Rouse Visiting Artist Lecture: Paola Antonelli

Hybrid: The Space in Between

We are living in a time of unprecedented—and often gleeful—contaminations. Disciplinary boundaries are fluid, schools and workspheres are transdisciplinary, and cross-sector collaborations are commonplace. On a macro level, organizational hybridity has connected what were formerly silos of knowledge and expertise, creating inclusive and innovative ecosystems. On a micro level, disciplinary misfits are allowed to straddle multiple fields to capitalize on their unique ways of synthesizing knowledge. Neologisms have been coined with abandon to describe these “T-shaped” or “horizontal” individuals—the so-called “slash generation.” What distinguishes this contemporary legion of hybrids from polymaths, generalists, passionate amateurs, and career jugglers is their ability to embrace the liminal space between professions and disciplines.

This salon will explore the sensibilities, motives, and conditions that drive individuals and companies to hybridity in states of being, working, producing, and thinking. 
We will ask: What is a culture of hybridity, exactly? What drives individuals to eschew neat compartmentalization to embrace disciplinary affinity? When is that approach welcome and appropriate—and where is the line between horizontal and shallow?

The evening will commence with a brief introduction by Paola Antonelli, followed by presentations by—here in alphabetical order:

Elijah Anderson, William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Sociology, Yale University
Eric de Broche des Combes, architect and graphic designer, lecturer in landscape architecture
Alexa Clay, researcher, author of The Misfit Economy
Jane Fulton Suri, partner and chief creative officer, IDEO

For more information about this event, click here.