Engineer, artist, and theoretician Zoe Laughlin presents the new functions of existing materials in public spaces in relation to parkour, an activity which reinterprets the urban landscape. Her ideas focus on the materiality of daily life: how matter behaves, its sensorial qualities, and how people react to it. A member of the Division of Engineering’s Materials Research Group at King’s College London, Laughlin has become an expert in materials usage in theatre, art, architecture, and design.

Materiality of Parkour is part of a series of lectures and films presented in conjunction with the exhibition Actions: What You Can Do With the City (2008), which explores public actions in urban environments and their impact on contemporary society.