WEBVTT

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Historically, Madrid’s air
has been represented by its skies,

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from Velázquez, who took
the entire royal court outdoors

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to paint their portrait,

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to photography nuts who post
their Madrid photos on Flickr.

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This is the first image that shows up
when you search "Madrid" on Flickr.

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Still, even if this is how
the Madrid sky appears

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in our collective imagination,

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on a day-to-day basis,

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Madrid's sky looks like this

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and like this

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and like this.

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And only those photos you see
in the newspapers now and then,

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can actually reveal the bad
quality of air in Madrid.

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It makes you wonder:

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Why do we know so little
about something like air quality?

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And the answer is very simple -

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because it's microscopic
and we don't see it.

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Thus, the "In The Air" project was born,

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with the intention of giving
legitimacy to a system

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that forms a part of our city;

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a system with which we interact,

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that runs our daily lives,

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and that has a very close
relationship with our bodies.

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The project is a collective effort,

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built by a fantastic team
of multidisciplinary collaborators

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from all over the world,

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and developed through workshops,

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like Media Lab Prado in 2008,
the first of such events.

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But back to the air.

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Allow me to present its actors:

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gases like CO2, nitrogen dioxide,
ozone, sulphur dioxide,

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or suspended particulates
like rubber, leather, lead...

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Ever since Spain
joined the European Union,

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Madrid's city council is obligated
to inform the public about air quality.

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This is how they presented it in 2007,

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and like this for 2008, 2010.

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But it makes you wonder:

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Could we find a more adequate
way to present the information,

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so we could have a better sense
of what's going on with our air?

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We found there were two things missing:

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geolocalization and the order of events.

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So we put together these graphic maps,
which are basically air landscapes.

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You can see them in real time
on an interactive web page,

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where you can view
all the different components

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and navigate the city
from below its airstream.

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We can also see what effects
our actions have on air quality,

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on both a city scale

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and also per 100,000 inhabitants.

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We can also identify
where emissions are coming from,

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and how they might affect our health.

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It's been interesting
to read through the data.

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It's allowed us to see
that there's a very close relationship

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between what happens in the city,
our own everyday actions,

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and what's produced in the air -

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what we produce, collectively, in the air.

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For example, in the spectacular case
of a New Year's Eve,

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when the particulate suspension levels
dramatically increase.

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The same happens during soccer games
in Bernabéu Stadium.

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The project also examines

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how the way in which we transfer
this information to public spaces

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can produce different reactions

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as well as differences
in the collective dynamics

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involved in plazas and public spaces.

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So we developed several prototypes.

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One of them was this cloud of colored mist

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on the facade of Media Lab Prado

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which represents the levels
of air pollution by pulsating.

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This digital facade allows us to identify
minimally polluted routes.

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There are also mobile devices
that help us navigate the city,

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orienting us like a sort of aerial compass

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while transmitting in real-time,
information about the urban surroundings.

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We're currently researching
this "public good,"

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as it's been called several times today.

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It's intimately linked with our bodies,

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and since it can impact the health

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of the citizens of Madrid,

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all of our bodies are affected by it,

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and by the processes of exclusion
that it will eventually produce.

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We're also looking at what types
of visual formats are best,

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and to what extent a visualization
can motivate, stimulate

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or act as an intermediary
for political action,

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on both an individual
and collective level.

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Let's take a look at how Madrid breathes.

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Last inhale.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)