Promotion: the American Society of Architectural Illustrators is set to host its annual conference in London for the first time, which promises a crossdisciplinary event that will look at how the future of cities is imagined and communicated.

Taking place over one day at Shoreditch venue Village Underground on 17 November, the 37th annual conference of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) will feature presentations by visualisers, architects, developers, marketers, creatives, placemakers and artists.

Together they will explore the theme of "Cause and Effect" — the "cause" referring to the decisions that are made today and "effect" referring to the impact they will have on how our cities look tomorrow.

Dezeen readers can get a special discount on tickets to this year's event.

As ASAI president Andrei Dolnikov sees it, the latest advancements in visualisation and storytelling have the potential to radically shape city buildings. His goal is to bring people from diverse fields together to explore these developments and improve the decision-making process.

"Using photorealistic visualisation and narratives about how our cities will look allow the community and decision-makers to better understand the impact of today's decisions," said Dolnikov, who is also the founder and CEO of integrated digital content agency Binyan Studios.

"This can lead to a far more open and robust debate about how our urban fabric will look and function in the not-too-distant future. This realisation inspired me to host this event and to bring together all those voices contributing to the visions of tomorrow."

The ASAI Conference will feature 16 speakers throughout the day before culminating in a panel discussion and then an evening awards presentation and party.

The theme for the panel discussion is one that Dolnikov describes as "the most interesting and provocative advancement of recent times": artificial intelligence and its application in visualisation and design. This discussion will feature Dolnikov as well as US-based AI theorist and architect, Neil Leach.

For the earlier part of the day, speakers will give short, TED Talk-like presentations. The line-up includes New London Architecture co-founder and London Festival of Architecture founder Peter Murray, who will speak about how to create a greener and fairer city for all.

Squint/Opera partner Jan Bunge and NVIDIA designer Cobus Botha will discuss advancements in virtual collaboration, while Zaha Hadid Architects' head of computation and design, Shajay Booshan will discuss the role of architects in the metaverse.

Placemaker agency Frost*collective strategist Rebecca Mills will discuss harnessing people's imagination to serve the real needs of society, visual content agency Wonderhatch co-founder Marc Webbon will explore how filmic narratives help shape the future of cities, and branding agency DNCO founding director Joy Nazzari will discuss property branding and architectural outcomes.

ASAI also incorporates input from property developers, with presentations from Bosa Properties VP of marketing Jen Riley from Canada, Ballymore creative director Roger Black from the UK and Ellington Properties managing director Robert D Booth from Dubai who will be in conversation with the founder and CEO of Brash Brands, John Brash.

Going further beyond the bounds of the architecture and real estate industries, ASAI will welcome US artist Ash Thorp, who designed the BatMobile for the 2022 The Batman movie and will talk about self-expression in designing virtual spaces, Australian futurist Sergio Brodsky and New York experience design agency Hush CEO, David Schwarz.

Technology brands will be represented with sponsors including computing company AMD, rendering software designers Chaos Group, Unreal Engine developers Epic Games and creator community ArtStation. The event is also supported by software developer SiNi Software and virtual world-builders Kitbash in addition to visualisation studios Pureblink and Kilograph.

Tickets for the ASAI conference are £295. Dezeen readers get 10 per cent off with the code DEZEEN10 when purchasing via Eventbrite.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for the ASAI as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.