An Accepted Paper at the Media Architecture Biennale 2025 (MAB25), Bangkok

Paper Summary – MAB25

Echoes, Whispers and Memories
Mark Chavez (1st Author), Ina Conradi (2nd Author), Tate Chavez (3rd Author

Echoes, Whispers and Memories was an accepted paper at the Media Architecture Biennale 2025 (MAB25) and will be published in the conference proceedings of the ACM Digital Library. The paper was presented on 20 November 2025 as part of the Biennale programme.

The paper examines how large-scale media architectures can function as sites of collective memory, affect, and environmental attunement rather than as purely representational displays. Drawing on practice-based research developed through urban screen installations and immersive projection environments, the work explores memory as a distributed and evolving phenomenon—shaped by place, atmosphere, and temporal layering.

Through Echoes, Whispers and Memories, Chavez and Conradi propose an approach to media architecture that foregrounds slow perception, resonance, and relational worlding, positioning digital public space as an active participant in processes of remembering and unlearning. The paper contributes to ongoing discourse on media architecture by bridging artistic practice, spatial experience, and planetary concerns, aligning with MAB25’s focus on urban dialogue and transformative living phenomena.

Link to Canva Slides Presentation Slides

Associations: Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Japan Foundation, and Media Architecture Institute
Organisers: ESIC Lab King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Urban Ally Silpakorn University, CLICK Thammasat University, CommDe Chulalongkorn University, FabCafe Bangkok, MVMNT, Glow Story, and Media Facade 

Media Architecture Biennale 2025 (MAB 2025) is the world’s leading international platform dedicated to media architecture, urban interaction design, and urban informatics. Bringing together architects, artists, designers, researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and community advocates, MAB explores how digital media embedded in the built environment reshapes cities, public life, and urban ecosystems.

Hosted in Bangkok from 18–23 November 2025, MAB 2025 marks a historic milestone as the first Media Architecture Biennale held in Southeast Asia. The biennale serves as a global forum for presenting academic research, showcasing innovative projects, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and advancing new models for urban development that integrate architecture, data, media technologies, and social engagement.

Theme

“Urban Dialogue: Transformative Living Phenomena”
MAB 2025 focuses on cities as living, interactive systems—spaces of dialogue where media, technology, and human experience intersect. The theme addresses how contemporary urban environments respond to cultural diversity, technological transformation, and emerging futures.

Three sub-themes structure the discourse across scales:

1. Vibrant Culture with Media Architecture (Community Scale)
   Media architecture as a catalyst for cultural expression, identity, and community engagement.
2. New Media Paradigms, Reshaping the Cities (City Scale)
   The role of AI, Big Data, IoT, XR, and intelligent systems in redefining urban infrastructure and organization.
3. Urban Future & Transhuman Citizens (Global Scale)
   Speculative futures where physical and virtual realities merge, shaping new forms of citizenship and urban life.

Programme Highlights

• Conference & Talks (20–21 Nov 2025)
  International academic conference presenting cutting-edge research on media architecture and urban innovation.
• Exhibition & Showcase (18–23 Nov 2025)
  Curated projects demonstrating how digital media transforms public spaces, buildings, and cities.
• MAB Awards (22 Nov 2025)
  Recognition of outstanding global projects defining the state of the art in media architecture.

Through conferences, exhibitions, and awards, MAB 2025 positions Bangkok as a global hub for dialogue on the future of media-driven urban environments, emphasizing creativity, inclusivity, and sustainable urban transformation.