Experiments in Motion : Audi Urban Future Initiative

Experiments in Motion

Experiments in Motion, a cutting-edge new research program conducted by Audi of America in partnership with Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) to develop and test new paradigms in the relationship between mobility and design, was announced at the 2011 Audi Urban Future Summit to run from September 2011 to the end of summer 2012.

As part of the Audi Urban Future Research, Experiments in Motion represents the U.S. pilot of a series of locally driven, interdisciplinary research and student programs with the world’s

leading institutions and schools, tapping into the vast potential of academic intelligence and emerging talent.

“As urban environments continue to evolve, transportation needs to evolve in parallel. Audi aims to not only engage the discussion, but to actively contribute to the knowledge and insights of our global experts,” says Johan de Nysschen, president of Audi of America. “We look forward working very closely with Columbia University, one of the most prestigious and visionary institutions in the country, on this important project and topic.” "The history of cities is unthinkable without

considering the emergence and development of new forms of mobility," says Mark Wigley, Dean of GSAPP.

"This program empowers young, bright minds that will both live and shape the future to develop design responses to the most extreme implications of the collective thoughts of some of the world's most brilliant thinkers."

Experiments in Motion consists of a year-long series of three experiments developed under the leadership of Wigley.

Experiment #1: Paradigms in Motion

Our understandings of mobility must be caught up to the speed of the today’s cities. Paradigms in Motion will investigate new understandings of motion and mobility through a three month think

tank consisting of interdisciplinary thought leaders from Columbia University, architecture and design professionals from New York City, and experts from Audi’s internal and external networks. Their

findings will be released in the spring of 2012 and will provide hypotheses that will inform the architecture designed in the second experiment.

Experiment #2: Design in Motion

New paradigms of mobility in the city require new kinds of architects. Design in Motion will build on the think tanks’ hypotheses by assembling three teams of graduate students and professors at GSAPP who will envision architectural designs that will create new relationships between New

York City and the citizens moving through it. Half way through the semester, the students will test their design proposals by traveling to three of the fastest growing cities in the world. Design in Motion will be documented through a custom digital interface that will allow the students to

communicate with each other and the public throughout the design process. The final designs will be presented in May of 2012 and will become the starting point for the third experiment.

Experiment #3: Participation in Motion

No vision of the city can be realized without public support. Participation in Motion will be a public interface for the collected intelligence of the previous experiments and will open the

documents, designs, and theories of the project to public discussion. In partnership with the New Museum and Columbia’s Studio-X event and studio space in downtown New York City,

Participation in Motion will be open to the public through a series of events and formats.

The city of the future demands a new type of automotive manufacturer, a new type of architect, and new type of citizen. Experiments in Motion connects the disruptive potential of the university with Audi in order to change the way the corporation not only operates but thinks. Likewise, Experiments in Motion aligns with GSAPP and its commitment to provide the conditions for a new type of architect to emerge. This conversation between the corporation, the university and the public will generate new forms of public participation to motivate new types of citizenship.

Experiments in Motion is curated by Th—ey, an emerging design and curatorial practice in New York, in partnership with Audi of America, following their involvement in Audi Urban Future Project: New York in May 2011.