EVENT

From cell to space. Report on the Innovative City Forum Participating the Future of Urban Development

About 50% of the world’s population is said to concentrate in urban areas in 2050. In other words, it is a big challenge for urban areas to concentrate many of social issues in urban areas and to tackle innovation to solve them. It is not necessary for us living in urban areas to interact with the intention of ourselves, rather than sitting on a changing city at all times, do you need to design?

“Innovative City Forum (* 1) (hereinafter” ICF “), an international conference where global opinion leaders gather and discuss the future of the city under such a task consciousness. This year, which is the 5th time, was held with guests as 71 guests with “Science / Technology”, “Art / Design” and “Economy / Industry” viewpoint. We will deliver this year ‘s ICF highlights focusing on art & science sessions.

(* 1) Innovative City Forum

"Expansion" and "symbiosis" in the future lifestyle

Media art, biotechnology, space, sharing economy …… 3 days in which sessions were assembled that were too wide to put together in one word. On the first day of the art & science session, the theme was the two axes “Augmentation” and “Symbiosis”.

“Augmentation” of human function and sensibility

At the beginning, Mr. Joichi Ito (Mr. Joi), director of the MIT Media Lab, started a session with “extension” divided into two viewpoints. One is “IA (Intelligence Argumentation)”, the view that the computer is a human extension. The other is “AI (Artificial Intelligence)”, artificial intelligence is to replace humans. For IA, Victoria Modesta (* 2), AI about Mr. Junichi Rekimoto (* 3), there was a presentation on your own activities.

(* 2) Victoria Modesta Official Website
(* 3) The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Informatics Study Room Laboratory

◯ Design overcoming obstacles | Victoria · Modesta
Mr. Victoria, a bionic pop artist with artificial limbs who cut his knee under the age of 20 at the age of 20, is a light leg, a Bionic leg, a spiked leg, It is said to have three “legs”. Acting as a singer-songwriter and pop artist, he seems to have arrived at the idea that the concept of “body expansion” is extremely powerful, thinking “What is the design overcoming obstacles?” I would like to explore the scenery that can be seen in areas beyond functions, not just functional improvements. With that kind of thought, he is now challenging a new body expansion project “expressing the feelings remotely”.

After the presentation, Ms. Endo pointed out that Mr. Endo, a former MIT Media Lab researcher and a discussion with Xiborg representative Endo Mr. Ken (Endo) (* 4), “The technology will lower the value of the feet quickly” People nodded at the venues. ’12 The meaning of obstacles may change because the success of Oscar Pistorius who played an active part in the London Olympics led to the sudden “leadership transcendence” of the obstacle suddenly. Extreme story, the argument that there is a possibility that someone trying to acquire powerfulness by cutting legs and making them into prosthetic feet is a very interesting It was.

(* 4) Xiborg LAB

◯ What happens if a human being connects to “Other” (something other than a human being)? | Junichi Rekimoto
Mr. Rekimoto, the leading expert in UI research, raised the idea of ”How do humans connect and how to evolve?” I will introduce the research on VR technology with the keyword “IoA (Internet of Ability)”, connect the Internet to “individual ability”, cross over individuals and “enter into the viewpoint of others” or “from an objective perspective I talked about the usefulness of the information obtained by seeing myself (an image like a withdrawal from a body).
It was interesting that the high performance of athletes was born by simultaneously differentiating themselves from a meta viewpoint and having “simultaneously watching themselves and others” while playing. In the context of artificial intelligence that is often thought of as a binary confrontation of “people and machines”, the viewpoint of “what to multiply with humans” was a session that I learned with an important point.

“Symbiisis” from the perspective of cities, the earth, and the universe

What is “Symboisis” designed? What I saw at this subcommittee was the idea of the city as a “symbiotic space” where all functions such as living things, architecture, urban, environment, data, and space worked together.

◯ Possibility of “Synecoculture” | Masatoshi Funabashi
Mr. Masatoshi Funabashi of Sony Computer Science Laboratory (* 5) advocated a warning on the polarization of cities and agricultural land, both complemented We can point out whether we can create a mechanism to match. What is needed is building a “cooperative farming method” based on biodiversity. Cooperative farming is the ecosystem like microorganisms, plants and animals interacting with each other in the forest, for example, “redeeming life with life”. Ecological systems of animals and plants that are diverse, complex, competing while continuing to coexist may also be used to create urban areas.
Director Mori Art Museum Director Fumio Nanjo, “The next space presented by Mr. Funabashi Ariel · Ekburou is spreading far above the human beings, Mr. Masatoshi Funabashi agriculture is” the infinite universe spreading at the feet ” “I am looking forward to the symbiotic farming method x city’s future.

(* 5) Sony CSL researcher Masatoshi Funabashi

Cities as seen from the perspective of space
Ariel · Ekblaw
In the subsequent discussion session, Mr. Ariel Ekblaw (* 6), the founder and founder of the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative.
What was impressive was the talk about space architecture developed under the cooperative farming method. The metabolism of the space architecture (Space Architecture), which is naturally bred from raw materials made from mushrooms, had a great impact on future thinking of building on the planet.

(* 6) MIT Media Lab Space Exploration

〇 Organic architecture | Neri Oxman
Next, Nelli Oxmann (* 7), an associate professor at the Media Art Laboratory at MIT Media Lab, appeared. Neri of architect and designer thinks “environment and material” as design and inseparable area, has inventor who develops glass of 3D printer himself studying materials and structure of glass himself.
This presentation is about the architectural structure and the way of the city itself applying “material ecology” that variously examines the structure of the material. What if there is an organic architecture that sweats and adjusts the body temperature on its own? If we can model the nature and action of the material and make use of that technology for the development of the city … …? The spectacularly developed debate far exceeded my imagination and it was continuous overwhelming.

(* 7) Neri Oxman Official Website

Conclusion: The Importance of Platforms to Discuss Urban Innovation Openly

“In the past, cities were composed only of visible elements, but now invisible social media and biorhythm are fostering the dynamism of the city. (* 8)” Joi is a traditional building He insisted that complex knowledge including synthetic biology and the like is now required for urban development that has been thought of mainly at home.

(* 8) Two Vision (WIRED, 2014.11.26), “Futuristic City” Talked by Joi Ito and Ainan Posayanan

Before the multi-topic discussion by the speaker with various backgrounds and specialized fields, I was “confused” in a good meaning this time.
Cell, space, media art, sharing economy, how to work. When considering future cities and innovation, every theme has important relevance, even if we extract each element, we can not tell the dynamics of the city. Like Joi’s words, if a city is “an organism holding dynamism as it is”, while wanting to design confusing before its overwhelming complexity, I want to design a better way of the city with my own will . It was three days that renewed such awareness and resolve. What kind of opinion can I participate in the discussion, what will be talked about next year ‘s ICF? I would like to extend my broader perspective by 2018.