Connected and Unconnected in New York
Thoughts on Connectivity and Cities
Connected and Unconnected in New York
Last night I moderated a panel on “Design for the future connectivity of New York” at the new Arup headquarters in Manhattan – a “house warming” for their new digs and the first Penguin Pool1 in the US.
Given my life as a communication designer and Chair of the new MFA Program in Design for Social Innovation at SVA, I came with great enthusiasm for the topic, as well as skepticism about panel discussions in general. But first, the topic itself.
Five panelists had five unique definitions of connectivity – from stories that connect characters to each other and to the neighborhoods where they live, to technology that connects from the bottom up as well as the top down, citizen art and design, food systems, and the connections that businesses make to cities and the people who live there. Each distinctive, yet every one connected to the others.
As cities are living organisms, these are the various kinds of connective tissue that define relationships and keep us all alive.
As I interviewed speakers in advance of the panel, common threads emerged [...read more...]
