One of the recurring dreams in the theories and practices of architecture is to see predictions actualized. However, visions rarely work out exactly as intended. Against this incongruity, this paper positions its argument between the need to envision realizable futures for the built environment and its inhabitants, and the relative unpredictability of the effects of their mutual interaction. In the attempt to engage with this dilemma, urban futures will be examined through the double lens of plausibility and ambiguity. Taking a cue from linguistics, it is argued that in the same way that language is able to accommodate multiple and even opposing interpretations, a design that is sufficiently ambiguous is able to accommodate different plausible outcomes. The mutual interactions of ambiguity and plausibility involve rethinking the thickness of the future, by analyzing its multiple temporalities and the overlapping socio-spatial strata it originates from and tends towards. From this double-sided perspective, how may plausibility contribute to formulating future projections that not only accept ambiguity but exploit its productive potential? By opening up the realm of the plausible to the unknown, and even the unknowable, ambiguity discloses its potential in countervailing currently dominant narratives based on technocentric future scenarios. Extrapolating from the realm of architecture to the broader spectrum of Futures Studies, this paper suggests that the incorporation of ambiguity liberates futures from the constrictions and myopia of deterministic visions based on plausibility alone, while ambiguity is mitigated by plausibility to avoid remaining trapped in uncertainty.

建筑理论和实践中反复出现的梦想之一是看到预测的实现。但是，愿景很少能完全按预期实现。针对这种不一致的情况，本文将其论点放在为建筑环境及其居民设想可实现的未来的需要与相互影响的相对不可预测性之间。为了解决这一难题，将通过真实性和含糊性的双重视角来审视城市的未来。有人从语言学的角度出发，认为语言可以容纳多种甚至相反的解释，同样模糊的设计也可以容纳不同的可能结果。模糊性和合理性的相互影响涉及对未来的厚度的重新思考，方法是分析其多重时间性以及其起源和趋向的重叠社会空间层次。从这种双面角度来看，合理性如何有助于制定不仅接受歧义而且利用其生产潜力的未来预测？通过向似乎未知甚至未知的人开放合理的境界，模糊性揭示了其在以技术为中心的未来情景基础上抵消当前占主导地位的叙述的潜力。从建筑学领域推断到更广泛的期货研究领域，本文表明，模糊性的纳入使期货从仅基于合理性的确定性视野的束缚和近视中解放出来，