TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER, BUT WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?

OPENROOM SEMINAR
Tuesday May 26th at 15pm-20pm
TECHNOLOGY IS
THE ANSWER,
BUT WHAT WAS
THE QUESTION?
Cedric Price 1904-2003
Our life is filled with technologies: who would like to miss the
communication systems, the medical technologies or many of
our daily ´helpers´ which evolved during the last decades? Many
technologies are supposed to improve our life. But the majority of
these technologies are based on the consumption of non-renewable
energy and the involved pollution produces high stress to our
climate with strong consequences for inhabited areas and global
food security. Even ´green technologies´ are in need for mining rare
resources and this has regionally a highly destructive impact.
So is our way of implementing and using technologies destroying the
basis of our life? Will there be new or ´better´ technologies that can
prevent or even repair this destruction? Or can we expect a setback
for our civilization forced by environmetal forces we can neither
imagine nor control? Is there a valid position between the extreme
poles of technophobic Neo-Luddism and the technophile belief in
neverending technological progress ?
This ´open room´ discusses these question on different scales:
After an introduction, German scientist and governmental adviser
Dr. Harald Ginzky reflects critically with his lecture ´Climate
Engineering - effective climate protection or megalomania?´
on large scale ´geo-engineering´ which is increasingly discussed as
an escape strategy against already visible consequences of climate
change. Professor Walter Unterrainer with his lecture ´technology
is the answer, but what was the question?´ challenges the notion
of ´smart buildings´ and ´smart cities´ which pretend to make the
built environment more sustainable. What smartness do we need
and where do we find it ?
Organizer:
Professor in sustainable architecture Walter Unterrainer
Language: English
Place: Canteen, Aarhus School of Architecture
The seminar is free, but seats are limited. Please sign up at:
aarch.dk/OpenRoom by May 20
A light meal will be served during the seminar
The picture of Le Corbusier´s building in Chandigarh shows in a bizarre
way how good intentions for climate responsive design simply fail if not
thought to the end: Components for passive energy strategies turn into
racks for air-condition machinery.
ARKITEKTSKOLEN AARHUS
For futher information contact: Anne Mette Boye, External relations - email: [email protected]