‘A liveable present for an intelligent future’

Picture from "Hovering city”, directed by USI architecture professor Riccardo Blumer University of Italian-speaking Switzerland (USI)

Join architect Mario Botta, immunologist Antonio Lanzavecchia and experts from informatics, communications and literature to discuss how to find innovative solutions to today’s big problems. This debate was initially streamed live on September 26. 

The round tableExternal link – organised by the Università della Svizzera italiana USIExternal link, the Swiss university in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino – took place at the Swiss Pavilion of Expo Milano 2015.  It was in Italian with a simultaneous English translation.

Those speaking in the “A liveable present for an intelligent future” debate included Mario BottaExternal link, the Swiss architect whose body of work – in the minimalist style – ranges from private residences in Swiss Alps to urban projects in Europe and Asia. In the United States he is known for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Antonio LanzavecchiaExternal link is an Italian immunologist and director of the USI’s Institute for Research in Biomedicine. His research includes looking for a universal vaccine against the flu. He recently announced the isolation of an antibody against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Also taking part were several academics from the university: Lorenzo CantoniExternal link, director of the Institute for Communication Technologies, Antonietta MiraExternal link, the co-founder and co-director of the InterDisciplinary Institute of Data Science at the university and vice-dean of the Faculty of Economics, Mauro PezzèExternal link, professor of software engineering, and Italian literary critic Carlo OssolaExternal link, who is Director of the Institute of Italian Studies.

The panel was moderated by Maurizio Canetta,External link director of Italian-speaking Swiss public television, RSI.

Participants discussed three main topics: the revolution in our everyday lives, the challenges and changes posed by big data, and food as a yardstick for our society.

During the round table, there was a performance of “Hovering city”, directed by USI architecture professor Riccardo BlumerExternal link and featuring some of his students. More than 20 building models, some designed by famous architects, took off, “floating in an ideal dance between new technologies and the need for new relationship dynamics in the city of the future”.

You can follow the discussion on social media through #USIEXPO2015External link.