UCL walk on water at Grand Designs Live!

The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) are representing UCL at the Walking on Water Exhibition this week as part of Grand Designs Live at the ExCeL centre, an exhibition which attracts over 100,000 visitors every year.

CASA have brought a raft of interactives and exhibits designed to engage people with their vision of the smart city – cities where science, technology and data change the way we live. Visitors can ride a virtual reality rollercoaster through a city, fly like a pigeon over East London, and see a 3D printer creating physical models of landscapes mapped by aerial drones. Real-time data plugs people into the pulse of London, and simulations of urban flows and forest fires show how we can use this data to plan for change and disasters.

UCL are at the ExCeL as part of Walking on Water, an exhibition celebrating the past, present and future of East London, led by Andrew Mawson, and created in collaboration between social enterprises, companies, artists and universities.

Earlier this week, CASA Director Dr Andrew Hudson-Smith joined Lord Mawson OBE, UCL President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur, UCL Vice-Provost (Enterprise) Professor Stephen Caddick, and Dean of the Bartlett Professor Alan Penn for the exhibition’s grand opening.

During the evening Michael Arthur took the opportunity to experience for himself flying around London on Pigeon Sim and riding the Urban Rollercoaster with the Oculus Rift.

“Through our public engagement team, UCL is building connections in East London that makes partnerships like this possible”, said Ed Manley, CASA’s lead curator. “Lord Mawson sees science as vital to the Lower Lea Valley, and we’re very excited to show off how these technologies can improve our city – in a fun, accessible way”.

CASA would like to thank Adam Harman from UCL Estates, Kim Townsend in the UCL Public Engagement Unit, and Andrew Mawson, Frank Creber and Richard Mallett from Walking on Water for helping to make the exhibition a reality.