The City as Interface – Martijn de Waal
October 24, 2012 10:38 am
11th nov – 3PM – Regional Museum of Natural Science
Martijn de Waal will show that the idea of interfaces regulating our social relations and spatial practices is not completely new. What matters however is the character of these interfaces, both physical and digital, or increasingly: in a combination of these two. Although technology is often presented as a neutral problem solving tool, or even a kind of ‘magic’ that makes our lives easier, it always implies a particular idea of what a city should be, and how social relations ideally should be organized. By comparing interfaces of urban media with historic planning ideals such as those of Archigram and the St. Petersburg Boulevard De Waal will show that usually one out of three urban ideals is at work: a libertarian one that takes the individual as the base of society, a communituarian one, that takes a homogenic community as a departing point or a republican one, that seeks a balance between individual freedom and cooperation with and responsibility towards fellow citizens. Currently, the libertarian model seems to underlie most urban media innovation. But there are certainly chances for digital media that articulate a more republican urban ideal.
free entry