We were asked to participate in the panel discussion and launch of 'Urban Prototypes', the new Research Cluster at the AA. Jeroen and I (Darrick) presented our work to-date, discussed the role of the 'prototype' in the context of urban design and answered questions as to how our work serves a model for an urban prototype. The video of the event should be online here, in a few days.
From the Urban Prototypes Research Cluster brief...
"In the contexts of the continued and rapid urbanisation of much of the globe, and the social, economic and ecological implications of this development, the urban prototype is emerging as both a conceptual model and a design practice of increasing relevance. However, the urban prototype has been inflected from a number of perspectives – cybernetic, biomimetic, analytic – and embraced by a number of disciplines – architecture, urban design, planning. Hence we will be working across a range of disciplines and perspectives in order to grasp a coherent and critical understanding of the potentials of the urban prototype. This will be undertaken through a series of design proposals, interviews, debates and symposia, culminating in an international conference, and communicated through the cluster’s dedicated website alongside print-based publications."
