IAAC’s Master in City & Technology (1 or 2-year program) is a unique program oriented towards redefining the analysis, planning, and design of twenty-first-century cities and beyond. The program offers expertise in the design of digitally enhanced, ecological and human-centered urban environments by intersecting the disciplines of urbanism and data science. Taking place in Barcelona, the capital of urbanism, the Master in City & Technology is training the professionals that city administrations, governments, industries, and communities need, to transform the urban environment in the era of big data.


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Digital Culture(s): A cultural blindspot of solutionism

photo credits: ‘Imagining Intercitizenships’ 3D artwork by Lorna Pittaway for IAM

In an era of accelerating change, digital cultures weave together a mosaic of materiality, temporality, and social impact, redefining the very essence of culture itself. The interplay between these dimensions raises compelling questions about the way we live, create, and envision futures. From solutionism in the face of a polycrisis to the extractivist underpinnings of … Read more

Exploring Digital Futures: Embracing Complexity and Imagination

In a world marked by interconnected crises and technological change, understanding Digital Cultures helps us navigate how we engage with technology and address pressing global challenges. This exploration underscores the critical role of narratives, metaphors, and values in shaping our responses to an uncertain future. The Context of Polycrisis Our journey began by examining the … Read more

Unmasking Digital Culture: Rethinking Progress, Equity, and Sustainability

Accumulation: A Mirage of Progress Imagine a minimalist workspace—a pristine desk, a single laptop, a small plant to complete the tableau. It’s serene, efficient, and modern. Yet, behind this simplicity lies a sprawling network of data centers consuming vast amounts of energy, hidden from view. This duality invites a deeper reflection: is our pursuit of … Read more

CARE HUB

Care Hub is a vibrant, community care-focused green space located in La Placeta de l’Avi Porta. This Hub combines nature, play, culture, and community activities into a unique urban oasis designed to bring people together and celebrate biodiversity, at the same time we promote the concept of a space of care through design. La Plaçeta … Read more

Dystopia of Digital Dominance

“Blade Runner” is a poignant illustration of how urban landscapes could be transformed in a post-industrial world, shaped by technological dominance and environmental decay. Created within a society grappling with the implications of synthetic life and corporate control, the film vividly portrays a version of Los Angeles. Re-envisioned through the context of speculative theories about … Read more

REAL VS VIRTUAL URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Ready Player One presents a contrasting scenario between real world urban environments and virtual urban environments. This setting is shaped by a culture of video games that promotes individual competition, gendered imaginaries, conflict narratives and a militarized mindset. Real world urban skyscrapers are depicted as loop-sided pyramids designed to house large numbers of immigrants in … Read more

Rising Waters

The year is 2100. Latin America is sinking. Due to global warming the polar icecaps have almost melted completely. In addition the increased temperature has caused the global water mass to expand by almost 1%. As a consequence sea levels are rising at unprecedented levels globally. The coastline in South America is hard-hit by these … Read more

Our democracy has been hacked!

“The women argued it was not a bad thing to be able to know instantly by scanning who one is dealing with. Someone remembered a proposal that democracy might best be served by opening up the data banks to everyone rather than trying to do without them or, even worse, pretending they did not exist. … Read more

Community within the Urban?

Community is mostly depicted as a unifying tool that brings a sense of belonging, but does it also act as the root of urban conflict by defining who is an outsider? Through the use of AI, the text Cites or Urbanization? by David Harvey was reimagined as a part of a political discourse and represented … Read more

Meteo sanctum

The project reflects on how people in ancient times defined natural and weather phenomena. The proposal is to create an open public space – Inspired by the concept of an ancient sanctuary with places that used to be built for worship and predictions of weather conditions, the Meteo Sanctum consists of digital indicators that allow … Read more

Risk Vision MR

About The Risk Vision MR project evaluates the feasibility of incorporating augmented reality into urban planning and design practices. The aim of the app developed in this seminar is to offer a tool for interactive and rapid result visualization to various stakeholders involved in urban design. The project focuses on a computational design of a … Read more

INTERACT [CITY]

A MULTI REALITY MUMBAI EXPERIENCE! ABSTRACT The ‘Interact [CITY]’ project is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of Mixed Reality technologies and their building blocks through a practical exploration of Augmented Reality (AR) using the Unity Engine. The focus of the project was to examine the different applications of AR in the creative process of … Read more