BACK TO SCHOOL WITH… DÉRIVE #3
SESSION #3: IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON VISUAL CULTURE
The third in a series of three evenings curated by Hedwig van der Linden and Kevin Westerveld of Dérive about the spatial and cultural impacts of digital technologies, with Antonio Somaini. Taking place on Tuesday 08 December 2026, 18:00 - 22:00. Tickets available here
Tickets for individual evenings are €17.50. A three-evening package is available for €45. All tickets include a simple dinner before the lecture. Dinner is served from 18:00–19:00, and the event starts at 19:00. Please note: The elevator will be out of service from 16 November to 8 January. Our school is located on the 6th floor, so please be prepared to take the stairs.
IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON VISUAL CULTURE
In this series of Back to School with..., we examine how digital technologies are reshaping the built environment, and how these transformations influence the ways we inhabit and experience it. How are digital technologies influencing the way our cities function, how they are imagined, represented, and designed? What does it mean for the way environments are produced, consumed, and understood? By examining the relationships between power, representation, and space, this series aims to develop a better and critical understanding of the (post)digital condition and encourage possibilities for imagining alternative futures.
This third and last session of the series deals with the way in which digitalisation and AI influence the architectural and design practice. Not just its impact on the act of designing itself, but also on the production of images and on the ways we conceive and experience space and materials. The evening starts with an introduction by Hedwig and Kevin on the series, followed by a lecture by Antonio Somaini about AI and Visual Culture.
About the speakers
About Antonio Somaini
Antonio Somaini is Professor of Film, Media, and Visual Culture Theory at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, a Senior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) and has been visiting professor at Yale and at Harvard. In 2025 he has been the chief curator of the exhibition The World Through AI at the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris, which is currently presented at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt and at the SESC 24 de Maio in São Paulo. He is currently working on a new exhibition entitled Energies of AI which will be presented next year at the MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology) in Lisbon.
About Hedwig van der Linden & Kevin Westerveld
Hedwig and Kevin are founders of Dérive - an urban practice, based in Brussels and Rotterdam. They operate at the intersection of architecture, public space, and spatial strategy, seeking synergy between conceptual thinking and co-creative practice by creating space for dialogue and local coalitions – consciously starting from the qualities and resources of existing habitats.
Schedule Session #3
08 December 2026
18:00 – 19:00 Doors open and dinner served
19:00 – 19:10 Welcome by Independent School for the City
19:10 – 19:30 Introduction by Hedwig van der Linden and Kevin Westerveld of Dérive
19:30 – 20:00 Lecture by Antonio Somaini
20:00 - 20:30 Lecture by, to be confirmed
20:30 - 21:00 Conversation between speakers and audience
21:00 Drinks and aftertalk