Gulf Coast 2050: Speculative Design For Possible Futures

On View: March 5–24, 2026

Gulf Coast 2050: Speculative Design For Possible Futures features designs by LSU School of Architecture students that were developed during the 2026 All School Workshop.

Organized by the LSU School of Architecture and the Caribbean Spatial Justice Lab, the 2026 annual All School Workshop is a three-day experiment in collective foresight. It convenes students, faculty, and leading voices in architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and coastal sciences to visualize possible futures. The program puts a special emphasis on storytellers who can turn evidence into provocative narratives to guide society into the second half of this century.

The Gulf Coast is alive with motion and tension. Communities face immediate shocks from technological disasters and storms, along with long arcs of sea level rise and land loss. These impacts force migration that exacerbates both rural and urban poverty, intensifies agricultural and industrial waste, and produces vacancy and derelict space. Addressing these complex issues requires innovative frameworks and big ideas that exceed traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Using co-production and design thinking, workshop participants will map the relationship between ecological, social, and infrastructure systems in order to analyze current and probable conditions. These interdisciplinary maps function as analytical instruments and creative provocations that frame each team’s designs for future scenarios scenario.