America and the AV: Digital Mobility for Architects

2017-11-15T09:00:00-05:00

American cities and their suburbs were built on innovations in transport technology. The spatial imprint of car ownership is so apparent it led urban activist Jane Jacobs to question whether American cities had in fact been built for people or for cars. In the past five years, a digital-hybrid layer of urban mobility has emerged—a fleet of autonomous, self-driving, car-pooling, electric vehicles have been set in motion. Google’s Waymo project is now driving 25,000 autonomous miles each week, and the net worth of the automated vehicle (AV) industry is projected at $7 trillion. This month I discuss how architects can participate in this emerging technology with architect and Yale professor Keller Easterling and Carlo Ratti of MIT’s Senseable City Lab. Will the uptake of AV’s deter people from public transit, pressurizing motorway expansion, or will we instead create an architectural switch, for a smarter, more equitable transport network?

Archinect - Features

America and the AV: Digital Mobility for Architects