Imagine a ‘postcarbon Seattle’ at symposium and ‘Futurama’ exhibit

Does Seattle even need cars?

That's the question at the heart of a new exhibit at the Center for Architecture & Design now through February 17. The Center is open 10-6 Tuesday through Thursday, 10-5 Friday, 1-5 Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Futurama Redux comes from the international group Smarter Than Car and "follows a best-case thought experiment that moves the present-day to 2050, when Vienna has become a leading city in post-carbon transition."

Many of those ideas about cities also apply to Seattle.

"We are interested in how to think about an alternative use of space in cities," said Florian Lorenz of Smarter Than Car, an exhibit curator. "The whole exhibition questions the car."

What other mobility options do we have?" he asked. "Why do we need cars in the city?"

I'm all ears.

The exhibit runs through February 17, but there will also be a symposium tomorrow (Saturday) called Imagineering a Postcarbon Seattle:

The future might not be motorized: Over the coming decades the challenges of Postcarbon Transition and Climate Change Adaptation will demand a paradigm shift for the organisation of human settlements. This symposium questions the position of the city of Seattle in the global challenge of complete decarbonization until 2050. It will explore the opportunities and challenges that decision makers, creatives and civil society is faced with when taking up this responsibility and will explore first stepping stones to further such a transition.