STARTS at the 16th Biennale di Venezia – Mostra de Architettura

May 29, 2018

We had the great pleasure to be invited by the Belgian Pavilion of Venice Biennale of Architecture on May 26 & 27 for a special STARTS event.

On Saturday morning, a STARTS talk took place on the following topic: « Re-imagine, shape and prototype the urban future with a transdisciplinary approach »

We had 5 very talented and creative people working in a very innovative and transdisciplinary approach at the crossroads of art, science, technology, urbanism, architecture, design, to discuss how the arts could renew our vision of urban development:

Yann Deval – Interactive designer, motion-designer and musical composer – laureate of STARTS Residencies with ATLAS project, a mixed reality experience

Salvatore Iaconesi – Artist, robotic engineer and philosopher of science. President of the Human Ecosystems Relazioni research on data and culture. Founder of the Art is Open Source international network. TED Fellow, Eisenhower Fellow and Yale World Fellow.

Sophie Lauwers – Deputy Exhibitions Director of the Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR in Brussels

Gijs van der Velden – General manager at Joris Laarman Studio until 2016. Now CEO at MX3D (large scale metal 3D printing)

Liam Young – Architect and film director. Founder of the Urban Futures think tank Tomorrows Thoughts TodayCo-director of Unknown Fields Division, a nomadic design research studio.

The discussion dealt with the role of artists, how they could bridge the gap between technology and psychology, and help us deal with these technological mutations and lead innovation in a more human centered and sustainable track.

On Sunday, Yann Deval and Marie G.Losseau exhibited the new version of the ATLAS prototype, developed in the framework of the STARTS Residencies program : a work between digital arts and visual arts, under the form of an interactive and scenographic exhibition (a mix between real models and an interactive virtual world). After being in an archipelago of poetical islands, spectators are invited to build virtual cities using a « seed launcher ». The growing houses follow some urbanistic rules, adapting to their environment. There are cities in the clouds, uprooted cities, cities on stilts, flying cities… The demo had big success with almost a hundred of users during the day!