheduling, and maintenance into one platform, GreenHub was presented in the gallery as a window into the future of urban green spaces. Through dynamic data visualizations, predictive simulations, and an interactive interface, the piece allowed viewers to see how technology might "perceive" and manage an environment. By displaying real-time environmental data and AI-generated insights, GreenHub revealed a scenario where nature and technology collaborate rather than compete.

Jiang's approach is distinctly interdisciplinary: she combined principles of environmental science, interaction design, and artificial intelligence to create an experience that felt both educational and visionary. Visitors could observe how the AI monitored plant health, predicted growth or decay, and recommended care strategies – essentially demonstrating an intelligent gardener's mindset. Many attendees were drawn to this blend of ecology and high-tech design. GreenHub invited them to reflect on a near future where smart systems assist in ecological stewardship. Instead of technology being a gadget that distracts from nature, Jiang portrayed it as a tool that could empower environmental care. Some visitors noted that the installation made them rethink how urban parks and gardens might operate if imbued with AI – could cities one day have "digital greenkeepers" that nurture plant life using data-driven care? The consensus was that Jiang's work managed to be pragmatic in its use of real data and AI, yet imaginative in how it foresaw a healthier, more connected relationship between people, technology, and the natural world.

Crucially, Jiang's own experience enriches this vision. With a background in interaction design and a portfolio of sustainable tech projects, she has long explored how human-friendly design can drive positive ecological impact. GreenHub builds on her past work and passions, merging her expertise in UX with her love of gardening. The result was not just a tech demo but a speculative ecosystem, inviting all who interacted with it to consider how design thinking and AI might help cities become greener and more responsive. By the end of the exhibition, GreenHub had clearly made an impression – sparking conversations about whether technology could become an ally to nature. Jiang's creative stance suggests that with thoughtful design, our digital tools might heal and enhance the planet instead of harming it.

Over its two-day run, Speculative Form drew an impressive mix of attendees – from UX designers and software engineers to art students and curious locals. The reception was overwhelmingly positive. Many visitors praised the exhibition as a "fusion of design thinking and artistic expression," noting how it elevated technology from a mere functional tool to a cultural medium and conversation piece. By placing prototypes and concept pieces in a gallery context, the show asked viewers to appreciate the creativity and critical thinking behind tech design. One attendee commented that Jiang's GreenHub "made sustainability look high-tech and hopeful," while another said Wang's keyboards "turned everyday tech into something almost poetic." This kind of feedback underlined the exhibition's success in connecting with both the head and the heart of the audience.

Curators at Minerva Gallery were pleased to highlight Speculative Form as a capstone event for 2025. It demonstrated how design and technology can merge meaningfully in a curatorial setting, and it hinted at new directions for future programming. By bringing together Jiang's tech-focused ecological vision with Wang's product design, the gallery created a space where functional innovation met imaginative speculation. The format proved to be a compelling model, with the different approaches amplifying each other's message and offering richer context than either could alone.

Although the exhibition has concluded, the questions it raised continue to resonate, especially as we move into 2026. As artificial intelligence and interactive systems increasingly permeate everyday life, how will our relationship with the tools and devices around us be redefined? What role can design play in shaping not just the usability of technology, but its cultural and environmental impact? And might technology even become a medium of poetic or emotional expression, rather than just a means to an end? Speculative Form did not provide definitive answers – nor was it meant to – but through the works led by Taoran Jiang it offered thoughtful provocations. Each piece was a response that hinted at possibilities: Jiang showed how intelligent design could foster harmony between humans and nature, while Wang suggested that even common interfaces could hold creative potential and emotional resonance.

For creators and innovators starting the new year, the exhibition serves as a reminder to think beyond the conventional. The future of design isn't just about new gadgets or sleeker interfaces; it's about asking the right questions and daring to imagine technology's role in our lives in fresh ways. Speculative Form succeeded in sparking that imagination. As we look ahead, the legacy of this small but powerful exhibition is an inspiring one – encouraging all of us to embrace a mindset of curiosity and responsibility in equal measure. In the spirit of Jiang's leading vision and Wang's complementary work, it suggests that the most exciting new forms are those that bridge disciplines, connect to our humanity, and speculate boldly on what comes next.