Given the fact that inhabitable spaces on the earth’s surface are limited, there is a growing discussion about how cities should be built and/or transformed to accommodate the needs of future generations.  Architects Qingyun Ma and Thom Mayne visit Zócalo to explore whether cities should be preserved as built or have “expiration dates” like everything organic. They will examine the lifecycle of built environments – how cities can preserve their urban vitality and integrate sustainability, digital technology and economical systems, as well as accommodate new trends in the way people live, work, play and communicate.

Qingyun Ma is dean of the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture and founder of the Shanghai-headquartered firm MADA s.p.a.m., the most visible Chinese-based practice on the global scene. Thom Mayne, the winner of the 2005 Pritzker Prize, is the founder of Morphosis, an interdisciplinary and collective practice involved in experimental design and rigorous research based in Santa Monica.