Moving Cities — Public Talk on Art, Technology, and Urban Life

On April 3, IOGINALITY hosted the public talk “Moving Cities” — a conversation with global experts on the future of cities, public spaces, digital art, and how technology transforms our perception of the environment.

The discussion was moderated by Anna Bouali, curator and Chief Art Officer at IOGINALITY.

Digital Worlds Shouldn’t Imitate the Physical

The talk opened with Mariana Cabugueira, Senior Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects, who works at the intersection of physical and virtual architecture. According to her, most digital architecture today merely replicates the real world: airports, apartments, and office towers are recreated in the metaverse as if gravity and walls still applied.

“If we have no gravity, why do we need ceilings? If there are no doors, why do we need corridors?
Digital spaces should give birth to a new kind of architecture — not copy the old one.”

Her key idea is that virtual environments have their own logic and function. Architects must move beyond digital twins toward a new typology of space, where form follows intention rather than imitation.

The Visual Environment Shapes Who We Are

Catherine Smirnova, Co-Founder and CEO of IOGINALITY, and a researcher in digital awareness, highlighted the profound impact of visual surroundings on human behaviour and emotion:

“The quality of visual content is the quality of life.
We perceive 65% of information through vision, and the aesthetics of the spaces we inhabit define our emotional state and the choices we make.”

Today, companies integrate digital art into their workspaces not just for aesthetic purposes, but also to strengthen corporate culture and foster engagement. Studies show that 70% of Gen Z candidates won’t accept a job offer until they have seen the workspace — whether physical or virtual. Aesthetics, in this sense, becomes a new language of trust and communication.

A Screen Is Not a Billboard

Rébia Naim, curator of Elevision Media, shared how the company evolved into one of the world’s largest digital galleries. What began in 2011 with a single screen in a residential building has grown into a network of over 3,000 displays across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and London.

“Thanks to Elevision, for many people, encountering art happens in daily life — not in a museum, but in an elevator or on the way home.”

Access to the platform is free for artists, allowing emerging creators to showcase their work publicly.
Brands and retailers now seek collaborations not for advertising, but to engage audiences through meaningful visual dialogue.

AI and the Emotional Intelligence of Space

Designer and researcher Ila Colombo invited the audience to rethink technology — not as a control mechanism but as a tool for creating emotionally responsive environments.

“We live surrounded by systems that constantly consume us — our attention, emotions, time.
Art, on the contrary, gives. That’s why we should design environments based on reciprocity.”

She spoke about bioluminescent park projects, where light, sound, and interactivity “awaken” the city at night. In the Middle Eastern climate, such projects enable residents to experience public space even after dark.