3rd I - virtual city

The world is urbanizing fast. According to a UN report, more than half the global population already lives in cities. Cities will continue to grow, but what does the ideal city look like? How might it look in twenty years?

Better City, Better Life

In 3rd I, artists, architects, students and pupils from China and the Netherlands presented their views of the future of their cities. They have built models of their ideal cities and talk about the future in video portraits. They were responding to the motto of the World Expo 2010 currently taking place in Shanghai: “Better City, Better Life”.

Shanghai–Rotterdam 

Models of future and imaginary buildings were exhibited in Shanghai. Special robots, equipped with small video cameras, move down the streets between the models. These “third eyes” could be steered by audience members in Shanghai, in Rotterdam and by visitors to this website. The Chinese and Dutch visitors were able to use “telepresence furniture” to communicate with each other. 

Control a Video Robot

It was possible to drive one of the robots virtually at the Shanghai exhibition venue from www.the-third-eye.org. One could  find the instructions for driving a video robot there as well. The connection between you and the robot was made via the program Skype. 

Dutch Culture Centre

The DCC has been created specially to showcase Dutch culture in China parallel to the World Expo 2010. Six exhibitions and performances will take place over six months, with an emphasis on collaboration and dialogue between Dutch and Chinese artists. The exhibitions will be organized by various Dutch institutions that have worked regularly with Chinese artists and institutions in recent years. The Netherlands China Arts Foundation expects that work will be able to go into greater depth at the DCC than at the bustling World Expo pavilion.

http://www.2010dcc.com

3rd i The Process

The exhibition Adaptation: Designing the Future City will also feature B.A.R.C. , a project by Dynamic City Foundation. 

 

The following partners were involved in the development of Adaptation: Designing the Future City:

• eArts Festival, an annual event in Shanghai focusing on contemporary art in the context of technological culture;
• workshop partners including Shi Xi Highschool in Shanghai, Cybercity Ruhr, Delft University of Technology, the artists Angelika Oei and René Verouden, and Rotterdam University;
• Video robot development partners Mohammed Abdelghany of the Rotterdam University media and IT department; Aadjan van der Helm of the industrial design master’s program at Delft University of Technology; and the Canadian inventor and media artist Graham Smith, affiliated with Cybercity Ruhr;
• Virtueel Platform 
• Couscous Global, Amsterdam;
• Cybercity Ruhr, which developed the concept for 3rd I and is coordinating the workshops.

 

The 3rd I project has received support from:

• ACER Ltd., China (main sponsor)
• The City of Rotterdam
• The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
• The Netherlands China Art Foundation