Location

Intercultural Center Auditorium, Georgetown University

Description

Towards Entrepreneurial, High-Performance, Livable Cities
Kent Larson will discuss the work of his research group to develop urban interventions that address the challenges of rapid urbanization. His talk will focus on three current projects: CityScope combines physical 3D models with augmented reality to create an evidence-based process for urban design and system integration. The Persuasive Electric Vehicle (PEV) is an ultra-lightweight, shared-use, autonomous electric vehicle designed to move both people and goods in high-density cities, reducing the need for private automobiles and minimizing energy consumption for transportation. The CityHome project focuses on transformable micro-apartments to allow artists and young professionals to live in the creative heart of cities, increasing diversity, exchange of ideas, and building energy efficiency. He will also discuss Urban Living Lab collaborative projects in Hamburg, Andorra, and Cambridge.

Biographies

Kent Larson directs the City Science Initiative and the Changing Places Group at the MIT Media Laboratory. Research is focused on developing urban interventions that enable more entrepreneurial, livable, high-performance districts in cities. Projects include advanced simulation and augmented reality for urban design, transformable micro-housing for millennials, mobility-on-demand systems that create alternatives to private automobiles, and living lab deployments in Hamburg, Andorra, Taipei, Lisbon, and Boston. Larson and researchers from his group received the “10-Year Impact Award” from Ubicomp 2014: a “test of time” award for work that, with the benefit of that hindsight, has had the greatest impact. Larson practiced architecture for 15 years in New York City, with design work published in Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Global Architecture, the New York Times, A+U, and Architectural Digest. His book, Louis I. Kahn: Unbuilt Masterworks was selected as one of the Ten Best Books in Architecture of the year by the New York Times Review of Books.