art space + media lab

Hosted by: Anouk Geenen, Julieta Matos Castano in collaboration with  Esmeralde Marsman  and .zipper Louisa Teichmann.

How can we reimagine technology to help strengthen connections between people and the places they live?

Let’s explore that question together on 2 April during our meetup.
This is the third and closing event in a series where we reflect on and reimagine the connection between technology and community life in cities.

During the first event, an unconference that took place on 27 January, we came together to explore questions and issues participants experience around public technology. During the ‘unhackathon’ that followed on 27 February, participants redesigned public technologies around two of the previously identified topics and created new speculative technologies.

During our meetup on 2 April, we will introduce two speculative technology concepts that emerged:

• One of them imagines a public transport experience where your daily tram or metro ride becomes a shared space for urban poetry, questions, sounds and stories created by fellow travellers.
• The other explores how technology could help people share experiences of public space, as if the city itself had senses that could capture and transmit moments to others.

These two concepts are speculative prompts to help us think differently about how technology could support connection and care for place and for each other.

This time, we will explore these ideas, reflect on them, and imagine the kinds of futures they might inhabit and create. We will do so in an active format, where we will specifically focus on placing the discussion in the context of Rotterdam. What could we learn from them about how we design technology and community life today?

You do not need to have attended the previous events to join. If you enjoy inspiring conversations with a diverse group of people, imaginative thinking, and an informal and creative atmosphere, we would love to see you there on 2 April!