Measuring the Unseen: a Symposium About Building a Cultural Framework for Design and Technology

Abstract

Sophisticated knowledge and skills in the right hands and minds can empower designers to make smarter design choices, but these instruments are not prescriptive. The balance lies between the space of the qualitative and the quantitative, between the immeasurable and the scientific. In this field of hightech and big data, where are the spaces for the ephemeral, the un-quantifiable, in an arena driven by metrics and computation? How can technology not prescribe but rather leverage and amplify the articulation of the thoughtfully considered design artifact? What are the possibilities when the skills of the craftsperson are merged with cutting-edge tools? This symposium will share the innovative research and creative production of the work of design leaders operating at the intersection of architecture, art, culture and technology.