Swiss Think Tank W.I.R.E., SAVIDA and Others: Social Innovation in the Data Age—Inventing a Truly Smart City

How can digitization contribute to social innovation? Formulate your own ideas on how to design a “truly smart city”—developing, building and testing ideas in an interdisciplinary and fast-paced prototyping process.

ETH Zurich brings a cutting-edge artifact of the future to the East Village: a pavilion created from waste materials. Recasting “trash” as a valuable asset, ETH Zurich Future Garden and Pavilion will redefine the notion of waste, acknowledging its value as a resource from which new cities can rise.

Waste belongs neither to the family of natural resources nor to the category of finished products. It has, until now, been a by-product—an (ideally) invisible part—of our cities. Featuring discarded beverage cartons as its construction material, the expressive roof structure will visually float in the narrow slot of the First Street Garden. The shape of the vault has been designed such that the stresses in the structure will be predominantly compressive, allowing the weak product to act as a structural material.

Over the course of three days, the ETH Zurich Future Garden and Pavilion will host events, workshops, and an exhibition outlining the future metropolis. Food and drinks will be provided by Café Select. Check back for updates on programming, times, and more information about how to RSVP here: www.ethmeetsyou.org / #ETHMeetsYou