Futurist

A futurist is a person who studies, predicts, or advocates approaches to future developments. The term has two common usages: as a descriptor for practitioners of futures studies, and as a member or adherent of the early 20th-century art movement known as Futurism.

In futures studies, futurists analyze demographic, technological, economic, environmental, and political trends to describe possible futures, assess risks, and inform policy and planning. They use methods such as scenario planning, horizon scanning, Delphi surveys, trend analysis, and modeling to explore short- and long-term outcomes. The field spans government, think tanks, industry, and academia, and it often focuses on uncertainty, climate change, automation, global interdependence, and social change. Notable writers and researchers associated with the broader discourse include figures who popularize ideas about technology-driven change and societal transformation.

In art and culture, Futurism was an avant-garde movement that emerged in Italy around 1909 under Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Futurists celebrated speed, technology, youth, and modern urban life, and they sought to break with past artistic forms. Key figures included Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, and the architect Antonio Sant’Elia. The movement produced paintings, sculpture, theater, and graphic design that emphasized dynamism, machine aesthetics, and the energy of modernity. By the mid-1920s, many futurists aligned with or were influenced by Fascism, and the original movement fragmented. Nevertheless, Futurism left a lasting imprint on modern art, design, cinema, and later speculative and experimental approaches to form and velocity.