Intelligent Spaces

On the evening of September 20th, Copenhagen-based future-living laboratory Space 10 and London-based talent management agency Propela joined forces to co-host Intelligent Spaces at Protein Studios in Shoreditch. Part of Space 10's week-long Exploring the Spaces of Tomorrow series for the London Design Festival, the event brought together speakers including speculative architect, sci-fi shaper, extreme explorer & technology storyteller Liam Young [Sci-Arc, Unknown Fields Division AA School, and Tomorrow's Thoughts Today], and myself to present provocations that challenge superficial precepts of the spatiotemporal nature of space.

Packed to the rafters, the hugely popular event provided the platform for the delivering of the third incarnation of my presentation "Biome Shock! Anthropogenic meets Ecological Intelligence", which first delivered at BioSalon III in autumn 2016 explores the psychological and philosophical dimensions of humanity's relationships with our surroundings, and the possible implications thereof to design, architecture, and urban research and practice now and in the future. In a style reminiscent of Orson Welles' narration of Alvin Toffler's Future Shock, Liam Young presented his extra-ordinary audio-visual expedition Hello City (see slides), which takes the audience on a planetary journey into possible near-futures. 

Young and I pulled no punches in our provocations, which delved the possible depths of environmental and social destruction and disenfranchisement as could become manifest in consequence of anthropogenic actions of the past and present. Thankfully, Space 10 had laid on a complimentary bar such that any as needed it could find comfort in a stiff drink! Dinner came in the form of tasty micro-greens grown on-site in a pop-up hydroponic lab, which were topped by an algae-based dressing, also grown and made in situ (see below).

Thank you to the inspirational teams at Space 10 and Propela, and to peers including Liam Young for making Intelligent Spaces one of the stand-out events of 2017!