Agenda

Qatar’s visionary «Building a Creative Nation» plan (2005-2030) reflects a strategic commitment to fostering cultural vitality. Leveraging architecture as a key tool, the nation aims to preserve its rich heritage while actively commissioning innovative works by emerging artists, creating a dynamic and enduring cultural landscape that resonates both locally and globally. This ambitious initiative underscores Qatar’s dedication to cultivating a vibrant and sustainable creative ecosystem.

Globally, there is a trend towards the development of infrastructure, with a notable emphasis on the role of art centers in shaping these urban landscapes enhanced by smart technologies, these will enable both virtual and physical networking. Cities worldwide are recognizing the transformative power of hybrid cultural hubs, integrating them into urban planning to foster creativity, community engagement, and a sense of identity, thereby contributing to the holistic growth of societies. This global shift underpins the intrinsic value of art in the broader context of urban development from MAXXI Museum in Rome to the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre in China.

Significance plays a pivotal role in defining the purposes and mission of museums, yet there is a shift of paradigm in the cultural consumption. How do museums maintain their relevance in society, and what challenges do they encounter? How are museums reshaping their missions to align with new definitions? In what ways are museums adapting to better serve and engage diverse audiences? How are museums incorporating innovation into their strategies and evolving towards new purposes?

Museums are important places for cultural identity and offer diverse cultural references. They are places where people come together and exchange ideas. The combination of architecture and content fosters the specific statement of the museum. Working as an exhibition designer means developing spaces that convey content, providing access to the past and opening up new perspectives. It’s all about reaching the people, igniting their imagination and making them dream.

What are the predominant trends in museums today regarding their design, content, governance, and innovation? How can museums respond to climate change? How do these trends shape the future of museums, and to what extent do they influence decision-making processes?

Designers’ and architects’ work increasingly embodies a fusion of innovation, sustainability, and social consciousness, pushing the boundaries of their disciplines and inspiring a new generation with their creativity, critical thinking, and cultural awareness. How can museums navigate cultural sensitivities, resource constraints and socio-political dynamics such as spatial justice? How architecture can contribute to more inclusive and equitable spaces, especially in urban environments by incorporating elements that reflect the local context and heritage? How museums can transform social relations by encouraging community.

Bringing transformative experiences to life in museums demands a balanced blend of technology, storytelling, and design. How do museums face the challenge of technological innovation with the preservation of traditional artifacts? Outreach programs and accessibility are key for museums, yet how are designers considering audiences demands on their creative process?

Humanity has a natural desire to connect through stories. In an ever-changing entertainment landscape, how are museums, brands and entertainment platforms using the power of storytelling to connect with their audiences and expand their reach? How can cultural institutions, brands or entertainment organizations use storytelling to have an impact on society?

Museums are designing new spaces dedicated to more diverse communities. By championing new engagement strategies, these museums become living entities, responsive to the pulse of their communities. They strive to be more than repositories of artifacts; they aim to be dynamic spaces that catalyze conversations, challenge perspectives, and reflect the diverse tapestry of human experience. As these institutions redefine their purpose, «New museums for new engagement» invites visitors to embark on a journey where leadership and expanded partnerships converge to create spaces that inspire and connect in unimagined ways.

Immersive art, epitomized by trailblazing experiences like Meow Wolf, has redefined the boundaries of cultural engagement. Meow Wolf’s story is a remarkable one: An art collective transformed to a multimillion dollar symbol of the experience economy. With a distinctive style of playful aesthetic, immersive and maximalist environments, Meow Wolf has attracted new audiences and is leading the path for the future of the immersive sector.

Museums are empowered to actively shape and contribute to the fabric of society, playing a pivotal role in community building. Museums, entrusted with the responsibility to make a lasting impact, serve as dynamic platforms for cultural dialogue, education, and engagement. What are the keys to fostering a sense of shared identity, nurturing understanding, and cultivating a vibrant community? How are museums listening to their audiences nowadays?

Listening to cities and their inhabitants, «The human species needs a place that not only protects us from the harshness of the weather but also becomes a platform from which we can grow and nourish ourselves in every aspect, not just physical ones.» By listening to the needs of populations, architecture allows us to live within our own ecosystem. How do museums incorporate this approach? How can architects empower citizens to co-design their future urban spaces?

Combining cutting-edge technology, innovative urban planning, and sustainable practices is the holy grail of transformative vision for economic diversification. What tools, processes, and methodologies can be employed to achieve the optimal equilibrium between progress and conservation, guaranteeing a seamless blend with the natural environment and creating an outstanding, sustainable destination?

The use of narrative design in projects and museums is a key innovation to enhance information retention in cultural environments. Exploring the role of generative artificial intelligence emerges as a promising frontier, offering new possibilities for creating immersive and dynamic narratives within the museum context, challenging the design process itself.

As museums encounter a growing demand for immersive cultural experiences, the integration of immersive narratives and virtual reality (VR) experiences emerges as a potential solution to reconcile audience expectations with the imperative for rigorous knowledge dissemination. Exploring how immersive narratives can be seamlessly woven into museum collections opens up routes for new audience development.

Innovation is now a vibrant domain where art, science, and curation intersect. From groundbreaking explorations in algorithmic art to leveraging technology for immersive museum experiences and events production, artists, scientists, producers and experts explore new forms of combining culture and technology. Technology has transformed how people create, consume, and share cultural content, leading to new forms of artistic expression.

As a pioneer in the aesthetics of data, Los Angeles-based media artist Refik Anadol’s decade-long art practice pushes the boundaries of immersive experiences. His site-specific AI Data Paintings and Sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms: Entire buildings come to life, floors, walls, and ceilings disappear into infinity, breathtaking aesthetics take shape from large swaths of data, and what was once invisible to the human eye becomes visible, offering the audience a new perspective of their environments. Anadol’s innovative approach consistently captivates audiences and museums alike, offering a glimpse into the future of artistic and technological integration. This includes the Large Nature Model (LNM), the world’s first open-source generative AI model dedicated to nature – an initiative that will reflect the beauty and complexity of our natural world as well as a groundbreaking multi-year project to raise awareness about environmental issues.

With visionary urban projects – from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City to Ezebener Howard’s Garden City – the 20th century hoped to heal the fracture between nature and the city. In fact, bringing the city to nature resulted in a bigger environmental plight: urban sprawl and excessive land consumption. How might we reverse this trend in the 21st century and bridge the urban-rural divide? Could digital technologies and the Internet of Things give us the tools to manage the interface between the natural and the artificial? Prof. Carlo Ratti’s presentation explores how, thanks to new digital technologies, we can introduce elements of nature in cities in a harmonious way. This integration of the biological with the built – from domestic food production to living buildings and green infrastructure – gives us hope for a sustainable urban future.

The renowned architecture firms Nieto & Sobejano and Tuñón y Albornoz Arquitectos will share their firms’ recent projects and built works of public and cultural buildings. They will talk about their interventions in existing buildings, their expansion projects for cultural institutions in Europe and now for the US as well as the importance of eco-responsible and sustainable designs.

A rebirth is underway in Saudi Arabia’s creative industries, driven by ambitious goals to catalyze a social and economic transformation of the country. An evolving landscape of large-scale initiatives is taking shape within Vision 2030, exploring the role of creative collaboration and intersections of disciplines in these transformations.