Event Details

The 6th Media Architecture Biennale is proud to announce the nominees for the prestigious MAB Awards, which celebrates outstanding media architecture projects from around the world. Out of the record number of 121 submissions, an international jury chose 15 projects in 5 categories. The winners will be announced during the award show, the grand finale of the MAB20 Online Conference, taking place from June 30th to July 2nd. The awards show will commence at 15:00 CEST on July 2nd.
Nominees include internationally renowned artists and designers such as Jason Bruges Studio, and Studio Roosegaarde; collaborations between universities and engineering firms such as Arup; art commissions by parties such as the San Diego International Airport Art Commission; projects by cultural institutions such as the German Maritime Museum; artistic interventions in public space organized by Verve Cultural in São Paulo as well as at those premiering at the Ars Electronica Festival; and an exploration of robot technologies for public spaces by the Design Lab at the University of Sydney. Nominees have been selected from all corners of the world, from San Diego to Sydney, and from São Paulo to Helsinki, reflecting the worldwide uptake of media architecture in the last decade. A full list of all nominees can be found here.
 
The Media Architecture Biennale is the world’s premier event on media architecture, urban interaction design, and urban informatics. It brings together architects, artists, and designers, leading thinkers on urban design, key industry and government representatives as well as
community activists. Together, they explore the design and role of media in the built environment and its implications for urban communities and ecosystems.
The theme of MAB's 6th edition is Futures Implied, which opens up investigations into future scenarios implied in today’s urban transformations and emerging technologies like digital platforms, responsive technologies and smart city promises. Speaking on what inspired this year's theme, MAB20 General Chair, Martijn de Waal, explained, "We thought it was important to bring out a shift in how we talk and think about the role of media in the built environment. We wanted to move the discussion away from the spectacular experiences or convenient services that media architecture can provide. Instead, we want to engage in discussions on what it means for urban life, now that media technologies - from urban screens navigation apps on our phones - have become an indispensable part of our daily routines. We want to bring a value-based perspective to this debate and question: what does it mean to integrate all these technologies into the city and what implications result from this process?"
 
MAB20 taking place online
This year, due to the ongoing global pandemic the Media Architecture Biennale had to be adapted and re-imagined in an online format for the first time. The biennale features 16 workshops, keynotes from different disciplines and from around the world, 15 symposia organised by multiple MAB Partners, two online exhibitions of student projects and demos, roundtables, academic paper presentations, demonstrations of new prototypes, and more.
The MAB20 Program will take place:
• From June 24th – 29th | Workshops | via Zoom
• From June 30th – July 2nd | Online Conference | via virtual conference platform
All sessions and activities (keynotes, paper sessions, symposia etc) will be held via
Zoom, recorded and made available on the platform after each session. All recordings will stay
available on-demand for MAB20 attendees until August 1st.