Gabriella Gómez-Mont is the founder and director of Experimentalista, a novel type of nomadic and creative office specialized in cities – and that constantly shifts shape to accommodate high-level, transdisciplinary collaborations across the world. She was also the former Chief Creative Officer of Mexico City, and the founder of Laboratorio para la Ciudad (2013 – 2018), the award-winning experimental arm and creative think-tank of the Mexico City government, reporting to the Mayor.
As director of the Lab she headed a young, transdiciplinary team: from urban geographers, political scientists, lawyers and civic tech experts, to artists, historians, architects and philosophers. The Lab was created to tackle urban challenges – from experiments in democracy and mobility to projects related to spatial justice, play as a city making tool; new models of dynamic governance and civic tech platforms etc – creating novel transdisciplinary methodologies and participatory practices, exploring ways to find common ground in a gargantuan, diverse (and often divided) city. Hence the Lab’s projects were multiple, often paradigmatic and covered widely in international publications.
Besides her fascination with all things city, Gabriella has been a journalist, visual artist, curator, and director of documentary films, as well as a creative advisor to several cities, universities and companies. She has received several international recognitions for her work in different fields, such as the first prize in the Audi Urban Future Award, the Best Art Practice Award given by the Italian government, The Creative Bureaucrats Award by the city of Berlin, the TED City 2.0 Prize, the IMCINE film grant, and the Jóvenes Creadores grant for Visual Arts, among others. She was also named one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine.
Gabriella is currently a Visiting Professor of Practice and Senior Policy Fellow at UCL’s Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose in London, invited by economist Mariana Mazzucato. She is also a Royal Society of Arts Fellow, Yale World Fellow, TED Senior Fellow, MIT MediaLab Director`s Fellow, Georgetown University Visiting Fellow, Canadian Urban Institute Senior Fellow, Institute for the Future Fellow, a Salzburg Seminar Fellow, a Fabrica Alumni and a World Cities Summit Young Leader. Gabriella was part of the international advisory committee for the Mayor of Seoul on Social Innovation (2015 – 2021), as well as NACTO’s Streets for Kids, The XXII Triennale of Milan, Nesta’s research on the Future of Public Imagination and C40 ́s Knowledge Hub.
She was born in Mexico City and loves to read and to travel and to have good conversations with friends – particularly over sobremesas or very long walks.
(Gabriella’s Red Door Project contribution can be read here)