AUDITORIUM PARCO DELLA MUSICA - ROME

26 JUNE - 31 JULY 2010

Opening event: 25 June, from 9.00 p.m.
smart future minds award Awards Ceremony: 19 July

Art Direction: PHLEGMATICS
Project Curators: Luca Molinari, Alberto Abruzzese, Martino Gamper, Paolo Mataloni, Lorenzo Imbesi, Thomas Weber

Part of the contemporary urban landscape of all major cities, smart fortwo helps to shape the future city development. New technologies and environmental conditions will affect the future of urban space and the life of people.

Parco della Musica Auditorium in Rome from 25 June to 31 July will host “smart urban stage”, an innovative road show that will reach six European cities and address these issues by proposing an interesting opportunity for dialogue and discussion through the presentation of twelve projects about 'The future of the city'.

After Berlin and before Zurich, Paris, Madrid and London, smart urban stage arrives in Rome: privileged meeting place and ideal platform to meet creative worlds, opinion makers and trend setters who work in the Eternal City, in line with the innovative, ecological and nonconformist nature that has always characterised the smart brand.

smart urban stage arrives in Rome on the occasion of the Roman presentation of the smart fortwo electric drive: the first fully electric car to leave the stands of Car Shows and actually reach the road.

From June 26 to July 31, inside a 200 sq. m futuristic inflatable structure, perfectly integrated in the amazing backdrop of 'Luglio Suona Bene' (July Sounds Good) Parco della Musica Auditorium in Rome will present 'smart future minds exhibition', a presentation of twelve projects about 'The future of the city', and the exhibition hot spot will be the 'smart future minds award', a prize for the best project among the ones proposed in each stage of the road show in Europe.

During the month of the exhibition, it will also be accompanied by 'smart open source' events: appointments, meetings, round tables, cocktails and workshops, all devoted to the future way of living in the city, and organised by young Italian creative mind.

Ten projects of the 'smart future minds exhibition' will be selected, amongst the leading Italian key figures in Architecture (Live section), Media / Information Technology (Exchange section), Design (Create section), Science (Explore section) and Society (Be section). The projects will be presented by five curators: Luca Molinari (architect, curator of the Italian pavilion at the Venice 2010 Architecture Biennale), Alberto Abruzzese (mass media expert), Martino Gamper (designer), Paolo Mataloni (quantum physicist) and Lorenzo Imbesi (architect and Theory of design scholar) propose projects by young creative minds, designed for the city of tomorrow. 

Thomas Weber, Head of the Mercedes-Benz Cars Group Research & Development, will join them and show two more projects, out of competition, dedicated to Mobility (Mobility section) and related to smart electric drive.

The selected projects aim to hint at visions and incentives about a possible future that combines feasibility and utopia, imagination and science, offering innovative solutions for everyday life, striking a balance between technological development and ecological spirit.

The exhibition becomes a debate between curators – and projects – on future urban areas, where research and community are focal points for the development of an environmentally friendly future.

The various projects presented will take part in the 'smart future minds award', which will be awarded on 19 July. In this futuristic contest, the project that has better understood the forward-looking, dynamic, creative and environmentally friendly spirit, aiming to reshape the future urban dimension will be awarded 10,000 Euros.

Rome is considered as the 'smart city' par excellence in the world and smart urban stage will be an opportunity for the general public of this town to test drive the smart fortwo electric drive for the first time. Book test drives directly at the stand and through the special web site and info line.

http://www.smart-urban-stage.com