Autonomous Urbanism: Towards a New Transitopia

Join us for a lecture and discussion launching the recently published book monograph Autonomous Urbanism: Towards a New Transitopia (AR+D), authored by architect, urbanist, and Assistant Professor at the New York Institute of Technology, Evan Shieh (M.AUD ‘19). The lecture will be followed by a moderated discussion by Felipe Correa (M.AUD ‘03) of Somatic Collaborative, with an audience Q&A.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are appearing on our roads, representing the next technological disruption to our mobility systems. While their long-term spatial implications remain largely underestimated, this book argues that AVs offer a major opportunity to rethink our city’s built environments – with profound implications on urban life since automobiles replaced horse-powered travel and changed the design of cities in the prior century. However, driverless vehicles also risk reinforcing many of the negative effects of auto-based urbanism including urban sprawl, single-function infrastructure, congestion, and environmental degradation. Instead, this book proposes a driverless mobility paradigm shift that moves cities away from automobile dependency towards automated mass transit and mobility-as-a-service.

In this two-volume set, one book depicts the narrative experience of this future city through the format of an architectural graphic novel. The other lays the framework for that speculative future, grounding it in urban mobility history, transportation policies, and multi-scalar spatial typologies. By envisioning this future guided by design and policy actions, this book contends that cities can transition from the Autopias of today, to the Transitopias of tomorrow. This is a big shift. Are cities and their inhabitants ready?

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Evan Shieh is an architect, urbanist, researcher, and educator. He is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) where he teaches as a full-time faculty member, and is also the director of Emergent Studio, a design and research office operating at architecture's intersection with urbanism, landscape, and infrastructure. He has practiced architecture and urban design professionally for over a decade in both the private and public sectors, and has also previously taught at a variety of other academic institutions including at the University of Virginia, Parsons School of Design, and the City College of New York. As an emerging educator, he has been awarded various national awards for teaching excellence from ACSA, AIAS, Metropolis Magazine, and NYIT.

Shieh's interdisciplinary research investigates the urban and environmental crises that our mono-functional infrastructures and technologies are implicated in, with a particular focus on the spatial impact of mobility infrastructure and new mobility technologies on design, planning, and other key aspects of the built environment. His research and design work has been curated and exhibited at venues around the world, including at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism, and the Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture.

Shieh received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design (GSD) where he was awarded the Urban Design Thesis Prize, the Awards for Academic & Urban Design Excellence, and the Irving Innovation Fellowship. @ev07

Felipe Correa is a founder and managing Partner of  Somatic Collaborative. Through Somatic Collaborative, Correa has directed a wide range of applied research and design projects in the Americas, Asia and Europe. Correa’s work focuses on the design and transformation of cities and urban areas. From the conceptualization of urban regeneration projects to the planning of new city extensions, Correa’s work sits at the intersection of design, policy, and economic development.

He is the author of multiple books including “Beyond the City: Resource Extraction Urbanism in South America (University of Texas Press, 2016), “Mexico City: Between Geometry and Geography “(Applied Research and Design Publishing, 2015) and “A Line in the Andes” (Applied Research and Design Publishing 2014) which won first prize at the Pan American Architecture Biennale. His most recent book, “Sao Paulo: A Graphic Biography” a bilingual edition that traces the history of the city’s urban form was released in 2018 by the University of Texas Press. His forthcoming book focuses on the Amazon River Basin and the evolution of urban form.

In addition, he has lectured and exhibited at many universities and conferences, including Cornell University, Columbia University, Tulane University, University of Pennsylvania, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, The National Arts Club, and the Pan-American Architecture Biennale, among others. His work, research, and writings have been published in journals, including Architectural Design, Architectural Record, Harvard Design Magazine Topos and Volume.

Correa is currently the Director of the Urban Prosperity Institute in New York City. He was the Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor at the University of Virginia (UVA), where he served as chair of the Department of Architecture from 2018-2022. Prior to joining UVA, Correa was Associate Professor and Director of the Urban Design Degree Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD). Correa received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Tulane University, and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University. @felipecorrea_sc

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Head Hi is an organization dedicated to art, architecture and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events. 

Presented with Harvard Alumni Architectural and Urban Society.