Smart Cities – Smart Citizens

Prof. Florian Pfeffer
one/one studio, Amsterdam

“Will the real Smart City please stand up?“ is the title of an article published by sociologist Robert G. Hollands in 2008 (!), in which he discusses the ingredients necessary to make a city truly smart. Driven by technology, cities are in danger of becoming a rather corporate idea run by big data monopolies and large providers of IT infrastructure.
The success of the city as a cultural, economic, and social model however is not based on its efficiency. The city offers a multitude of contradicting options and has the magic capability to make the clash of those options productive. Following this logic, a squatter is equally essential to the Smart City as Cisco or Google are – the dilemma as a hot spot for democracy. In his talk, Florian Pfeffer will investigate the opportunities for design being a provider of spaces for interactions between the various players and makers in the Smart City (rather than a provider of solutions).

Florian Pfeffer is a partner in the design studio one/one with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Bremen and director of the ‘:output-foundation’ in Amsterdam, which annually hosts the eponymous award for your designers. Florian Pfeffer lectured as professor at Karlsruhe College of Arts and Design and Design Academy Eindhoven.

www.oneone-studio.com/
The talk will be held in English language.