Text by CLOT Magazine
Strelka Institute is a non-commercial educational institution founded in 2009 to change Russian cities’ cultural and physical landscapes. The Institute promotes positive changes and creates new ideas and values through its educational activities.
The New Normal programme takes the concept of contemporary urbanism and explores the impact of emerging technologies on interdisciplinary design practices. Designed and led by Benjamin Bratton – sociological, media, design theorist and author based in California, [The New Normal] look at economics as a kind of urbanism, at computer science as a kind of urbanism, at architecture as a kind of urbanism, and philosophy as a kind of urbanism — once you’re here [Strelka Institute] it’s not interdisciplinary, it’s just urbanism, something you can contribute to. Bratton told us over email.
CLOT Magazine has a close relationship with the Strelka Institute. We have interviewed, besides Benjamin Bratton, the students behind Common Task. This project illustrates an alternative Russian history and ideology by drawing lines between cosmism and quantified self-movement. We will be selecting two projects from this 2018 year’s programme.
The New Normal focuses on conceptual themes such as AI/machine learning at the scale of the city, urban simulation models, landscape-scale automation, human exclusion zones, augmented reality, cinematic narratives, blockchains/emergent networks of value, and game design. On August 27, Strelka is launching an enrollment campaign for its free (+ stipend) five-month postgraduate educational programme.
The programme, which is taught in English, spans from February 2019 to July 2019 and includes 30 multidisciplinary students from the fields of media, architecture, urbanism, design, creative industries, social sciences, and others.
Strelka Institute is always developing and looking for new angles and themes. Strelka Institute is developing a new and disruptive approach for the programme for the years to come, so this year’s programme (18/19) was the last one.
