The AIAS 2011 West Quad Conference ‘Architecture in the Networked City’ raises the question of how a new generation of architects, planners, and designers can explore networked possibilities for the urban environment. Hosted by the New School of Design April 14th-17th, the conference’s three key note speakers include, Chris Genik Dean of NSAD and principle and co-founder of Daly Genik, Miles Kemp founder and president of Variate Labs, and Geoff Manaugh author of BLDGBLOG.
Can technologies coupled with advancements in the Internet and social media impact our social interactions to define a new public realm? A variety of developments from online systems to high speed transit systems will offer new forms of access and communication that could redefine the urban paradigm. The conference will address these issues using San Diego as an appropriate milieu for discussion and learning. The conference offers professionals and student leaders the opportunity to gather for one weekend, in the heart of San Diego, to explore how current urban spaces, sustainable designs, and multi-nodal concepts can contribute to innovative and enhanced networked cities
Key note speakers include: · Chris Genik, Dean of NSAD. Genik joined NSAD after eight years as a professor and director of the undergraduate architecture program at Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. He is also a principal, partner and co-founder of Daly Genik Architects in Santa Monica, Calif. The firm, which began in 1990, focuses on craft, construction systems and material research in work that highlights the interrelationships of research and fabrication, material and form, sustainability and livability. Its work is widely recognized and received a national American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award, a Gold Medal for Urban Excellence from the Bruner Foundation and four design awards from the AIA/LA in 2008
· Miles Kemp, founder and president of Variate Labs, LLC and Spacial Robots. Kemp’s design and fabrication experience spans all scales and mediums of the built and digital world including buildings, large scale robotics, products, vehicles, software, interfaces and information strategies. Before starting his own multi-discipline practice, Miles worked for over 13 years for prominent architecture firms across the US as well as 3 years working for a notable interactive media agency in Los Angeles. In addition to designing and contributing to over 60 built architecture projects, he has designed and developed next generation interfaces and experiences for web, mobile and other emerging platforms for clients including ABC, Blockbuster, BMW, BBC, Disney, Emotiv, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Target, Televisa and Time Warner. He is currently developing various projects across the globe, most recently including Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, London, Tokyo and Munich.
· Geoff Manaugh is the author of BLDGBLOG (http://bldgblog.blogspot.com) and The BLDGBLOG Book, former senior editor of Dwell magazine, and contributing editor at Wired UK. In addition to lecturing on a broad range of architectural topics at design schools and museums around the world, from Turin to Melbourne, he has taught design studios at Columbia University, the Pratt Institute, the University of Southern California, and the University of Technology, Sydney. In spring 2010, with Nicola Twilley, he co-curated the group exhibition Landscapes of Quarantine, an ARTFORUM Editor’s Pick, at Storefront for Art and Architecture, and, in August 2011, his solo-curated show Landscape Futures will open at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno.
Visit the official conference website here.
