DLD Sync
The New Code of Cities
How do we need to design office spaces for a world after Covid-19? Is home office a sustainable concept for tomorrow? What does this change mean for mobility and transportation? Does the pandemic spell the end of megacities and decades of urbanization?
An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti leads CRA design and innovation practice in New York and Torino, Italy and directs the MIT Senseable City Lab. Carlo holds several patents and has co-authored over 500 publications, including The City of Tomorrow. In this DLD Sync session, he was joined by James Ludwig, Vice President of Global Design and Product Engineering at Steelcase. James Ludwig has been leading the product design of Steelcase since March 2008, overseeing studios in Europe, Asia and the United States. He is also responsible for Steelcase showrooms and WorkLife Centers.
Carlo Ratti
MIT Senseable City Lab
An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti leads the CRA design and innovation practice in New York and Torino, Italy, and directs the MIT Senseable City Lab. He holds several patents and has co-authored over 500 publications, including The City of Tomorrow (with Matthew Claudel).
James Ludwig
Steelcase
James Ludwig is Vice President of Global Design and Product Engineering for Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the office furniture industry. Ludwig was named to this role in March 2008 with global responsibility for the product design direction of Steelcase, overseeing studios in Europe, Asia and the United States.
Video
Sync Scroll
| Time | Topic |
| 0:00 | Intro by Steffi Czerny |
| 2:40 | Presentation by Carlo Ratti on data analytics, Covid-19 and the work of the MIT Senseable City Lab. |
| 9:20 | How the pandemic has changed office work. |
| 10:20 | Weak ties and strong ties. |
| 15:00 | Carlo Ratti: “There’s a magic when we meet in the same room” which can be mimicked only partially in virtual space. |
| 16:30 | James Ludwig on the connection between physical spaces and corporate culture. |
| 21:00 | The role of trust in designing future cities and workspaces. |
| 23:40 | Cities, pandemics, and the need for change. |
| 29:15 | Remote work vs. physical offices. |
| 32:30 | Rethinking the need to travel, commute and meet in person. |
| 36:45 | Why cities should see the pandemic as an opportunity to reinvent themselves in a more humane way. |
| 39:40 | Why have tech giants clustered around certain geographic areas, building “palaces of work in the most expensive real-estate markets in the world”? |
| 44:10 | The role of design in rethinking cities and work life. |
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