Future heritage of smart cities

Date & Time

Friday, July 2 | 13:30-15:00 CEST, 07:30-09:00 EDT, 21:30-23:00 AEST
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Description

Smart city technologies raise some interesting questions regarding the work of future histories and in view of cultural heritage preservation. One may ask, what will be happening with smart city technologies (successful or not) in the future? What needs to be preserved and how much afford can be justified? Think of smart city technologies as future vintage computing. How long can we have the contemporary computer-based technologies running? 10 years from now? 100 years from now? When is a technology considered to be outdated? Do we actually want current urban intervention to be preserved? Or are these technologies meant to fade away? Furthermore, do smart city technologies have to be preserved in the original location – or can we put them on display in a museum or elsewhere?

Media architecture presents three specific challenges for the ethics and politics of preservation:

  • Media Architecture includes examples of short- and mid-term spatial intervention, such as Blinkenlights, which are designed to have a “shelf life.”
  • Even if a project is not designed with an end date in mind, the technological components may become outdated and in need of an update or a dedicated conversation effort.
  • In addition, interactive projects may produce digital records of city life.


In our panel, we would like to explore these questions together with the audience. We would also like to learn about suitable cases and projects for future research and collaboration.

Organizers 

Michael Nagenborg (University of Twente)
Delfina Fantini van Ditmar (Royal College of Art, London)
Sanna Lehtinnen (University of Aalto)
Yashar Saghai (University of Twente)
Andreas Weber (University of Twente)

 

More information & Contact

Michael Nagenborg, m.h.nagenborg@utwente.nl

 

*Image credits: “MX3D Printed Bridge at DDW” (2018) by Tim Geurtjens

Andreas Weber

Andreas Weber

Andreas Weber is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Culture at the University of Twente. His research focusses on the history of science, the history of natural history collecting, and digital natural heritage

Delfina Fantini van Ditmar

Delfina Fantini van Ditmar

Delfina Fantini van Ditmar is a design researcher and lecturer at the Royal College of Art, Design Products + Futures Programme. Delfina is a transdisciplinary researcher, whose work focuses on the tensions between ‘smartness’, design, society, architecture and the environment

Michael Nagenborg

Michael Nagenborg

Michael Nagenborg is Assistant Professor for Philosophy of Technology at the University Twente (NL). His research focuses on the intersection of Philosophy of the City and Technology. He is the co-director of the Philosophy of the City Research Group

Sanna Lehtinen

Sanna Lehtinen

Sanna Lehtinen is Research Fellow at Aalto University (FIN) with focus on urban aesthetics and philosophy of the city. She is the President of the Finnish Society for Aesthetics and the Co-director of the Philosophy of the City Research Group