Art Basel Public Lecture and Design Dialogue with Design Trust Grant Recipient Het Nieuwe Instituut

15. 6. 2018
ArtBasel_HNI_300

Public Lecture with Design Trust Grant Recipients Het Nieuwe Instituut

In celebration of Design Trust Grant Recipient Het Nieuwe Instituut's exploration on the incursion of artificial intelligence and automation in built environment, "Automated Landscapes" presented their research on the emerging architectures and urbanisms of automated labour in the Pearl River Delta region on 30th March 2018. The evening also unraveled how these changing conditions of labour influence the city and its inhabitants, through film screening and design dialogues; accompanied by cocktails and crazy golf. The design dialogue explored how ai and automation are transforming the labour force, the human body, as well as craftsmanship, and the topology of future homes. Taking away the idea that everyone is an artificial intelligence, and how the age of automation of thoughts is shaping our creativity, exploitability and accountability.

Introduction: Marisa Yiu (Co-founder and Executive Director, Design Trust, Hong Kong), Rogier Hekking (Deputy Consul-General of the Netherlands in Hong Kong), and Marina Otero Verzier (Director of Research, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam)
Panelists/ Respondents: Marina Otero Verzier (Director of Research, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam), Merve Bedir (Co-researcher, Automated Landscapes, Hong Kong), Elaine Ng (Founder, The Fabrick Lab, Hong Kong), De Kai (Distinguished Research Scholar, ICSI, Berkeley, and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, HKUST).
Venue: Strokes, G2-3,1/F, Fashion Walk, 9 Kingston Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Supported by: Het Nieuwe Instituut, and the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Hong Kong
Venue Partner: Strokes

As part of Art Basel Conversations 2018 Marina Otero Verzier and Merve Bedir also shared the way automated landscapes have altered the topologies of architecture and space, leading to spatial and social transformations. A thought-provoking panel discussion on the cultural implications of artificial intelligence, questions of universal ethics and perception of labour with moderators and respondents Aric Chen (Lead Curator, Design and Architecture, M+), Marisa Yiu (Co-founder and Executive Director, Design Trust), Roberto Requejo Belette (Lecturer, Department of Architecture at Hong Kong University), and De Kai (Distinguished Research Scholar, ICSI, Berkeley, and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, HKUST).