Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile Edile e Ambientale

Silvano De la Llata, PhD
Associate Professor, Concordia University (Montreal)
Co-Director, Next Generation Cities Institute’s
Cluster of Design Art and Culture

What do cubism, organic architecture, relativity theory and the invention of the airplane have in common? They are groundbreaking achievements that emerged from radical rethinking of fundamental questions. These innovations were not simply incremental improvements; they involved a profound shift in perspective that led to new ways of understanding and solving complex problems. In order to get better answers to contemporary problems, we need to learn how to ask better questions. By reexamining the questions we pose, we can uncover new possibilities and drive progress.
We will explore the fundamentals of collaborative creativity through a series of dynamic workshops that draw on experimental methodologies from architecture, urban design, music composition and poetry. Leveraging insights from fifteen years of teaching an urban design laboratory and leading art workshops, design improvs, open circles, feedback loops and architecture charrettes, this series reveals that innovation and creativity often unfold in nonlinear, unconscious and generative ways.
With a commitment to practice and a results-oriented approach, we will engage with hypothetical scenarios, real-life case studies and transformative moments in the history of art and science to explore strategies for fostering open-mindedness in creative teams, integrating collaborative processes and formulating effective questions to spark innovative leaps. These workshops and lectures are designed for both
academics and practitioners, offering valuable insights and techniques applicable to various fields, including architecture, urbanism, design, music, creative writing and business.