Éden X*

An online platform for discussion and deliberation, which rehearses a social model of a non-hierarchical and decentralized organization of nature, in which natural elements are self-governed by more-than-human communities.

With the contribution of writers, artists, scientists, gardeners, artificial intelligences, plants, citizens and others. The group and organizational structure will determine the future of a hypothetical garden.

* Heavenly structure

BIO | 

Joana Pestana (1986) is a designer, educator and researcher. She is a professor at Universidade Católica do Porto and at Universidade da Maia – ISMAI. She develops projects at the intersection of technology, design and new literacies. In this context she co-curated the exhibitions Omnisciência: Estratégias de Fractura e Fuga (2021, Fórum da Maia), Scrolling the Arcane (2020, Planetário do Porto) e Critical-GPS (2018, Royal College of Art).

Mariana Pestana works and lives in Lisbon. She is an architect, researcher and curator specialized in the field of contemporary design and architecture. Her work materializes in cultural programmes that taketor of the form of exhibitions, events, conferences, installations and publications. She is co-founder and direce Decorators, an interdisciplinary studio that makes collaborative projects ranging from furniture to buildings, with the aim to expand notions of place, community and commensality (eating together). Mariana was the curator of the 5th Istanbul Design Biennial titled Empathy Revisited: designs for more than one (2020-21). Previously, she curated several exhibitions, such as Eco-Visionaries, (MAAT, Lisbon, Matadero, Madrid and Royal Academy, London) and The Future Starts Here (V&A, 2018). Having lectured at Central Saint Martins (2011-14) and Chelsea College of Arts (2012-16) among other universities, Mariana is currently an Invited Assistant Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon.

Kevin Gallagher is a visiting assistant professor at Instituto Superior Técnico at Universidade de Lisboa and a member of the new DCentral Laboratory. He received his PhD from New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, where he focused his work around the user experience of the Tor anonymity network. His current research interests include anonymity, user experience (UX), privacy, decentralized computing, applied cryptography, Blockchain, access control, and horizontal security.

In addition to his academic work, Kevin is a co-founder of the non-profit association PrivacyLX and a Tor Core Contributor. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, learning languages, singing, reading, climbing, and playing role-playing games.

Meander van der Weijst is a graduate student Industrial Design at the University of Technology Eindhoven, the Netherlands, with a background in Engineering Physics. Within the master program Meander works to bridge the knowledge gap between people and emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, data privacy, etc. from both a design and ethics perspective.