Connecting the dots in science, technology & creativity.

THIS IS THE HOUSE A ROBOT BUILT

Will AI transform the way we build? How can robotics make construction more sustainable? We spoke with architects Matthias Kohler, Benjamin Dillenburger and Mania Aghaei Meibodi on the innovation behind the DFAB House: the first inhabitable building created by robots.

DFAB_HOUSE_17.jpg

Latest

DISCOVER Nextcasts

Presented by swissnex San Francisco, nextcasts is a platform to share conversations with the interesting people we connect with, and ideas on the forces shaping the emergent future.

P67_Cinestill800_SwissnexSalon-Stickers04+copy.jpg

Intelligent machines

nextrends
Racial Pseudoscience in the Age of AI
Racial Pseudoscience in the Age of AI
Technology Doesn’t Drive Itself: The Future of Workers in the Automation Era
Technology Doesn’t Drive Itself: The Future of Workers in the Automation Era
This is the House a Robot Built: Digital Fabrication & the Future of Architecture
This is the House a Robot Built: Digital Fabrication & the Future of Architecture
The Only Child: Imagining the Future of IVF
The Only Child: Imagining the Future of IVF
Switzerland to Confirm Robot as Cabinet Member
Switzerland to Confirm Robot as Cabinet Member
Empathy vs. the Machines: Jodi Halpern & Jonathon Keats
Empathy vs. the Machines: Jodi Halpern & Jonathon Keats
The disk drive is your DNA
The disk drive is your DNA
Taking Updates Personally
Taking Updates Personally
!Mediengruppe Bitnik: Art is a Hack
!Mediengruppe Bitnik: Art is a Hack
Bots Will Break Your Heart
Bots Will Break Your Heart

storytelling & interaction

nextrends
From the Gallery Floor to the Sea Floor: A Conversation with Marie Griesmar
From the Gallery Floor to the Sea Floor: A Conversation with Marie Griesmar
The Future is Sweet: Meet Erika Marthins
The Future is Sweet: Meet Erika Marthins
The Whimsical Side of SciComm, with “Daisy and Chloé”
The Whimsical Side of SciComm, with “Daisy and Chloé”
Game Changers: EverdreamSoft on Blockchain Gaming
Game Changers: EverdreamSoft on Blockchain Gaming
Meet Jason Reinier, listener
Meet Jason Reinier, listener
The disk drive is your DNA
The disk drive is your DNA
Meet Tanja Coray, Science Communicator
Meet Tanja Coray, Science Communicator
7 Tips for Communicating Climate Change
7 Tips for Communicating Climate Change
Artists Mount (Virtual) Guerrilla Exhibition at SFMOMA
Artists Mount (Virtual) Guerrilla Exhibition at SFMOMA
When robots go to art school
When robots go to art school

Emergent Futures Report 001: Reimagining Mobility

Our first Emergent Futures Report identifies global signals of transformation in urban mobility, shaped by research and conversations with innovators in academia, industry, and the arts.

nytimes_redux.jpg

Energy & Environment

nextrends
This is the House a Robot Built: Digital Fabrication & the Future of Architecture
This is the House a Robot Built: Digital Fabrication & the Future of Architecture
From the Gallery Floor to the Sea Floor: A Conversation with Marie Griesmar
From the Gallery Floor to the Sea Floor: A Conversation with Marie Griesmar
Green Energy on the 'Edge': Meet Houssem Ben Mahfoudh 
Green Energy on the 'Edge': Meet Houssem Ben Mahfoudh 
Design Thinking and New Business Ecosystems with Michael Lewrick
Design Thinking and New Business Ecosystems with Michael Lewrick
Meet Juanita Schläpfer-Miller, artist and science communicator
Meet Juanita Schläpfer-Miller, artist and science communicator
Meet Jason Reinier, listener
Meet Jason Reinier, listener
Home is Leaving: The Emotions of Climate Change
Home is Leaving: The Emotions of Climate Change
The Wildflower Super Bloom Moves to a City Near You
The Wildflower Super Bloom Moves to a City Near You
7 Tips for Communicating Climate Change
7 Tips for Communicating Climate Change
Three Learnings for the Era of Free Electrons
Three Learnings for the Era of Free Electrons

