Infrastructure and the Future
water, and transportation—are essentially based on an eighteenth and nineteenth century model. Communications is arguably a very different kind of model. The question is that if the eighteenth and nineteenth century model doesn’t work, what is the model for the future and how do architects play a role in guiding the development of that model? Beto Lopez All these infrastructural systems have been developed at different times, and the rate at which they’re being redeveloped or renewed is happening at different scales. Our tendency is to expect them to all be integrated. This seems natural as users, but there’s huge inertia happening at very large scales. It’s not just the fact that layers interact—everything from nature to governance to infrastructure to fashion—but that under eventual circumstances everything will fail because they’re happening at different rates. What we have happening right now is a layer that’s failing. We’re trying to reconcile that with how to improve it or how to connect it in better ways, to deliver the forms of infrastructure, whether it’s power, water, communication. But from a sustainability point of view—which to me is the continuous tradeoff of quality of life versus how many resources we’re using to meet that quality of life—it’s not just about reducing resources, right? I think all too often we forget that it’s that balance of quality of life and resource use. It’s not always about using less. It’s about what that quality of life is that you’re seeking. What is one’s level of expectation in terms of the integrations of all these systems? Is it fair to think that a utopic society where everything is aligned can be possible? I think it’s not practical. Tom Keane Do architects have a role in that? Beto Lopez Yes, of course, by all means they have a role in it. Civic spaces are an extension—even an improvement—on my quality of life. If I think of the Highline
Bit Car concept for a stackable city car, Franco Vairani and Smart Cities, MIT Media Lab
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