Lab | Log, BMW Guggenheim Labʼs Blog, Launches Eight-Week Series Examining Trends from the Labʼs New York Run

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WHERE: blog.bmwguggenheimlab.org

WHEN: January 11 – March 5, 2012

WHAT: Lab | Log, the blog and travel diary of the BMW Guggenheim Lab, will feature an exciting new series, Lab Notes I: Trends from the New York Lab. Over the course of two months, Guggenheim curators Maria Nicanor and David van der Leer, journalist Christine McLaren, and author Jon Cotner will explore four themes that emerged during the BMW Guggenheim Labʼs successful ten-week run in Manhattanʼs East Village. They will be joined by a group of guest bloggers made up of artists, scientists and journalists specializing in architecture, urban design, education, economics and human behavior.

The Rise of Open-Source Urbanism (Jan. 11-23)
Crowdsourcing—a method of collecting, measuring, analyzing and sharing peopleʼs wants and ideas—is increasingly being used by municipalities and businesses to address the publicʼs needs. In the fields of design, urban planning, and architecture, leaders have begun using crowdsourcing to create more livable and responsive cities. Guest bloggers: artist Jeanne van Heeswijk, journalist Mimi Zeiger, and research psychologist Colin Ellard, who directs the Research Laboratory for Immersive Virtual Environments at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.

Emotional Cityness (Jan. 25-Feb. 6)
Are there solutions to social fragmentation in cities? Emotional Cityness looks at how stronger personal relationships among city dwellers can promote community cohesiveness and an improved quality of life. Writers will examine the value of social interaction in cities, and how innovative design may augment peopleʼs ability to function in dense urban environments. Guest blogger: Paul J. Zak, founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and professor of economics, psychology and management at Claremont Graduate University, researcher and writer Gideon Fink Shapiro, and photographer and writer Eric J. Henderson.

Fast-Changing Citizenship (Feb. 8-20)
As society becomes increasingly globalized and as the people who live in cities move more frequently, the definition of citizenship is rapidly changing. How can cities adapt to their increasingly migratory inhabitants? Guest bloggers: Alex Gilliam, a national expert on K-12 design education and a senior lecturer in the Design Department at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and Rosanna Flouty, an education professional who oversaw public programming for the BMW Guggenheim Lab New York.

Retrofitting Urban Life (Feb. 22-March 5)
How are citizens reimagining and appropriating existing physical and organizational structures to better support contemporary urban life? Guest bloggers: June Williamson, associate professor of architecture at the City College of the City University of New York, and journalist Mimi Zeiger.

CONTACT:
Tina Vaz, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum
(212) 423-3840 / pressoffice@guggenheim.org

Melissa Parsoff, Ruder Finn
(212) 593-5889 / parsoffm@ruderfinn.com

About the BMW Guggenheim Lab
The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a combination think tank, public forum, and community center. Housed in a mobile structure designed by Tokyo architecture firm Atelier Bow-Wow, the BMW Guggenheim Lab launched on August 3 in New York. Curated by David van der Leer, Assistant Curator, Architecture and Urban Studies, and Maria Nicanor, Assistant Curator, Architecture, the Lab offers a range of free programs organized around the theme Confronting Comfort that explore concepts and designs for city life. Over the next six years, the BMW Guggenheim Lab will travel to nine cities around the world in three successive cycles, each with its own theme and mobile structure. The BMW Guggenheim Lab will operate in Berlin from May 24 to July 29, 2012, followed by Mumbai in 2012-13.

About the BMW Guggenheim Lab Online
The website (bmwguggenheimlab.org), blog (blog.bmwguggenheimlab.org), and online communities further extend the opportunity to participate in this multidisciplinary urban experiment worldwide. Visitors are invited to become members of the BMW Guggenheim Lab's dedicated social communities at:

twitter.com/bmwgugglab and #BGLab
facebook.com/bmwguggenheimlab
youtube.com/bmwguggenheimlab
flickr.com/bmwguggenheimlab
foursquare.com/bmwgugglab

For the complete press materials, go to guggenheim.org/presskits
For publicity images and videos go to guggenheim.org/pressimages
User ID = photoservice, Password = presspass

January 11, 2012
#1223/BGL11