Richard Lowenberg

Richard Lowenberg was born in 1946 in Haifa. His family emigrated to the United States in 1951, settling in New Jersey where he grew up. His Pratt Institute architectural education included working with Buckminster Fuller, the influential systems theorist and architect, and a summer internship with Paolo Soleri, who is celebrated for developing the concept of arcology, a fusion of architecture and ecology. In the 1970s and '80s, Lowenberg collaborated extensively with NASA on projects combining ecological ideas with technologies such as astronaut gravitational simulation and multi-spectral imaging. His career spans rural community planning, telecommunications infrastructure, and ecological economics. Since the 1980s, he has led key regional initiatives focused on rural internet networks, community networking, and broadband infrastructure. Throughout, he has integrated ecological principles with information systems and advocated for "earth economics" and community-based infrastructure as essential to sustainable development.

Lowenberg's artistic practice developed alongside his planning work, centering on bio-sensing and art-science collaborations that explore relationships between humans, technology, and living systems. He founded the Bio-Arts Laboratory in the 1970s, pioneering projects in interspecies communication with marine mammals, gorillas, and plants using biofeedback and multi-spectral imaging. His work blends performance, video, and computer art to investigate information environments as ecosystems, emphasizing the immaterial and relational aspects of information. His approach combines scientific rigor with creative inquiry to expand ecological awareness through sensory engagement and interactive experiences. In exploring extended bio-sensing technologies, Lowenberg began creating photo and video works using IR thermal imaging systems in the mid-1970s. In 1984, his interest in digital print technologies led to the creation of the first archival quality IRIS digital prints.

Currently in development is Eco Value Scale, a large-scale public sculpture paired with a web platform designed to challenge traditional economic models by encouraging new ways to measure ecological and social value. This project embodies key themes central to Lowenberg's lifelong work: the fusion of art, technology, and ecology; rethinking value beyond monetary terms; and engaging communities to address pressing environmental and social challenges. His artworks and collaborations have been shown internationally at venues including the Whitney Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Venice Biennale, MIT List Visual Arts Center, and ISEA. His leadership in rural telecommunications includes roles in initiatives such as New Mexico Broadband for All and the Indigenous Connectivity Summit, supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Science Foundation, state arts councils and private foundations.