Wonderful, inspirational and moving lecture by architect/researcher/DarkMatter CEO Indy Johar at RMIT Australia; focusing on empathy, change and entanglement in a changing world. ‘We are going to be machine-assisted to be able to see our entanglement’
Op donderdag 22 april 2021 vond een (besloten/online) expert-sessie plaats, georganiseerd door AIR – aansluitend op het Stadsmakers Congres – rond het thema ‘Architectuur en Technologie’; met korte presentaties/lezingen van Martin Pot (martin pot interiors), Wessel van Beerendonk (Studio RAP) , Johan Hanegraaf (Arkio) ; gevolgd door discussies met overige participanten en gemodereerd door Leon van Geest. Deze sessie zal op een later moment door AIR online worden gezet.
https://www.airrotterdam.eu/events/architectuur-en-technologie/
interesting and illustrative interview July 1st. on BBC’s Hard Talk with Jaron Lanier, founding father of VR, author, thinker, writer (‘You are not a gadget’, ‘Who owns the future’)
EC’s Nicole Dewandre presented a fine lecture on human values at the IoT & Built Environment conference on April 9th. 2013 in Rotterdam; on July 2016 she gave a TEDX-ULB-lecture concerning the changing definitions of humanity, ’talking’ to Descartes and referring  to Hannah Arendt’s view of the relational self. A changing world requires a renewed thinking on what it means to be human in a hyperconnected era.
on November 4/5 the Dutch Performance Group Urland will perform the 3rd. part of their trilogy: the Internet of Things cycle; Prometheus, the Firebringer. in the Theatre Rotterdam. What happens when Artificial Intelligence becomes self-conscious; when objects become addressable, who becomes master and who becomes slave? On November 4th. I will take part in the discussion afterwards: what is the impact of technology on the arts and – above all – our imagination?
fascinating lecture by MIT’s Neri Oxman on ‘Design and the intersection technology and biology’ at TED-2015. Imagine the possibilities for our immediate environment when structure and materials merge and create a sphere which adapts and transforms; imagine the possibilities when this development is linked to the increasing internet of things/people connectivity and what this implies for our way of building. Do we need a built environment as the only way to provide shelter and privacy?
After his first smog-project in Being, artist/designer Daan Roosegaarde – based in Rotterdam – now focuses on his own city. Supported by a crowd-funding action he plans and designed a 7 meter Smog-Free Tower in Rotterdam, to be completed in September 2015. After being presented in Rotterdam the tower will travel to other countries. Participants/partners that donate at least € 50,- receive an object containing the dust taken from the air; for € 250,- you can wear it as a ring: techno poetry………….. Let’s hope the tower will remain and/or others will follow……
A most interesting article published last month, on Sept. 27th.: “Technology will not save us“, by Michael Sacasas on “The Frailest Thing’. “Entering the complex and messy realm of of human desires and cultural dynamics”, Sacasas argues that “technological determinism is the product of cultural capitulation. It is symptom of social fragmentation.” Referring to Ellul and Winner he states that “due to a focus on technological innovation our society is in thrall of technique.” (ital orig.) With regard to architecture this is in any case a most valid statement, as the recent EC-discussion has illustrated.
Yesterday, Jan.19th, the New York Times; the next article in a long row about our homes becoming ‘smart’. What usually is forgotten in all of these wishful-thinking business-oriented thoughts is that a home is more than the sum of bricks, mortar and technology. Our house is not a home because we can automate the lights and the refrigerator, but because we live in a sphere we call our own. Technology in our homes should focus less on practicalities and more on adaptability, experience, imagination.
