Dezeen promotion: Shigeru Ban, Lucy McRae and Carlo Ratti are among speakers taking part in the first and& conference in Belgium, which will explore the impact of health, technology and creativity on cities.
Taking place between the from 2 to 5 May 2018 in Leuven, Belgium, the inaugural and& summit will feature speakers from the design and architecture industries, alongside music performances, art interventions and a start-up forum.
The speaker programme will focus on how technology and creativity can be used to influence the cities of tomorrow, with talks on subjects including artificial intelligence, active ageing and the future of work.
Science fiction artist Lucy McRae and Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban will take part in a panel entitled We Are Still Human After All, while Italian architect Carlo Ratti will speculate on the future of city life.
Other speakers taking part in the four-day event include Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister and Tiffany Pham, founder of news aggregator Mogul.
The summit will include a "demo day", where a selection of Belgium start-ups will present their ideas and innovations to an audience of entrepreneurs, media and potential investors. Prizes worth £43,000 (€ 50,000) will be awarded to innovations that the audience deem most promising.
The event programme also sees a number of public installations curated by Samir Bantal, director of OMA's research arm AMO. Installed across the city, these will act as a continuation of the conference's theme – exploring the interfaces between technology and city life.
Works will be created by Harry Nuriev, founder of Crosby Studios, Studio LA, an architecture studio founded by Lorien Beijaert and Arna Mačkić, artist Dries Depoorter and AMO.
Headliners at the corresponding music festival include BICEP, Joy Orbison and Jordan Rakei.
On 5 May a free children's festival named and& play will have installations to encourage the younger generation to learn about subjects including drones, robots, virtual reality, 3D-printing and laser cutters.
Tickets for the full summit & festival cost £218 (€250). Day tickets are available for £130 (€150). Dezeen readers can receive a 15 per cent discount by using the promotional code "dezeenlovesyou".
Visit the event website for more information.