Big Data—the exponential growth and availability of information—is one of the defining phenomena of our time. It affects us all on different levels – with far-reaching social, environmental, and governmental significance. To help make sense of Big Data as it relates to our built environment, and to provide insights into how we understand, experience, and create cities, Pratt Institute and Places Journal presents a symposium titled "City by Numbers: Big Data and the Urban Future."

9.30– 9:45AM Welcome

10AM–12PM Session 1: Big Data/Better City?

How credible are our numbers? What are the rhetoric of data and its visualization? What are the claims of the enthusiasts and the fears of the skeptics?

Speakers:Constantine Kontokosta, Urban Science Fellow, Center for Urban Science +Progress (CUSP); Colin Harrison, Leader, Urban Systems Collaborative.
Respondents: Laura Kurgan, Associate Professor GSAPP Columbia University and Director Spatial Information Design Lab; Jessie Braden, Director of Spatial Analysis and Visualization Initiative (SAVI) Lab, Senior Fellow, Pratt Center. 
Moderator: Shannon Mattern, Associate Professor, New School for Public Engagement.

12.15–1:15PM Lunch Break

1.30–3:30PM Session 2: Manifest Data-City

What are the emerging technologies of data interface? How does our interface manipulate and transform data? What kinds of data does interface make accessible? What are the emerging manifestations of data in the sentient city? How will our interface with data shape our experience of place?

Speakers: Adam Pruden, Frog design; Mark Shepard, artist/architect of The Sentient City Survival Kit.
Respondent: Malcolm McCullough, Professor of Architecture and Design, University of Michigan.
Moderator: Gökçe Günel, ACLS New Faculty Fellow in Anthropology, Columbia University.

3:30–4PM Coffee break

4–6PM Session 3: Designing Statisticon

What are the significant case studies in the use of Big Data to plan and make the physical city? How do different agents use Big Data differently? What are some different visions of future Statisticon?

Speakers: James von Klemperer, FAIA, Partner, KPF; Federico Parolotto, Partner, Mobility in Chain (Milan Italy); Anthony Townsend, Senior Research Scientist, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management.
Moderator: David Burney, FAIA, Professor and Director of Placemaking degree program, Pratt Institute; former New York City Commissioner, Department of Design and Construction.

This event is free and open to the public.

4 CEUs available

City by Numbers exhibition to be held in conjunction with the symposium October 11-31, Hazel and Robert H. Siegel Gallery

Pratt Institute
Higgins Hall 
61 St. James Place
Brooklyn

> via Pratt Institute