On 29 March 2018, Jan Boelen and Deniz Ova took the stage at REMIX Academy Istanbul, a summit that studies how the collaboration between art and technology shapes the future. In a session titled “Future of Cities”, Boelen and Ova questioned how the field of design contributes to the cities of tomorrow, from the point of view of the 4th Istanbul Design Biennial.

The summit, which took place at bomontiada, brought together communities of culture, technology and entrepreneurship, each revealing their unique approach towards contemporary issues that are expected to resonate in the future.

In “Future of Cities”, Boelen pointed out that the city is no longer the centre of real creative innovation and the rural, with its connection to local nature, should be in the forefront of the discussion. He also referred to the reflective way of thinking behind A School of Schools, which proposes to connect the urban and the rural by creating some kind of a relationship between them.