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2013 Utzon Lecture Series Launch / Sixth Annual Paul Reid Lecture in Urban Design

Dr. Alfonso Vegara Gómez  - President Fundación Metrópoli, Madrid
‘Intelligent Territories: The 21st century city in Europe and Asia’

6.00 for 6.30pm, Wednesday  6 March 2013
Leighton Hall, Scientia, UNSW

This Utzon Series lecture is presented with the support of:

Followed by the MUDD 18 Exhibition 2012/13

Beyond the Industrial Past
Sustainable Urbanism: Bilbao | Barcelona  | Wuhan | Sydney  

Exhibition Opening Night
Ground Floor Gallery
Faculty of Built Environment
Red Centre West Wing, UNSW

Exhibition dates 6 — 29 March 2013

Reid Lecture Abstract:

The 21st century city is marked by explosive population growth, territorial expansion, and the ubiquity of digital technology in the public realm, three trends which challenge the effectiveness of conventional models of city-making.

Intelligent Territories is the continually evolving design methodology of the Fundación Metrópoli,* offering a model for understanding and designing places. The Intelligent Territories lecture shares this design philosophy through Fundación Metrópoli experiences around the world. Beginning with the ‘new scale of thinking for the 21st century city’, the lecture explores how technology and transportation are reshaping the functional scale of cities, and how this can be transformed into unprecedented opportunities. Further resolution is explored in the cases of the BilbaoNext project in the European context, and the Malacca Straits Diagonal in the Asian context, which present urban innovations in public space, infrastructure, and urban design down through the pedestrian scale. Within these contexts, the lecture also explores the emerging mega-economy of urban solutions, design at the intersection of the physical and virtual spaces, and the concept of territorial components of excellence.

For more information on the Utzon Lecture Series, visit http://www.be.unsw.edu.au/utzon/about

View the footage of the Paul Reid Lecture below: