Full Program

Tenure-Track Professor Thomas Wortmann directs the Department of Computing in Architecture at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD/CA), University of Stuttgart. He researches the use of computational methods such as optimization, multi-variate visualization and machine learning in architectural design processes and leads the development of Opossum, a machine-learning based optimization tool that has been downloaded close to 17.000 times. Thomas will share his recent research on artificial intelligence and reflect on the impact of AI on the architectural profession.

Karen Aune is a Researcher and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She holds a PhD Cum Laude in Art from the doctoral program “Advanced Studies in Artistic Productions” at the University of Barcelona, Spain. Her research explores science fiction as a poetic lens to reflect on ecosystemic changes driven by Capitalocene dynamics and the alteration of human perception through digital technologies. Her work combines analog processes with image manipulation technologies and digital fabrication, questioning the mutation of the biological through the lens of virtuality.

Branko Kolarevic, is a professor and former dean of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design at NJIT in Newark. He has taught architecture at several universities in North America and Asia. He has authored, edited or co-edited several books, including “Mass Customization and Design Democratization” (with Jose Duarte), “Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change” (with Vera Parlac), “Manufacturing Material Effects” (with Kevin Klinger), “Performative Architecture” (with Ali Malkawi) and “Architecture in the Digital Age.” He was president of several organizations like ACADIA. He is a recipient of the ACADIA Award for Innovative Research in 2007 and ACADIA Society Award of Excellence in 2015.

Vera Parlac is an associate professor of architecture at the Hillier College of Architecture and Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where she founded the Building Dynamics Laboratory. Her research is focused on responsive material systems that adapt to external and internal influences and is informed by contemporary models in biology, material science research, and mechatronic systems. Her work is featured in the “Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change” book published by Routledge, with Kolarevic. Vera is a licensed architect and has worked in several architectural firms including Carlos Zapata Design Studio and Kieran Timberlake Associates.

Alfredo Andia is an Associate Professor at Florida International University in Miami,( FIU) USA. His research focuses on architectural design, digital technologies, and the impacts of advanced synthetic biology on architecture. He has served as co-chair of the ACSA International Conference and the Possible Futures Competition at the Biennale Miami+Beach. His work has been published in books and over 70 articles and has been featured by the BBC, Discovery Channel, NHK-Japan, and other international media.

Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa innovates in information-based representation and robotic construction, integrating big data, simulation, and artificial intelligence. In 2024, he completed an ultrathin shell structure with AI at Stapleton Waterfront Park in New York. He is the Director of the AI Lab and an Associate Professor with Tenure at SoAD, New York Institute of Technology. His projects have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, MoMA, and NYC Media Lab, among others. He was co-chair of ACADIA 2010 and published Digital Signifiers in an Architecture of Information with Routledge in 2023, gaining global media recognition.

Bige Tunçer is an associate professor of design computation and the associate head of the Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar at Singapore University of Technology and Design. She received her PhD from Delft University of Technology, her MSc from Carnegie Mellon University, and her BArch from Middle East Technical University. She has previously held positions as an assistant professor at TU Delft, a visiting professor at the Chair of Information Architecture at ETH Zurich, and a visiting scholar at MIT. Her main research interest focuses on evidence-informed design processes. She is currently a professor of Information Systems in the Built Environment at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.