Julieta Matos Castano

Technology is everywhere: glued to other hands, integrated into our cars, or hidden behind garbage bins in your street. These technologies change the way we are in the world and experience it. For example, an urban walk is very different if you are efficiently using Google Maps to go from A to B, than if you are quietly strolling in the sunset. When was the last time that you got lost in the city or established a random conversation with a stranger while asking for directions? The introduction of technology in our cities disrupts how our society operates, calling for reflection and debate about the values that we hold important.

Building on insights from post-phenomenology, we reflect on the intricate nature of human-technology relations in the city, broadening it to a society-technology relation. Then, we reflect on how to turn these insights into practice. What do we need to not only reflect on and analyze past or current practices, but to foster our imagination and collective sense-making to take action towards inclusive and responsible practices? What role can design and futuring play in this?

In this lecture, Anouk Geenen and Julieta Matos-Castaño  will employ an interdisciplinary approach to reflect on different theories and scholars that help us to create more responsible practices in our technological cities. Moving from Philosophy of Technology to Design Research, and bridging insights on issues and imagination, we follow a broad path of thinkers that broaden our horizon.