The 8th
Bi-City Architecture and Urbanism Biennial opened in Shenzhen, China under the
theme of “Urban Interactions.” A series of seminars and events consisting of
two chapters, “The Eyes of the City” and “The Rising City,” will accompany the
exhibition, and address the evolving relationship between urban spaces and technological
innovations from various angles. Curated by Carlo Ratti of MIT Senseable City
Lab, Meng Jianmin of CAE, and the famous curator and art critic Fabio
Cavallucci, all of the materials featured at the exhibition came entirely from
local sources. Leading the Biennial’s academic curation is The South
China-Torino Lab. The Biennial’s main theme is oriented around how cities,
people, and machines interact with one another in a gigantic, sophisticated ecosystem.
As technology advances, and as trajectories and their aftermaths become more
uncertain, the Biennial predicts that architects and designers will have to
grapple with the unimaginable: the notions of “hyper cities,” “hyper species,”
and “hyper societies.” The Biennial is open to the public until March 8, and
features approximately 280 participants from 24 countries,
including well-known
architectural firms such as MVRDV, Sou Fujimoto, and Thomas Heatherwick.
