OPENROOM SEMINAR Tuesday May 26th at 15pm-20pm TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER, BUT WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? Cedric Price 1904-2003 Our life is filled with technologies: who would like to miss the communication systems, the medical technologies or many of our daily ´helpers´ which evolved during the last decades? Many technologies are supposed to improve our life. But the majority of these technologies are based on the consumption of non-renewable energy and the involved pollution produces high stress to our climate with strong consequences for inhabited areas and global food security. Even ´green technologies´ are in need for mining rare resources and this has regionally a highly destructive impact. So is our way of implementing and using technologies destroying the basis of our life? Will there be new or ´better´ technologies that can prevent or even repair this destruction? Or can we expect a setback for our civilization forced by environmetal forces we can neither imagine nor control? Is there a valid position between the extreme poles of technophobic Neo-Luddism and the technophile belief in neverending technological progress ? This ´open room´ discusses these question on different scales: After an introduction, German scientist and governmental adviser Dr. Harald Ginzky reflects critically with his lecture ´Climate Engineering - effective climate protection or megalomania?´ on large scale ´geo-engineering´ which is increasingly discussed as an escape strategy against already visible consequences of climate change. Professor Walter Unterrainer with his lecture ´technology is the answer, but what was the question?´ challenges the notion of ´smart buildings´ and ´smart cities´ which pretend to make the built environment more sustainable. What smartness do we need and where do we find it ? Organizer: Professor in sustainable architecture Walter Unterrainer Language: English Place: Canteen, Aarhus School of Architecture The seminar is free, but seats are limited. Please sign up at: aarch.dk/OpenRoom by May 20 A light meal will be served during the seminar The picture of Le Corbusier´s building in Chandigarh shows in a bizarre way how good intentions for climate responsive design simply fail if not thought to the end: Components for passive energy strategies turn into racks for air-condition machinery. ARKITEKTSKOLEN AARHUS For futher information contact: Anne Mette Boye, External relations - email: [email protected]