A landmark collaboration between the MIT School of Architecture and Planning and the LUMA Foundation, the MIT-LUMA Lab will champion research, creative practice, and pedagogy that address regional and global climate challenges. The lab will operate at the nexus of climate science, technology, art, ecology, and design.
The MIT-LUMA Lab draws on an establishing gift from the LUMA Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Zurich formed by Maja Hoffmann in 2004 to support contemporary artistic production. The foundation supports a range of multidisciplinary projects that increase understanding of the environment, human rights, education, and culture. Hoffmann is the founder and president of the LUMA Foundation.
The MIT-LUMA Lab’s inaugural convening, Global Commons and New Ecologies, featured public presentations, film screenings, and celebrations. Speakers from MIT, LUMA, and beyond elaborated on the Lab’s mission to design for climate resilience and forge new paths for collaboration through research, practice, and innovation.
The event convened on April 2 and 3 on the MIT campus.
Agenda for Wednesday, April 2
Kickoff: Dean Hashim Sarkis, MIT School of Architecture and Planning
Environment in Practice
Caroline A. Jones, Professor in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT; Caroline Murphy, Clarence H. Blackall Career Development Assistant Professor in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT; Raphaël Billé, Program Director, Tour Du Valat; Martin Guinard, Curator, LUMA Arles; Salma Mochtari, Associate Researcher, LUMA Arles; Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, Artistic Director, LUMA Arles.
Introducing the MIT-LUMA Lab: Welcoming Remarks from MIT, SA+P, and LUMA Foundation Leadership
Agenda for Thursday, April 3
Welcome from Dean Hashim Sarkis and Maja Hoffmann, Founder and Executive President, the LUMA Foundation
Research for Climate Action
Skylar Tibbits, Co-Director, Self-Assembly Lab, and Associate Professor of Design Research at MIT; Raphaël Billé, Program Director, Tour Du Valat; Jan Boelen, Senior Design Consultant, Atelier LUMA; Axelle Gisserot, Textile Designer, Atelier LUMA; Christophe Guberan, collaborator, MIT Self-Assembly Lab.
Presentation from Nida Sinnokrot, Associate Professor in Art, Culture, Technology at MIT
Design Innovation for Resilient Futures
Svafa Grönfeldt, Faculty Director, MITdesignX, and Professor of the Practice, MIT SA+P; Marc-Antoine Baïssas, Chief Financial and Impact Officer, LUMA Arles; Marcelo Coelho, Lecturer, Department of Architecture, and Director, Design Intelligence Lab at MIT.
Verena Paravel COSMOFONIA Work-in-Progress Screening and Talk
Realizing Artistic Visions
Gediminas Urbonas, Associate Professor, Art, Culture, Technology, MIT; Victoria Hindley, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Art, Architecture, and Design, MIT Press; Flora Katz, Curator, LUMA Arles; Manuela Lucà-Dazio, Executive Director, The Pritzker Architecture Prize, honorary professor, Tongji University, and former Executive Director, Department of Visual Arts and Architecture, La Biennale di Venezia; Selby Nimrod, inaugural Director of Exhibitions and Commons, MIT SA+P; Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, Artistic Director, LUMA Arles.
