Interview: Architect Carlo Ratti on Cities and Connection

The engineer, professor and entrepreneur on the future of robotics and humans

Thinker, researcher and entrepreneur Carlo Ratti is particularly passionate about defining life in the cities of the future. His goal is not the conception of bigger and grander cities, but cities that genuinely interact with their citizens—and vice versa. He does this within the context of his job as director of MIT Senseable City Lab, as well as in his own design and innovation firm …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Saving Nina Simone's childhood home, making better bubbles, and more in our look around the web

1. Art Show Inspired by Philando Castile Open now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (and free to the public), “Art and Healing: In the Moment” is a show inspired by Philando Castile—a man whose brutal death at the hands of police after being pulled over for what should have been just a traffic stop was not only heinous, but also filmed by his girlfriend. …

Sir Terence Conran’s (RED) Suite at the ANDAZ Hotel, London

We speak with the famed designer about his new project supporting the AIDs organization

The first time Sir Terence Conran set foot into what was then The Great Eastern Hotel in London, decades ago, it wasn’t exactly a boutique experience. “I went to book a room, and the girl behind the reception desk asked me, ‘How many hours do you want?’” He tells us the story at the opening of his new suite—created in collaboration with AIDS organization (RED)—at …