IoA Sliver Lecture
Areti Markopoulou
“Technology
is the answer ... but what was the question?” (Cedric Price, 1966)
The Greek term téchne, is a term which up until today
in European philosophy, coined the notion of Art, Science and Craft. The history of technology could be described as the history
of inventions in form of tools and techniques. At the same time, it is closely connected to the history of science, economics
and social agendas - a history of the very human condition itself. Weather viewed through the topic of energy, information,
productivity, machines, or social development, today most of the world is accommodating a “technically civilized life” to
some extent.
“It is the moral, economic, and political choices we make, not the machines
we use”, Lewis Mumford argues, “that have produced a capitalist industrialized machine-oriented economy, whose imperfect fruits
serve the majority so imperfectly.”
This years’s IoA Sliver Lecture series "Architecture and Technology“ is trying
to gather professionals to present versatile notions of technology and its impact on the discipline of Art and Architecture.
The invited lecturers will present their take on technology and reflect on the potentials which it bears or what conventions
it questions and how to approach those creatively/artistically.
Areti Markopoulou is a Greek architect, educator
and urban technologist working on the intersection between architecture and digital technologies. She is currently the Academic
Director at IAAC in Barcelona, one of the leading international platforms for education. Areti is also co¬editor of the Urban
Next, a global network focused on rethinking architecture through the contemporary urban milieu, and co¬founder of Studio
P52, a collective arts & tech gallery. Her research and practice design explores new architectural models that incorporate
the application of ICTs, Material Intelligence and Fabrication, allowing built and public space to dynamically adapt to behavioural
and environmental changes over time. She has been developing urban projects and guidelines with the City Council of Barcelona
and the Municipal Institute of Information for the implementation of ICT in the public space and the implementation of renewable
Energy technologies in buildings and open spaces. Areti Markopoulou has also served as a curator of international exhibitions
such as the Pavilion of Innovation (Construmat 2015), MyVeryOwnCity (World Bank 2011) and Fabrication Laboratory (Barcelona
Design Museum 2010). She holds a Bachelor in Architecture & Engineering from DUTH – Democritus University of Thrace, an
MArch from IAAC, and a Fab Academy diploma on Digital Fabrication offered by the Fab Lab Network. She is currently a PhD candidate
in the UPC, researching the topic of Responsive Environments and Smart Cities. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions
worldwide, such as the Venice Biennale, Shenzhen Bi¬City Biennale, Beijing Design Week, the 3d print show, and MaterFad among
others. Areti Markopoulou has served as an external examiner, visiting jury and lecturer in various universities such as the
UCLA, SCI¬Arc, NTUA, UPenn, BSSA, and AA, among others.
