Building without bias

The production of architectural space in the digital age is increasingly reliant on automated technologies which infer that data is truth. But this ‘truth’ is saturated with the bias and prejudice inherent in contemporary society, with serious implications for the design of our built environment.

Hannah Rozenberg’s award winning research project, Building without Bias, found that artificially intelligent technologies understood ‘architect, steel, cement and screw’ as terms most associated with males, while ‘tearoom, kitchen and nursery’ were among the most female. With algorithmic design methods set to increase, what will be the implications for architecture and our urban fabric? 

Can architecture be used as a tool to reveal, rethink, and revise the biases that are embedded within technology and culture? 

We bring together internationally acclaimed speakers to explore how architects and designers can disrupt the structures and processes that dictate links between architectural space and gender in a digital age. Speakers will consider the potential for digital tools and automated technologies to create a post-binary, inclusive built environment. 

Speakers:

- Marina Otero Verzier, director of research at Het Nieuwe Instituut and curator of WORK, BODY, LEISURE, the Dutch Pavilion at the 16th Venice International Architecture Biennale, 2018. 

- Florence Okoye, user experience designer interested in the application of design thinking to complex engineering systems and founder of Afrofutures_UK.

- Hannah Rozenberg, winner of The Built Environment Trust’s RCA Student Prize for Innovation for the project Building without Bias. 

- Nina Power, senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University and the author of One-Dimensional Woman. 

Chair: Vanessa Norwood, creative director, the Building Centre.

Registration will be from 6.00pm and the event will start at 6.30pm. The evening will conclude at 8.00pm after an audience Q&A.

Book now to avoid disappointment.