The Media Architecture Biennale 2023 (MAB23) takes place June 14-15 (online) and June 21-23 (in-person) in Toronto, Canada. The event, which features keynotes, roundtables, and awards, aims to offer a platform for communities of research and practice concerned with media and the built environment. MAB23 will bring together students, academics, and professionals from architecture, art, design, urban planning, media and communication, urban informatics, and public policy to share new ideas and shape this evolving field.
One of the themes for MAB23 is (Dis)engagement.
In 2017, Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs tried to sell Toronto on its vision of a more “efficient” and “enjoyable” urban future built through a suite of interconnected embedded urban sensors, platforms, protocols, and displays. Facing strong local resistance, the project eventually collapsed. MAB23’s thematic focus on (Dis)engagement asks: How is media architecture situated and mobilized within the proliferation of “smart city” plans and platforms of data representation and capture? How and why is it being resisted, reworked, or rejected in theory or in practice? This theme considers lessons learned from media architectural “failure” as a countermovement to the drive towards urban expedience and endless, frictionless growth. On the other hand, it also explores the potential role of media architecture in addressing issues of trust, safety and consent in digitally mediated urbanism.
