SENSEABLE CITY LAB
Seminar Faculty: Carlo Ratti, Antonio Atripaldi & Matteo Silverio

At the dawn of the digital revolution, it was widely believed that the Internet would dramatically reduce the importance of physical space. Some scholars went as far as predicting an imminent “death of cities”. Yet, history has proven the opposite. The world is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate, and radical advances in technology have sparked a redefinition of the urban environment at the convergence of bits and atoms.

CIUDAD CREATIVA DIGITAL – Carlo Ratti Associati with Prof. Dennis Frenchman, Accenture, Arup, Engram Studio, Fundación Metrópoli and Mobility in Chain.

Rather than killing the cities, technologies have opened new horizons of research. Digitally-augmented physical materials – the so called Internet of Things (IoT) – allow information transmission processes to be embedded into buildings and architectures. With almost any object potentially acting as a bidirectional communication interface, we are now witnessing the rapid growth of a responsive urban environment.

THE MILE – Carlo Ratti Associati, schlaich bergermann partner, Atmos

There is a fundamental connection between any input in the digital side, and its output in the physical realm (and vice versa). As the two dimensions always work in synergy, designers must learn to navigate on both sides of the physical-digital spectrum, taking into account the most relevant social, environmental and economic issues.

The seminar will investigate how digital technologies, as well as smart planning and the use of responsive sensors, can improve the quality of our public spaces, addressing the main challenges of tomorrow’s increasingly complex, interconnected society.

Zona Franca [BCN] – Carlo Ratti Associati with Barcelona Regional

Drawing on Carlo Ratti’s experience at CRA and MIT Senseable City Lab, the course will focus on a series of case studies which provide clear examples as base for the development of a final design project