HABITS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE: SCARCITY AND ABUNDANCE IN A POST-MATERIAL ECONOMY 

THEME

The upcoming ACADIA 2023 conference will explore the intersections of computation and diversity in architecture and design. Topics will explore the use of computational tools to design for diverse user needs, the role of computation in promoting social equity in the built environment, and the challenges and opportunities of using computational design methods in diverse cultural contexts. The goal for this year’s conference is to promote a more inclusive and equitable approach to computational design, one that is responsive to the needs and aspirations of diverse communities.

The upcoming conference calls for the examination of suppressed voices, indigenous and feminist thinking and queer theory. All of which bring a new dimension to utopianism, capitalism and consumerism. Within this call we ask scholars to embrace uncertainty through digital and manual forms of making, engagement with virtual and physical spaces and artistic and scientific endeavors that span multiple disciplines and weave together old and new knowledge.

Practitioners will be asked to offer disruptive making practices, experimental computation, ways of growing and emotionally connecting with the non-human, be it biological or artificial as well as theoretical thinking surrounding the challenges created by the human species. Critically examining these ideas is an essential component of imagining a future beyond the statuesque.

As we face new global challenges, we ask contributors to explore local and place specific making that carries its own unique signature through the systems, species, constraints and folklore that inform their practice. This is a direct attempt to think globally whilst acting locally, sensitively and with a sense of responsibility not only for our own species’ survival, but towards planetary interests.

The call asks thinkers and makers to consider what new local ecologies shall emerge through environmental displacement of people, gradual migration of species and unprecedented environmental changes. What forensic landscapes shall emerge from the byproducts of our contemporary society and how can we scavenge and repurpose the leftovers of civilization? How does our mind and body interface with the bio-digital and how do we approach bioengineered chimeras?