Ben Vickers, Chief Technology Officer at the Serpentine Galleries in London, attempts to understand through his work how systems of distribution, both human and other, come to affect our personal perception of reality. Vickers is an initiator of the open-source monastic order unMonastery, a non-profit project currently based in Athens and a new kind of social space designed to serve the local communities of towns or small cities throughout Europe in solving key social and infrastructural problems.

In this podcast, Ben Vickers raises the question of ‘are the starting points or the genesis point for a monastery still relevant now?’ Vickers uncovers how unMonastery aims to challenge existing dependency chains and economic fictions by exploring the arising issues of our time and addressing the challenge of technology in our lives today. Relying on the timeless concept of the monastery, Ben Vickers argues for the application of rules around the use and making of technology and infrastructures. This leads him to question the transformation of the everyday life of an individual existing in society without any possibility to exit.

#NFFStories is a series of podcasts produced by the Norman Foster Foundation that aims to empower our community to make positive change. A new platform for people around the world to share and hear inspirational stories and ideas that are going to shape the future.

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