Lev Manovich, one of the most influential thinkers in the field of new media and digital culture, will give a lecture in connection with the project 'The Architecture of Knowledge. The Library of the Future' in the NAI on Wednesday May 20th.

'The architecture of knowledge. The library of the future' is a joint project of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) and the Netherlands Public Library Association (VOB). The aim of the project is to explore the potential of the public library in a changing context and to arrive at a new functional design for the library of the future. To launch this debate, we have invited several experts to present their insights into the changing world of today in a lecture. The first is Lev Manovich, expert in the field of the new media and Professor of Visual Arts at the University of California in San Diego .

Information explosion
In recent years Manovich has concentrated on Cultural Analytics: the analysis of the patterns in the enormous volume of cultural information that has become available in the digital era. The recognition, storage and visualisation of these patterns is of essential importance to keep track of the ever expanding quantity of information. As a result of the data explosion, libraries need to redefine their role as providers of information: the classical way of archiving and making physical sources available is no longer adequate. How can Cultural Analytics help them in their reorientation? Should the library of the future become a place where visitors find the ideal tools to retrieve (cultural) information, instead of the information itself? Manovich, the new media expert par excellence, will raise these questions during his lecture on May 20.

More about the speaker
Moscow-born Lev Manovich is an academic and author. He is Professor of Visual Arts at the University of California in San Diego and director of the Lab for Cultural Analytics at the Californian Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. Since 1984 Manovich has also worked as an artist, computer animator, designer and programmer.

More information on the website of the Netherlands Architecture Institute.