Urban Tweaks: Prototyping Creative and Liveable Cities

Luke Hespanhol is a lecturer in Design and Computation and the Acting Program Director of the Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts at the University of Sydney.

Andrew Shoben is the founder of greyworld, a world renowned artists' collective who create public art. Primarily, greyworld's work is about play, and allowing some form of creative expression in urban space.

Greyworld has created works in some hugely coveted locations across the world and they now have permanent installations in fourteen countries. In 2004, they launched The Source, a permanent installation for the London Stock Exchange which was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and was watched by millions everyday on television around the world.

In 2010, they unveiled "Paint", an installation allowing phones to paint on the city and nominated Interactive Artwork of the Year by the Design Museum. Last year, greyworld launched "Trafalgar Sun", a giant installation for Trafalgar Square, London, along with Clockwork Forest, a permanent sound work for Grizedale forest, Cumbria. This year they have created commissioned work for Chloe, Channel 4, Marie Curie and Save the Children amongst others.

Andrew is a regular contributor to television, radio and print, and lectures extensively around the world. 

Most recently he presented a show on BBC Radio 4 entitled "Change of Art" and launched greyworld's new book entitled "In The City."

After lecturing at the Royal College of Art for four years, he became Professor of Public Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. More information at http://greyworld.org

Participation via Skype

As the Managing Director of Fjord ANZ, Bronwyn is passionate about helping clients solve problems, designing and developing new products and services that improve both the employee experience and the customer experience.

Using service design methodologies and design thinking, she works collaboratively with clients to reimagine their businesses. Bronwyn is regularly sought out as a thought leader and spokesperson for Fjord in Australia, with numerous press publications and interviews in Business Spectator, Marketing Magazine, CMO and ABC Online as well as speaking turns at events such as UX Australia, CDO Summit and Vivid.

Meg Bartholomew is at the heart of the cities team at PwC. Her work in place making crosses the boundaries of economics, finance, ethnography, sociology, urban planning, architecture, arts and development. She has a particular interest in the spatial structures that support social structures, enabling connection and interaction in cities as a catalyst for liveability, the fourth industrial revolution and the knowledge economy.

Dr Ryan Reynolds is a founding member of the Gap Filler Trust. His uncommon journey from electrical engineering to a doctorate and university lecturing in performance studies sparked the development of a radical body of work with a broad and diverse understanding of creative practice. A literally ground breaking event in 2010 — the massive earthquake in Christchurch — prompted Reynolds’ next metamorphosis into a leader of creative-led urban development, where the fields of performance studies, public art, community development and urban design intersect. Gap Filler has had an impressive impact, noted in both The Lonely Planet Guide and The New York Times ‘top places to visit’ entries about Christchurch.

Ryan is now a co-director of the organisation, working on Gap Filler’s projects whilst doing worldwide consulting work to help governments, not-for-profits and the private sector establish frameworks for creative projects with positive social outcomes. He is also the founder of Life in Vacant Spaces Charitable Trust and founding member of Ohu (Office for Holistic Urbanism). He holds a PhD from Canterbury University, and has had teaching and research roles at Canterbury University, Lincoln University, University of Technology Sydney and Copenhagen University in Theatre and Film Studies, Environmental Management, Design, and Landscape Architecture.

Participation via Skype

Steven Bai is an award-winning, anti-disciplinary designer and interaction design researcher. His works were featured in many international creative festivals and conferences, including Beijing Design Week and Vivid Sydney.

Steven is the CEO of Sencity Corp, together with his team, Sencity is reimagining connected urban street furniture and changing the way we think about responsibility, and imbuing the urban environment with moments of joy. Steven completed his Bachelor of Design Computing with First Class Honours at the University of Sydney, and his Honours research in persuasive technology was awarded with the University Medal. Steven’s practice investigates the role of design-led innovation and technology in shaping our lives and experiences in everyday environments. 

Associate Professor Martin Tomitsch is Chair of Design at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning, and Director of the Design Lab, a research group that focuses on interaction design and creative technologies.

Before moving to Australia, he studied informatics and worked as interaction designer in Vienna, Stockholm, Reykjavik and Paris.

He is founding member of the Media Architecture Institute, state co-chair of the Australian Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG), and visiting lecturer at the Vienna University of Technology's Research Group for Industrial Software (INSO).

Susan Zhang is a technical creative specialist and serial entrepreneur born in China. She spent seven years working in Australia and is now based in the United Kingdom. Currently, she plays an instrumental role of data-driven creative at Google UK, bringing machine learning and programmatic advertising to life for the largest advertisers across Europe and the United Kingdom. Susan has spoken at TEDx events in Sydney and was a guest speaker at the Asia Business Forum in London.