Join us at the Architecture & Design Film Festival for the world premiere of Season Three of the short documentary series Van Alen Sessions, exploring the capacity and limits of rapidly changing technology in cities at a time of increasingly automated infrastructure, illuminated through the expert insight of designers and engineers and the stories of everyday people. These new episodes give viewers an up-close examination of how revolutionary robotic maintenance systems and retrofitted underground waterways are making our cities more productive and environmentally efficient.

Following the screening of the short films, join us for a fast-paced conversation that digs deeper into how some cities are changing the narrative of our nation’s crumbling infrastructure while engaging local citizens, including Nicole Flatow, editor, CityLab; Molly Heintz, chair, School of Visual Arts MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism; Petra Messick, Director, Gateway Program Planning, Amtrak; and Lucy Wells, director, Van Alen Sessions, moderated by Steven Thomson, managing producer, Van Alen Sessions and programs and communications manager, Van Alen Institute.