The Art of Building Tiny Infrastructures
Most digital systems are designed for efficiency, optimization, and scale. They assume stability, uninterrupted growth, and that centralized systems will continue to function as intended.
At UKAI Projects, we are designing something different. Through the Cultural Technologies Lab, we open conversations that guide future prototypes that prioritize resilience over scale. Our work focuses on building cultural infrastructures that can adapt to ecological disruption, political instability, and the very real possibility of centralized system failure. In 2025, we saw outages at Cloudflare and AWS that left many content platforms and IoT devices unusable. They’ve happened before, and will happen again. We don’t aim to replace these systems—we want to have other choices.
Our mission, “culture for what’s coming,” is not speculative. It is a response to rising authoritarianism, climate-related disasters, and the increasing fragility of the platforms and governance structures on which many cultural workers depend.
We do not assume digital platforms will remain accessible or neutral. We do not assume that centralized systems will protect cultural autonomy.
Instead, we experiment with small, distributed, maintainable infrastructures. The challenge is not in technical abilities, but in establishing shared, repairable systems rooted in relationships. We believe that cultural resilience must be practiced before it is urgently needed.
Our position is neither nostalgic nor anti-technology. We are pragmatic. We turn abstract ideas into small actions people can take with friends. Culture will need new ways to circulate, gather, and endure. We are building those alternatives, one art project at a time.
“Having a home-made Netflix or Spotify replacement is actually easier than you think.”
Hear from Benjamin Lappalainen, project lead of Cultural Technologies Lab, XR Lead at UKAI Projects, and co-founder of soft_launch, on the art of tiny infrastructures and where UKAI's explorations in digital prototyping are headed in 2026.
Presentation followed by a facilitated conversation.
Benjamin Lappalainen is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist, creative technologist, and educator creating interactive installations that blur the boundaries between digital and physical experience. His work explores how emerging technologies can foster new forms of human connection and creative expression, often incorporating audio-reactive visuals, computer vision, AI, and algorithmic processes into innovative interaction design.
As an educator, Benjamin leads workshops and mentorship programs for diverse communities that bridge technical skill-building with experimental arts practices and community engagement. His current research focuses on developing open source software for social impact, creating accessible tools for creative coding and interactive media while investigating how technology can amplify rather than replace human creativity. Through his work with organizations like InterAccess Gallery, Long Winter Music & Arts Festival, and UKAI Projects, he supports artists in developing technically sophisticated work that remains deeply human-centered.