Keynotes
During the 2026 ROB|ARCH conference we have selected three keynotes, which we find challenge our perception of robots in art, desgin and architecture, through the lenses of the conference theme of ‘Detangling Dependencies’. Bringing in the keynotes have received support from Boligfonden Kuben.
The invited keynotes are described below.
Gunter Just obtained both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Stuttgart, specialising in Space Flight Technology & Space Utilisation and the Design & Construction of Aerospace Vehicles. He prepared his master thesis at ESA’s European Astronaut Center in Cologne working on the automation of life support systems and ultimately obtained an ESA co-sponsored doctorate from The University of Manchester, investigating robotic regolith excavation and handling mechanisms for lunar exploration. Since 2021 he is a member of ESA’s Automation and Robotics section, where he acts as the section’s expert in soil interacting robots and regolith behaviour as well as in-orbit servicing (IOS).
Maaike Bleeker is Professor of Performance, Science, and Technology in the Department of Media and Culture at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) and Adjunct Professor in the Center for Transformative Media at Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne).
Trained in Theatre and Performance Studies, Art History and Philosophy, and with extensive experience as dramaturg in theatre and dance practice, she is invested in performative, new materialist approaches to robotics and HRI. She was PI of Acting Like a Robot: Theatre as Testbed for the Robot Revolution (2020-2025, https://performingrobots.sites.uu.nl/acting-like-a-robot-theatre-as-testbed-for-the-robot-revolution/) and currently leads the research consortium Dramaturgy for Devices: Designing Sustained Relationships with Robots and Other Smart Objects (2025-2028, https://dramaturgy4devices.sites.uu.nl/), both funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Together with Ulrike Quade Company and Event Robotics, she initiated Center Stage Robotics, a cross-sector collaboration between the performing arts sector, the creative industry, and academics. (https://www.ulrikequade.nl/en/onderzoek-en/center-stage-robotics/). She also co-organized the Lorenz Workshop Rehearsing Robot Integrated Care Practices (https://www.lorentzcenter.nl/rehearsing-robot-integrated-care-practices.html). Publications include Transmission in Motion. The Technologizing of Dance (Routledge, 2016), and the Routledge Companion to Performance and Technology (2026).
Maaikes participation at RO|ARCH is supported by the Boligfunden Kuben : Boligfonden Kuben
To be announced