2024 International Conference | Conferencia Internacional

Ancient gods often filled the gaps in civilizations’ knowledge. In ancient Greek theater, a ‘deus ex machina’ referred to the sudden appearance of an actor playing god, mechanically delivered to the stage by a crane to resolve an unsolvable plot. Antiphanes criticized its use in playwriting, saying, “when they don’t know what to say / and have completely given up on the play / just like a finger they lift the machine / and the spectators are satisfied.” AI promises innovative strategies for optimizing building performance and generating novel design solutions. In the AI and Emerging Technologies panel, participants will share their experiences using AI, mixed realities, and other new technologies while interrogating the potential implications for deeper engagement with the profession’s underlying challenges. AI may captivate the audience and resolve seemingly unsolvable challenges, but does it do so at the expense of grappling with the fundamental question of the architect’s role in modern society? When does the debate about AI become a short-sighted atempt to evade difficult disciplinary conversations, and how might critical reflection on these emerging technologies trouble the waters or open space for reimagining the discipline of architecture?

Seen through a gender lens, contemporary cities have been predominantly designed by and for male subjects, in service of flows and logics of capital. Othered bodies – women, racialized bodies, disabled bodies, the elderly, children, among others – often confront designed exclusion from public spaces and city-making processes. This panel brings together scholars, practitioners, and activists who speak from their lived experiences as othered bodies claiming the right to the city.

Drawing from diverse backgrounds that bridge theory and practice, panelists will discuss multiple lineages of feminist urbanism, share their critical practices, and present countermodels that subvert hegemonic city-making. Recognizing cities as a social product and forgoing the fantasy of individualism, they will discuss what it might take to build power from the margins and move together towards cities of care, subversion, collectivity, and bottom-up processes. Together, panelists and audience will imagine other forms of making and dwelling in the city, while sharing frameworks and tools to organize towards cities truly for all.

The exponential expansion of technology in recent decades, particularly in the realm of social media, has revolutionized the way we perceive the world and interact with one another on a global scale. While ‘innovation’ is often understood in terms of these technological advancements, this rapid transformation has also brought about significant epistemic consequences, fundamentally altering our worldview and demanding the development of new approaches and practices to effectively navigate and address the emerging configurations and situations often shaped by these changes.

In an age where influencers and interest groups despotically rule and exploit public opinion through social media to serve their own agendas, panelists will share how they exercise their intellectual autonomy to navigate this complex landscape. They will discuss how they negotiate the intersections of diverse epistemic foundations, old and new, leading to innovative architectural practices that move beyond the limitations of techno-solutionist approaches. Together, panelists and audience members will explore how unconventional practices inform the production of architectural knowledge in an era marked by profound social, economic, and ecological change, seeking to inspire new ways of thinking and acting in the field.