Structures of Society 

nextrends
Racial Pseudoscience in the Age of AI
Racial Pseudoscience in the Age of AI
Eyes Without a Face: San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition
Eyes Without a Face: San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition
Technology Doesn’t Drive Itself: The Future of Workers in the Automation Era
Technology Doesn’t Drive Itself: The Future of Workers in the Automation Era
Emergent Futures Report 001: Reimagining Mobility
Emergent Futures Report 001: Reimagining Mobility
Switzerland to Confirm Robot as Cabinet Member
Switzerland to Confirm Robot as Cabinet Member
Viral Videos & a Democratic Flu
Viral Videos & a Democratic Flu
The Anxiety of Smart Cities: How Technology Moves People
The Anxiety of Smart Cities: How Technology Moves People
Design Thinking and New Business Ecosystems with Michael Lewrick
Design Thinking and New Business Ecosystems with Michael Lewrick
8 Learnings for Swiss Start-ups in Silicon Valley
8 Learnings for Swiss Start-ups in Silicon Valley
The Future of Digital Health
The Future of Digital Health
 
 
 
 
web_salon_open.jpg

Follow us on instagram

Welcoming Zürich-based artist group U5 (@u5_uv) to a creative lunch session today. U5 is a Zürich-based artist collective which works in various media, today presenting an archive of snapshots taken through a series of digital cameras dispersed to a variety of public users, capturing an archive of millions of unplanned images of various lives. The group is in San Francisco working on a research project at the @thelaundrysf sponsored by swissnex SF and the City of Zürich. #sanfranciscoartist #swissartist #digitalarts
Big night in #Zurich! The main event of our roadshow for #swissstartups was last night — full house at @kraftwerk_zurich with @kickstart_inno hosting program leaders from @swissnexsf, @swissnexboston, @swissnexny, @swissnexindia & the Swiss Embassy UK — who brought their international perspectives to help Swiss startups think globally. There is still time to apply for our next #startup camp — join our cohort in Silicon Valley! Find info at swissnexsf.org/startups — and we will see you this summer in sunny San Francisco. 🇨🇭🇺🇸
What brings a #Swiss #artist to the center of a Californian desert? @urs_august_steiner launched the Swiss Pavilion at the #BombayBeachBiennale, a kinetic installation examining the desire for immortality through motion. The Biennale is a renegade festival, celebrating art, music and philosophy — all on the site of an abandoned California resort facing an environmental crisis. (Photos courtesy of Urs August Steiner.)
We celebrated the 30th anniversary of the open web last week with a birthday party! The celebration also marked the launch of infomesh.org, a platform designed by students and instructors from the Swiss art and design school @ecal_ch, presenting interactive timelines and visualizations of the cultural, legal, and technological milestones on the web since 1989. These timelines were created with input from the Internet Archive, Wikimedia (and the Wikipedia community, who created the various historical entries!). The project officially launched at #thewebconf and the party included talks from @epflcampus’ Robert West; Tim Smith of @cern, @lauraperrenoud and @alfatiharufa of @ecal_ch, Amir Saber Esfahani of the @internetarchive, and Jan Gerlach of the Wikimedia Foundation. #openweb #www #webhistory #web30
Party like it's 1989! We're opening our doors at Pier 17 after #TheWebConf today to celebrate 30 years of science, memes, collaboration, and learning on the open Web with talks, a DJ, drinks and cake — and to launch Infomesh.org, a collaboration with students from the Swiss art and design school, @ECAL_CH. The interactive timelines were created with input from the Wikimedia Foundation, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, and The Internet Archive. Learn more and celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Open Web, tonight at 6:30 at swissnex SF (Pier 17 on the Embarcadero) with speakers from CERN, ECAL, EPFL, The Internet Archive and Wikimedia Foundation. Free for @TheWebConf badge holders — but open to the public! Link in bio.
How can we realize the goal of inclusion in the future trajectory of #AI? As more and more policy strategy statements declare a need to for “inclusion” in AI strategies, the swissnex network, @foraus, and AI Commons are hosting workshops aimed at creating concrete, practical policy proposals toward achieving this goal. Future workshops will be held at @swissnexbrazil, @swissnexindia, as well as Seoul, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and Nairobi. #inclusionAI #AIforgood #PolicyKitchen
The swissnex Gallery will be closed May 6-8, but reopens Thursday May 9 — come explore “How to Build a House,” a behind-the-scenes look at the future of robotics, AI, and architecture. Explore the development of the DFAB House, created by the NCCR DFAB and @ethzurich, the first inhabitable home built by robots. |||| #robots #ai #architecture #construction #digitalfabrication
Docking at the Pier today: the BAP Unión, a training ship from the Peruvian Navy; is the largest sailing vessel in Latin America at the time it was built. It serves to train sailors, but also to be a “sailing ambassador” of #Peru! Welcome to #sanfrancisco!