Tokyo, October 2, 2015 -The Academy Hills, an adult-education institute operated by Mori Building, Mori Art Museum and The Mori Memorial Foundation, announced today that it will hold Innovative City Forum (ICF) 2015 at Roppongi Academy Hills (49th floor in Roppongi Mori Tower) from Wednesday, October 14 to Friday, October 16. The third-annual forum will feature a keynote address about future lifestyles by Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of MIT Media Lab.

Other speakers will include:
・Oron Catts, Bio-artist
・David E. Benjamin, Architect
・Sputniko!, Assistant Professor, MIT Media Lab
・Shohei Shigematsu, Architect
・Seiichi Saito, Art Director
・Kei Wakabayashi, Editor in Chief, WIRED Japanese Edition

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Session Highlights

1) Leading-edge Technologies Sessions
October 14 (Wed) from 13:00-15:00 and 15:30-17:30

Mr. Joichi ITO, Director, MIT Media Lab, will focus on the advancement of biotechnology in addressing the question of how urban microbiomes are impacting lifestyles. The second session will cover urban environment design involving urban microbiomes from the perspectives of hardware, software engineering and biotechnology.

2) Urban Development Sessions
October 15 (Thu) from 13:00-15:00 and 15:30-17:30

The first part of this session will explore Tokyo's urban identity in an increasingly interconnected world. How could a city like Tokyo maintain its own uniqueness while increasing its attractiveness? The session will invite international experts on sociology, architecture and urban development to discuss urban identities in the age of globalization. The second part of the session will invite experts from London and New York to provide Tokyo with insights on city creation.

3) Art and Creativity Sessions
October 16 (Fri) from 10:00-12:00 and 13:00-15:00

Both sessions will address the question of what should be the subjects of design. World-renowned designers, architects and artists will gather to discuss the possibility of redefining design.

The program will also include the Innovation Tokyo 2015 outdoor event at Roppongi Hills Arena from 18:30-21:00 on Wednesday, October 14th http://www.roppongihills.com/events/2015/10/arn_innovation_tokyo (Japanese). For more about the program and speakers, visit http://icf.academyhills.com/en/program.html.

The international forum series was launched in 2013 to consider key issues for the future development of major cities and related lifestyles. Noted opinion leaders gather at the ICF to discuss leading-edge technologies, urban development, art and creativity. Since October 2014, MIT Media Lab and Mori Building have been undertaking collaborative research projects on changing urban lifestyles, placing a special emphasis on the integration of IT technologies in urban development.