2026 Future Cities; Livable Futures:  The Art of Intimacy: Symposium on Art, Design, and Theory

What does it mean to be close to something, to someone, to an idea? How does art dare us to bridge the spaces between us, rendering visible the quiet depths of our shared human condition? In The Art of Intimacy, we invite you to explore the vast, uncharted territories where art, design, and theory converge, illuminating the hidden intimacies that shape our bodies, experiences, memories, and relationships. This symposium gathers artists, designers, and theorists to unravel the intricate threads of intimacy—both as a subject and as a method of engagement. We will ask: How do intimate spaces and temporalities emerge in our work? What happens when we, as creators and participants, surrender ourselves to the subtle, almost imperceptible exchanges of sensation, affection, and tenderness? From the intimate corners of the gallery to the whispered moments in collaborative spaces, we will delve into the art that makes the unseen felt, and the unspoken, heard. This symposium will question how intimacy—once thought to be a private, isolated experience—can be re-imagined as a public and shared act of connection. Together we will explore the powerful ways art navigates intimacy, offering new possibilities for understanding how we relate, remember, and reconfigure the world around us.

2023 Future Cities; Livable Futures: Transpecies Design Symposium

The call for transpecies design proposes that humans, as co-denizens of a shared planet, must shift from an anthropocentric mindset in exchange for a worldview in service of the earth’s magnificent biodiversity. Some of our neighbors are known and familiar, such as plants, birds, and bees. Others, like microbes and subterranean organisms, remain abstract and easily overlooked. Through design we have an opportunity and responsibility to improve not only the quality of human lives, but also those of our symbiotic neighbors, both big and small. Through design, we can acknowledge the damage our predecessors have inflicted upon the earth by restoring and revitalizing damaged environments, leaning on and learning from nature’s own incredible designs. The transpecies design symposium will explore various approaches on how to realize and put to work transpecies design principles. 

DIRECTORS