Promises promises

Promises, promises…from citizens, to governments and tech-giants, we all love to hope that new technologies will solve every issue of our cities. Catering solutions for every municipal need, an entire industry has flourished by adding the prefix "smart" to virtually anything. "Safer, more efficient, inclusive, sustainable" they said, while fascinating us with predictions and percentages. And we queued in front of them, waiting to buy a piece of their futures. But how often have these promises actually turned into reality, and evolved from a wishful thinking press-release? 

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Starting by revisiting the 2014 Venice Biennale exhibition by AMO/Rem Koolhaas, the research will focus on the future augmentation of the elements presented at that point. Should we aim at mass customization? Does the promise of digital augmentation serve the end-user? Or, once connected, is the element itself a user?

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The winter-school "Promises, Promises: A tech reality-check" is organised as a pre-event of the Media Architecture Biennale 20 (Amsterdam, June-July 2021) around the theme #Futures Implied. Outcomes will also be published and distributed worldwide with next VOLUME #59.

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