Dr. Koert van Mensvoort

Van Mensvoort started his career in the late eighties with the creation of videogames – belonging to the first generation of whizz-kids who are now no longer kids. In the nineties he moved on and studied computer science, philosophy and art. He received a MSc in computer sciences from Eindhoven University of Technology, a MFA from the Sandberg Institute, Masters of Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam and a PhD in industrial design from Eindhoven University of Technology. 

He uses all media to materialize his philosophy. Among his works are the traveling NANO Supermarket, showing nano-technology products that might hit the shelves within the next 10 year. The internet enabled Datafountain, connecting money to water, the book ‘Next Nature: Nature changes along with us’, the documentary ‘Daddy! The Woods smell of Shampoo’, the Fake for Real memory game, the fictional shoe company Rayfish.com that stirred a discussion on emerging biotechnologies and the In Vitro Meat Cookbook, exploring the potential impact of lab grown meat on our food culture. 

Koert van Mensvoort is director of the Next Nature Network; a 21st century nature organization that wants to go forward – not back – to nature. It is his aim to better understand our co-evolutionary relationship with technology and help set out a track towards a future that is rewarding for both humankind and the planet at large. 

Furthermore he is appointed Next Nature fellow at the Eindhoven University of Technology, board member at the Society of Arts of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences and supervisory board member of VPRO broadcasting organisation. Earlier Van Mensvoort worked a researcher at the Center for User-System Interaction (1998-2003), as a teacher at the Sandberg Institute (2002-2006) and as a Visionary in Residence at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (2008). 

Publications

• Next Nature 
• Save the Humans 
• Pyramid of Technology 
• What You See Is What You Feel 
• Natuur 2.0  
• In Vitro Meat Cookbook 

Talks

• Next Nature: How Technology becomes Nature 
• Nanotechnology and its impact on our everyday lives 
• Food Technology, in particular the potential of in-vitro meat 
• Fake for Real: on our society of simulations 
• Money as a Medium: virtual currencies and ECO currency 
• Design Fiction makes our future tangible 
• The twilight zone between People and Products