Gaming the Future of Los Angeles

PANEL DISCUSSION at 4:00pm 

RECEPTION and UNVEILING at 5:30pm 

Join USC Libraries Discovery Fellow Geoff Manaugh for a public introduction to L.A.T.B.D., exploring diverse possible futures for the city of Los Angeles. Incorporating elements of speculative fiction, game design, and detailed architectural modeling, L.A.T.B.D. will allow exhibition visitors to generate their own unique narrative visions of a Los Angeles yet to come.

Manaugh developed the physical structure of L.A.T.B.D. in partnership with London-based architects Mark Smout and Laura Allen; its underlying rules of narrative game play were shaped in consultation with professor Jeff Watson and his students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The elaborate models and colorful graphics that resulted from their global collaboration illustrate the rich philosophical relationships connecting urban design, architectural futurism, and USC’s own archival collections. Manaugh’s introduction to the installation will reveal the forces that helped to shape L.A.—and show visitors how the region’s urban future remains yet to be determined.

Free and open to the public. Come for the discussion, reception, or both.

Organized by USC Libraries and the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study; with additional funding from the British Council and University College London.