The Art of Digital Placemaking in the Age of AI — Dr Sarah Barns · Australian Placemaking Summit 2026

Australian Placemaking Summit · Masonic Hall, Gadigal Country · 13 May 2026

The Art ofDigital PlacemakingSarah Barns

A talk by Studio ESEMCivic InterplayRMIT University
DR. SARAH BARNS KEYNOTE · THE ART OF DIGITAL PLACEMAKING IN THE AGE OF AI 01 / 18
Acknowledgement of Country

Studio ESEM acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, including the lands featured in the projects shown here. We recognise the value, diversity and integrity of First Nations arts, cultures and expressions, and their continual significance today.

We pay our respect to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We acknowledge that Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded.

My City Poem by Joel Davison (Gadigal / Dhungutti). Permanent digital interpretation artwork by Studio ESEM with GML Heritage, 2024. Sydney Metro · Gadigal Metro Station
02 / 18
Topiary bicycle on a Sydney suburban street
STREET SCENES
We Care: City North Innovation Precinct. A Precinct with Purpose RMIT University 2026
03 / 18

We Care: Innovation Precincts with Purpose

We Care Video Portraits Studio ESEM for STORYBOX RMIT
04 / 18

2011-2016 Studio ESEM (formerly Esem Projects)
05 / 18

Locating multi-storied places

What happened here? Excavating East Darling Harbour / Warrane

Arrivals and Departures, Barangaroo Cutaway, 2018 Studio ESEM for Barangaroo Delivery Authority
06 / 18

Locating multi-storied places

Girl Eating a Sandwich, 1930s Millers Point

Unguarded Moments by Studio ESEM City of Sydney Art & About 2011, Millers Point
07 / 18

VISIONS OF PEACE Studio ESEM for Liverpool City Council / Centenary of Armistice
08 / 18

STORYBOX Places: An invitation
09 / 18

Birds of Australia STORYBOX

Touring NSW 2023 onwards Australian Museum
10 / 18
Topiary bicycle on a Sydney suburban street
STREET SCENES

Connect with the birds!

Birds of Australia STORYBOX on tour with the Australian Museum 2023-2026

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11 / 18

Surfacing place histories through site-specific storytelling

Arrivals and Departures, Barangaroo Cutaway Studio ESEM for Barangaroo Delivery Authority
12 / 18

Help us capture history!!

A grassroots, community-led Rugby Museum for Inner West Council

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STORYBOX Leichhardt Inner West Council Museum of Rugby League
13 / 18

Five years of STORYBOX.CO

Media Archiecture Biennale Award 2025

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Over 30 programs, over 300 contributors Councils and Precincts across NSW, ACT and Victoria
14 / 18
CivicAI visualisation
RESEARCH · CIVIC AI

Civic Interplay

Imagining Citizen-AI relations for multi-specicies public spaces

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Civic Interplay New imaginaries of Civic AI. Research by Sarah Barns at civicinterplay.io
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Test image
EVALUATING IMPACT

Citizen-first

STORYBOX PLACES

Test image [Dummy partner]
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Civic Interplay

Civic Interplay Principles

  1. Treat agents politely and with respect, as citizens-in-the-making.
  2. Civic intelligence before artificial intelligence.
  3. Explore relationships between knowledge systems, including 'two-way science' that respects Indigenous knowledge systems in relation to Western science.
  4. Prioritise efficiency to the extent that environmental resource impacts of machine learning are minimised. Where excessive resource impacts are evident in a workflow, make these transparent.
  5. Support enquiry-based knowledge architecture, not simplistic solutions.
  6. Em dashes are slippery slopes towards cognitive decline.
  7. Nothing is ever 'comprehensive'.
  8. Everything here is a draft.
Civic Interplay QR code Scan for Civic Interplay
17 / 18
Studio ESEMCivic InterplayRMIT UniversitySTORYBOX.CO
Contacts

Thank you.

For follow-up on any project shown in this talk, or to discuss new work, please get in touch.

Co-Founder · Interpretation Lead
Sarah Barns
Studio ESEM
sarah@studioesem.com
Co-Founder · Director
Michael Killalea
Studio ESEM
michael@studioesem.com

Studio ESEM · studioesem.com

Selected works · 2020 – 2025

DR. SARAH BARNS KEYNOTE · THE ART OF DIGITAL PLACEMAKING IN THE AGE OF AI 18 / 18