MILIEUX

Shaping our shared technological future

We live in a world increasingly defined by our relationship to technology. As the pace and scale of innovation accelerates, how do we ensure that technological progress leads to a more sustainable, inclusive and caring society? Drawing on the humanities, social sciences and arts, we are driven to create a technological world that is grounded in a concern for social good.

Milieux is an ambitious institute for research-creation at the intersection of art, design, culture and technology. Unlike anything else in Canada, Milieux breaks down barriers that have traditionally separated researchers, designers and artists with communities, industry and the cultural sector.

Students, staff and faculty at Milieux work with collaborators and partners from across Canada and the world to produce creative and critical articulations of new technologies and tangible and accessible research. Their work generates engagement and innovation across culture, the economy and civil society.

A nimble space and structure

The configuration of Milieux is unique. Its staff and operational structure can enable a range of projects of varying scale and timeframe, suited to the needs of partners and collaborators.

Two floors of open studios and labs facilitate the flow of people, materials and ideas across diverse domains such as interactive textiles, digital games, Indigenous futures, media history, photography, performance and disability studies. Milieux offers spaces for impromptu meetings, visiting artists and scholars, workshop and project rooms, installations and demo

Core research for pressing problems

Milieux is a research powerhouse. It features more than 70 faculty and 160 graduate students in 15 different programs, as well as visiting scholars, artists and collaborators. Membership includes three Canada Research Chairs, a Trudeau Fellow and six Concordia University Research Chairs. Initiatives are organized through a structure of autonomous research-creation clusters that can dynamically expand, shrink or adapt to meet the needs of students, faculty and partners. Here is a sample of Milieux initiatives:

• Pause Button trains students in public writing about technology and culture to develop essential communication skills and foster public engagement.
• Milieux Maker Space and MilieuxMakes workshop series combine do- it-yourself (DIY) electronics, bioinformatics, textiles, sculpture and media equipment and practices to enable new modes of research-creation and skills training.
• VR Studio demonstrates retrofitting for room-scale virtual reality development in games, cinema and media art.
• Student Initiatives and Projects Fund encourages student leadership, ambition and professionalization by supporting student-initiated projects and events that align with the Milieux mandate.
• The Enchantment of Textiles develops a specialized system of textile antennas for dynamic garments, mobile applications and interactive environments.
• Indie Interfaces maps Canada’s growing independent game sector, articulating values, needs, processes and informing media development policy.
• Ethnography Lab provides a cross-disciplinary platform to develop new methods and techniques for merging qualitative social science with art, technology and design.