Festival of Ideas for the New City

A multifaceted event in lower Manhattan aims for new models of culture in the city, including powerhouse panels, events and a street fair.

The Festival of Ideas for the New City, May 4–8, 2011, is a major new collaborative initiative in New York involving scores of Downtown organizations, from universities to arts institutions and community groups, working together to effect change. A first for New York, the Festival will harness the power of the creative community to imagine the future city and explore the ideas destined to shape it. It will take place in multiple venues Downtown and is organized around three central programs: a conference of symposia; an innovative StreetFest along the Bowery; and over one hundred independent projects and public events. The Festival will serve as a platform for artists, writers, architects, engineers, designers, urban farmers, planners, and thought leaders to exchange ideas, propose solutions, and invite the public to participate.
To purchase tickets: festivalofideasnyc.com

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE:
Keynote Address: Rem Koolhaas
Wednesday, May 4th, 7:00 pm [sold out]

Festival Conference May 5-6 $10. The Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 E. 7th St.
Thursday, May 5, 1:00-3:00 pm

The Heterogeneous City: Panel Discussion
Vito Acconci, Visual artist and performance pioneer
Jonathan Bowles, Director of the Center for an Urban Future
Rosanne Haggerty, the founder of Common Ground
Suketu Mehta, Professor of Journalism at NYU
Moderator: Jonathan F.P. Rose, Founder of Rose Companies
Behind the scenes with PlayLab and Family NYC in constructing their winning tent arrays, The Worms, for the Festival's StreetFest on Saturday, May 7.
Behind the scenes with PlayLab and Family NYC in constructing their winning tent arrays, The Worms, for the Festival's StreetFest on Saturday, May 7.
Thursday, May 5, 4:00–6:00 pm
The Networked City: Panel Discussion
Adam Greenfield, Managing Director of Urbanscale
Natalie Jeremijenko, New-media artist and engineer
Anthony Townsend, Research Director of the Institute for the Future
McKenzie Wark, Chair of Culture and Media Studies and Associate Dean at the New School's Eugene Lang College
Moderator: Joseph Grima, Editor-in-Chief of Domus magazine

Thursday, May 5, 7:00 pm
The Networked City: Keynote Address: Jaron Lanier
Author of the best-selling You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto, Jaron Lanier has long been associated with Virtual Reality research. He has recently served as Scholar at Large for Microsoft and currently acts as their Partner Architect.
The Worms take the most functional aspects of the typical street fair tent and advance them, making them more adaptable, sculptural, and interactive.
The Worms take the most functional aspects of the typical street fair tent and advance them, making them more adaptable, sculptural, and interactive.
Friday, May 6, 2:00–4:30 pm
The Reconfigured City. Presentation and Discussion
Robin Chase, Founder and CEO of GoLoco, and is the former CEO of Zipcar
Elizabeth Diller, Founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Frank Duffy, Founder of DEGW
Pedro Reyes, Architect and artist
Moderator: Rogan Kersh, Professor of Public Policy and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at NYU Wagner

Friday May 6, 5:00–6:00 pm
The Sustainable City: Keynote Address: Antanas Mockus
Former President of the National University of Colombia, Antanas Mockus went on to serve two terms as the Mayor of Bogotá. Under Mockus's leadership, water usage dropped 40 percent; 7,000 community security groupswere formed; the homicide rate fell 70 percent; and traffic fatalities dropped by over 50 percent.
The Festival of Ideas will serve as a platform for artists, writers, architects, engineers, designers, urban farmers, planners, and thought leaders to exchange ideas, propose solutions, and invite the public to participate.
Behind the scenes with PlayLab and Family NYC in constructing their winning tent arrays, The Worms, for the Festival's StreetFest on Saturday, May 7.
Behind the scenes with PlayLab and Family NYC in constructing their winning tent arrays, The Worms, for the Festival's StreetFest on Saturday, May 7.
Friday, May 6, 7:00–8:30 pm
The Sustainable City: Mayoral Panel
Prologue by David Byrne, Musician, artist, producer, activist, and columnist.
Sergio Fajardo, as mayor of Medellín, transformed his city from the murder capital of the world into a tourist destination and one of the safest cities in Colombia.
John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania has drawn national attention for his efforts to transform a dying rust-belt city into a center for the arts and a beacon for economic revitalization.
Greg Nickels, mayor of Seattle (2002–10) reduced the city's greenhouse gas emissions "to meet or beat" the levels stipulated in the Kyoto protocols.
Mayor Michael Nutter, in early 2009 launched Greenworks Philadelphia, a 15-point plan to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the United States. conservation.
Moderator: Kurt Andersen, Host of Peabody Award-winning Studio 360, a co-production of Public Radio International and WNYC.
The rolled galvanized steel ribs of The Worms, supported by steel forks resting on swivel casters, create bays that can expand, turn, and contract to host a variety of programs, and can easily be reconfigured.
The rolled galvanized steel ribs of The Worms, supported by steel forks resting on swivel casters, create bays that can expand, turn, and contract to host a variety of programs, and can easily be reconfigured.
SELECT EVENTS:
World Cafe: Built Environment

Workshop Session 2
2:00–4:00 pm
NYU Wagner at the Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St.
Tickets - $10 (Limited to 50 Participants)

Generator
Experimental laboratory for instant, participatory building practices in public space ~12pm, at Houston and Chrystie

Draw Think Tank: Emerging Territories of Movement
15x360 Manifestoes
4:00–7:00 pm

Pecha Kucha
New York #11: Dimensions of the New City
8:00 pm–3:00 am
Old School Gym, 268 Mulberry Street, between Houston & Prince Streets

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