Dezeen Magazine

Liam Young Dezeen Day speaker

"Speculative architect" Liam Young to speak about fictional futures at Dezeen Day

Architect Liam Young will speak about how he uses film-making techniques to predict the future at Dezeen Day in London on 30 October.

BAFTA-nominated Young, who describes himself as a "speculative architect", will explain the technique of worldbuilding, which is used in the film and television industries to create fictional worlds that are inhabited by movie characters.

As a film director, Young uses new technologies including drones and Lidar 3D scanners as part of the film-making process to explore the impact these innovations will have on the urban environment.

Young was one of the interviewees in Dezeen's short documentary Elevation, in which he predicted that drones could become "as disruptive as the internet".

His movie In The Robot Skies was the first film ever to be shot entirely by drone-mounted cameras.

Born in Australia, Young has taught at the Architectural Association in London and Princeton University in New Jersey. He now heads the Master of Science in Fiction and Entertainment course at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles.

This course aims to "widen the scope of architecture beyond just buildings alone" and apply architectural thinking to fiction and entertainment.

Young will deliver a keynote lecture at Dezeen Day, our new architecture and design conference taking place in London on 30 October at BFI Southbank, set on the Thames in central London.

Part of the brutalist South Bank arts complex, BFI Southbank has recently been refurbished by architects Carmody Groarke.

Dezeen Day aims to set the global agenda for architecture and design and will address key topics including future cities, transforming design education and the circular economy.

See the full schedule for Dezeen Day and read about all the speakers announced so far.

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Buy tickets here or using the widget below. Standard tickets cost £300 each, or £75 each for student tickets. Buy three or more tickets and save £50 per standard ticket, or £25 per student ticket.

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Tickets are subject to 20 per cent VAT where relevant. Please note that refunds are not available. Students should bring proof that they are in full-time education to gain admission to Dezeen Day.

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Please note refunds are not available. 

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The illustration is by Rima Sabina Aouf.