The Industrious City: Rethinking Urban Industry in the Digital Age

This event takes place in Cambridge, MA.

Join us on May 1 for an evening featuring featuring Markus Schaefer and Hiromi Hosoya of Hosoya Schaefer Architectsand their option Studio “The Industrious City” at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. They will present the preliminary results of their research on developing urban environments for industry 4.0.

Many cities worldwide are rethinking their policies towards urban industry. When industry was heavy, polluting, and required large-scale logistics, it was banned from cities by zoning laws and environmental regulations. Today – in a time of industry 4.0, knowledge-intensive industrial jobs, near-shoring, deep-tech innovation, a rise of maker culture, and the interest of an urban clientele to be more closely connected to how their products are made – industry is returning to the city.

In its wake, it brings new forms of digitally enabled logistics, vertical factories, food production, experience retail, circular economy, even city branding. Having been known for decades as a financial center, Zurich now entertains the idea of a “Made in Zurich” label.

The option studio “The Industrious City” at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, taught by Hiromi Hosoya and Markus Schaefer, was working for a semester on a large site in Zurich developing a range of projects each with a unique starting point.

At swissnex Boston, Markus Schaefer and Hiromi Hosoya will present the option studio’s findings and projects related to the work of their office, their thoughts on urban industry, and the role it plays in the unfolding renaissance of the cities. The students will also exhibit final posters of their projects. The event will be moderated by Christian Simm, CEO of swissnex Boston.

Doors open at 6:00. Talk begins at 6:30.