Immersive Urban Narratives: Public Urban Exhibit and Mapping Socio-Environmental Justice

Asma Mehan; Sina Mostafavi

doi:10.6092/issn.2612-0496/17049

Authors

Asma Mehan Texas Tech University - Huckabee College of Architecture, Lubbock, Texas, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7381-6663

Dr. Asma Mehan is an assistant professor at the Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, where she directs the Architectural Humanities and Urbanism Lab (AHU_Lab). She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the International Open Access PlaNext Journal. Her research explores the intersection of architecture, urban studies, and the humanities, with a focus on decolonizing architectural pedagogy and examining socio-environmental justice in urban development. Dr. Mehan authored “Tehran: from Sacred to Radical” (2022) and “Kuala Lumpur: Community, Infrastructure, and Urban Inclusivity” (2020), both published by Routledge. Her recent monograph, “The Affective Agency of Public Space,” will be published soon with De Gruyter Publisher. She was previously awarded four highly selective fellowships, including the Scientific Employment Stimulus Individual Fellowship (CEEC IND), funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and the Urban Citizenship Fellowship supported by the Municipality of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW) among others. Her research reaches academic audiences through international exhibitions, artistic venues, policy toolkits, visual media, journalistic blogs, and online outlets.
Sina Mostafavi Texas Tech University - Huckabee College of Architecture, Lubbock, Texas, USA

Dr. Sina Mostafavi is an Associate Professor at the Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, where he directs the Hi-DARS Lab (Hybrid Intelligence Design & Architectural Robotic Setups). He specializes in computational design, architectural robotics, and innovative applications of emerging materials and technologies. Dr. Mostafavi is the author of “Hybrid Intelligence in Architectural Robotic Materialization” (HI-ARM), a book that introduces the concepts of porosity, hybridity, and assembly in robotic materialization. He has presented his work at renowned institutions such as ETH Zurich, AA London, UT Sydney, USC Los Angeles, TU Vienna, and Paris Malaquais. His projects have been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Dutch Design Week, and the V2 Gallery in Rotterdam. He is a scientific committee member of journals and conferences such as eCAADe, ACADIA, CAAD Futures, and Automation in Construction. Dr. Mostafavi has received multiple awards, including the Architizer A+ Award in 2020 and the 2A Continental Euro-Asia Award in 2018 for his Softstone Building project. He has also served on the Board of Directors for ACADIA (2022-24) and the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Architectural Computing (2022-23). Dr. Mostafavi holds a Ph.D. in Architecture from TU Delft, where he was a senior researcher and managed the Hyperbody Research Group’s robotic building lab at BK-City. Before joining Texas Tech, he held faculty positions in the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK, leading over 60 design studios and supervising more than 60 graduate and post-graduate students. His recent projects focus on recycling construction materials using advanced techniques like 3D printing to reduce environmental impact.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2612-0496/17049

Keywords:

Public Art and Exhibit, Liminal Spaces, Socio-Environmental Justice, Critical Mapping, Urban Communities

Abstract

This research project and exhibit, delves into the complex relationship between public exhibition, urban spaces, and socio-political norms in shaping urban thresholds within the two American and European metropolitan cities of Houston and Amsterdam. This study also investigates the transformative power of new media and emerging technologies in the production, circulation, and consumption of design, offering fresh perspectives on the influence of these technologies on urban design studies and digitally augmented physical spaces. By merging interdisciplinary research areas, including Design Computation and Fabrication, Urban Communities, and Spatial Justice, this project provides an immersive exploration into the co-production of liminal spaces, focusing on the participation of diverse publics and the dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, and recognition in two cities of Houston and Amsterdam. The main emphasis of this paper is on the critical urban studies and the role of emerging technologies in advancing the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the presented immersive installation project.

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Immersive Urban Narratives: Public Urban Exhibit and Mapping Socio-Environmental Justice

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