Thursday May 3

Location: Parisoma; 169 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Map

Doors open 5:45 p.m.

Talks

Melissa Hui – The Rituals of Futures Makers
An exploration the inner worlds and workings of the people that make the future: why and how they consistently and successfully transform themselves and our collective futures.

Marcel Schouwenaar – Conversations in the Accountable City; A Case for Transparent Algorithms
When algorithms govern the city, how do we govern the algorithms? Presenting the Transparent Charging Station

Denis Maksimov – Metamorphosis into Post-Human Statehood: from X-land to No-Land
What will be the new formation of “the political” after the nation state? Let’s stage an experiment of redistribution of power without a sovereign(ty).

PANEL – “The Future of Futuring” moderated by Jack Wilkinson
Speakers from the PRIMER 18 program will discuss the future of different practices, what it means to talk or design engagements with the future, pedagogy, consulting and where the practice can go. 

Friday May 4

Location: David Brower Center 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 Map

Check-in & light breakfast begins at 8:15 a.m.

Food Futures Special Exhibitions and Emerging Designer Exhibitions on display and available for interaction throughout the entire day.

Goldman Theater

9:00-9:30
Welcome to PRIMER 18

9:30-10:15
KEYNOTE – Stuart Candy

10:15-10:35
BREAK

10:35-11:20 Session #1
Nick Foster & Julian Bleecker

11:20-11:40
BREAK

11:40-12:25 Session #2
Sands Fish – Police Futures: A Path to Citizen Intervention and Civic Imagination
Sands will share tested strategies for applying speculative design to the challenge of engaging citizens in the creation police futures.

12:25-1:25
LUNCH

1:25-1:55 Session #3 (30 minutes)
Ksenia Benifand – Reimagining the Future: The Biomimetic Economy
An exploration of the possible futures of economic systems through the design principals of biomimicry.

1:55-2:15
BREAK

2:15-3:00 Session #4
David Schwartz – Digital Excavation
Our digital selves can live infinite lives to better our physical selves. Why are we so scared to let ourselves be multiple people?

3:00-3:25
BREAK

3:20-4:05 Session #5
Michael Burton of BurtonNitta

4:05-4:25
BREAK

4:25-5:10
KEYNOTE – Ani Liu

5:30 – 7:30
AFTER PARTY/COCKTAIL HOUR (on-site at the David Brower Center)

Kenzie Room

10:35-11:20 Session #1
Bruce Tharpe – Dissonance: Leveraging “The Strangely Familiar”
Through project examples, this talk unpacks the notion of “the strangely familiar,” offering designers simple, useful language and a framework that they can immediately apply.

11:20-11:40
BREAK

11:40-12:25 Session #2
Elliot Montgomery & Tamara Alvarez- Geopolitics of the Sky
A series of speculative projects examining possible power dynamics of the z-axis, including air rights, the atmosphere and beyond.

12:25-1:25
LUNCH

1:25-1:55 Session #3 (30 minutes)
Michael Mogensen – NIUN Saudi Futures
Created with Saudi artist Ahaad Almaoudi, NIUN is an exploration through film, installations and a series of events of what a Saudi future could be, calling into question current representations of the future and technology in the Gulf. 

1:55-2:15
BREAK

2:15-3:00 Session #4
Deepa Butoliya – Critical Jugaad
Deepa’s talk will focus on the critical making and designerly practices from the global south characterized by the word Jugaad.

3:00-3:20
BREAK

3:20-4:05 Session #5
Radha Mistry & Darren Brooker – Grappling with the Future – Using Science-Fiction to Make the Future Tangible
How Autodesk is using science-fiction as foresight, to explore how automation will shape the landscape of its customer’s industries, and the future of their work.

5:30 – 7:30
AFTER PARTY/COCKTAIL HOUR (on-site at the David Brower Center)

Saturday May 5 – Workshops

Building Actionable Futures – Facilitated by Sami Niemelä 
In a fast-moving world, there is a disconnect between foresight and actually building them. This workshop explores how to build the futures we want, in a way that connects them with the people we build them for.
Time: 9a – 1p
Location: LUNAR 2012 16th St Map 

Transgenerational Futures  – Facilitated by Alana Aquilino 
Participants will write stories from the perspective of communities in which future generations of their families live. 
Time: 9a – 1p (4 hours)
Location: IBM Watson 505 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94105 Map 

Speculative City: Scenario Building for Urban Futures – Facilitated by Matthew Wizinsky
Engage in the critical research methods used to craft speculations on urban futures from a speculative design studio.
Time: 2p – 5p (3 hours)
Location: IBM Watson 505 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94105 Map 

Synthesizing Trend Aggregation for Design – Facilitated by Shar Shahfari & Ville Vanhala
Experience the power of a digital tool to enhance collaborative foresight work in the context of mapping future change and innovating new concepts. 
Time 9a – 1p (4 hours)
Location: Mozilla 2 Harrison St #175, San Francisco, CA 94105 Map