A diverse and multidisciplinary lineup of researchers, artists, and educators will deliver the daily keynotes at NeoCon 2023, as announced by a March 21 press release by the event organizer. Futurist Amy Webb, architect Michael Murphy, the Hip-Hop Architect Michael Ford, and Grammy-winning rapper and producer Wasalu Jaco, professionally known as Lupe Fiasco, will headline the commercial interiors conference at The Mart in Chicago June 12-14.
“As a resource for timely education, we are committed to delivering a rich and varied NeoCon conference program that brings together the most provocative and influential leaders across all verticals and beyond,” said NeoCon director of programming Allison Kearns in the release. “Our 2023 keynotes are emblematic of how diverse perspectives can drive and effect positive change.”
On Monday, June 12, Webb, a quantitative futurist and the founder and CEO of Future Today Institute, “will challenge the NeoCon audience to think like a futurist; to manage the present while innovating for the future and to practice purpose-driven decision-making,” according to the release. On June 13, Murphy, co-founder of MASS Design Group, recipient of the 2022 American Institute of Architects Architecture Firm Award, will “explore how our environment shapes our actions, as well as provide insights that help us to build more ethically and honorably.”
On June 14, Fiasco, a visiting professor at MIT, and Ford, founder of The Hip Hop Architecture Camp, which introduces design and urban planning to underrepresented youth, “will discuss their explorations in extracting the rhythms, textures, and patterns of Hip Hop as a source of design innovation in theory and in professional practice,” the release states.
Each keynote will be presented live during the show at 10 a.m. CDT daily, as well as be available for streaming on the NeoCon Programming Hub. Registration for the expo, which will feature products and services from more than 400 manufacturers and companies, is free and currently open for attendees. Programming registration for the keynotes, featured presentations, continuing education sessions and workshops will open on April 3.
Launched in 1969, NeoCon draws about 50,000 professionals from the building sector each year, according to the event organizers.
