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The President of the Le Corbusier Foundation and Harvard Professor gave a talk at IE University that formed part of the School of Architecture’s “Uses” lecture series

Antoine Picon, Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (Cambridge, Mass.), today gave a lecture at IE University entitled “The Rise of the Smart City: an Urban Revolution,” focused on the urban revolution fuelled by the increase in smart cities.

The increase in smart cities, coupled with the widespread use of digital tools, has brought about an urban revolution, making cities more efficient and sustainable, and above all better places to live. Antoine Picon’s theories go beyond these premises, however, being based on the idea that the revolution currently under way is driven by more than technology. Professor Picon believes that using technology to improve infrastructures in the urban landscape is just one aspect of a reality marked by far greater changes in political, social and cultural spheres. The transformation taking place questions many of the established ideas about how cities work, and will bring major consequences for architects and urbanists. Picon placed a special focus on issues related to project and design, while examining new challenges arising from the development of Smart cities. 

The lecture also analyzed the technological reality on which smart cities are being built, from chips and sensor that enable monitoring of what is happening on an infrastructure level, to the smartphones that connect individuals with each other. Through these technologies, the urban space appears activated, almost sentient. This activation generates two contrasting visions: on the one hand, a neo-cybernetic ambition to steer the city in the most efficient way; and on the other, a more participative approach in which empowered individuals invent new modes of cooperation.

The workshop on “The Rise of the Smart City: an Urban Revolution,” forms part of the  “Uses” lecture series run by IE School of Architecture & Design during the 2015-16 academic year. The series is being coordinated by Professor Laura Martínez de Guereñu, and aims to reclaim the role of the user as the main protagonist of architecture.

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