Computational Design: NEXT 12

Carlos Bañón is a pioneering architect and professor integrating AI, computational thinking, and digital fabrication into architectural design. Renowned for his resource-efficient, computationally-driven methodologies, he has reshaped urban landscapes and the built environment over twenty years through his practice, Subarquitectura. As a tenured faculty member at SUTD, he established the Architectural Intelligence Research Lab (AirLab) in 2015. His acclaimed work, showcased in two editions of the Venice Biennale, garnered prestigious awards like the Singapore President’s Design Award and a Nomination for the Mies Van Der Rohe Award. An influential figure in architectural education, he held visiting professor positions at leading institutions such as MIT, EPFL, and KEA, inspiring the next generations with innovative, tech-centric designs.

Francisco Bernal, a footwear designer and educator, will commence a 90-minute tutorial showing his creative works and giving tips about gravity sketch and footwear design at the Computational Design: NEXT 12 online conference. with years of interest in the footwear industry, Bernal has specialized in 3D footwear modeling, parametric and algorithmic design, and workflow mixed with VR, AI, sketching, and Communication skills. He is currently working as a Freelance footwear Designer, a Certified Gravity Sketch ambassador, and an occasional Trainer.

Edward Meyers, the designer at the Computational and Design Research Group at Zaha Hadid Architects (CODE), will be tutoring for 90 minutes as a part of the online conference “Computational Design: NEXT 12.” The webinar will be on procedural-based mesh modeling methods in Maya. He is a registered architect in Australia, where he practiced for five years, developing and delivering residential and small hospitality projects alongside large-scale urban design projects in several capital cities over Australia.

Jan Contala, the experimental designer and co-founder of the cera.LAB collective will lecture and showcase some of his works at the upcoming online conference, Computational Design: NEXT 12. His field of work is the experimental generation of forms, specializing in new technologies. His work includes possible applications for robotics in design, art, and architecture within the dialogues of digital-analog and virtual-real. Jan Contala has completed his bachelor’s and master’s studies in architecture at the University of Innsbruck. During his studies, he has already worked under the supervision of Prof. Marjan Colletti at REX/LAB (robotic experimentation laboratory) on several large-scale 3D printing projects. Today, Jan, together with Philipp Schwaderer, runs the cera.LAB and researches future potentials of digitally designed and 3D printed ceramics. He also currently teaches at the University of Innsbruck, department for experimental architecture, under the direction of Prof. Marjan Colletti, on the subject of digital ceramics and its potential applications in architecture.

Yimeng Yu, an interdisciplinary fashion designer and artist, will speak about using digital design in fashion design at the Computational Design: NEXT 12 online conference. Yimeng focuses on the future of fashion, accessories, and materials in the context of the digital age. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in London and currently works as the fashion design director at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in Beijing, China. Her studio is also based in Beijing. Currently, Yimeng’s main research focuses on computational design and digital fabrication. Her work explores avant-garde apparel aesthetics and innovation within the fashion industry.

Francis Bitonti, the CEO, and Co-founder of Lexset, will be addressing the audience about the AI applications in design for 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes Q&A session at the Computational Design: NEXT 12 conference. Lexset uses generative algorithms and procedural computer graphics to train artificial intelligence on simulated datasets. Francis is an early pioneer of Generative Design, to uses computational techniques to find new solutions to design and engineering problems. His landmark work has been included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt, the Pompidou Centre, and many other prestigious institutions. In 2015 he was selected as a Wired Innovation Fellow and author of “3D Printing Design: Additive Manufacturing and the Materials Revolution.”

Mitchell Joachim, the co-founder at Terreform ONE, associate professor of practice, and co-chair of global design at NYU, will be addressing the audience for 1-hour lecture and Q&A session about “Terreform ONE: Biology and Computation” at the Computational Design: NEXT 12 conference. Formerly, he worked as an architect at the professional offices of Frank Gehry in Los Angeles, Moshe Safdie in Massachusetts, and I.M. Pei in New York. He has won many awards, including the Fulbright Scholarship, LafargeHolcim Acknowledgement Prize, Ove Arup Foundation Grant, Architect R+D Award, AIA New York Urban Design Merit Award, Victor Papanek Social Design Award, 1st Place International Architecture Award, Zumtobel Award for Sustainability, Architizer A+ Award, History Channel Infiniti Award for the City of the Future, and Time Magazine Best Invention with MIT Smart Cities. Mitchell was featured in numerous articles: “The 100 People Who Are Changing America” in Rolling Stone, “The Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To” in Wired, “50 Under 50 Innovators of the 21st Century” by Images Publishing Group, “The NOW 99” in Dwell, and “Future of The Environment” in Popular Science. He co-authored four books, “Super Cells: Building with Biology” (TED Books), “Global Design: Elsewhere Envisioned” (Prestel, 2014), “XXL-XS: New Directions in Ecological Design” (Actar 2016), and “Design with Life: Biotech Architecture and Resilient Cities” (Actar 2019). He earned a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a MAUD at Harvard University, and an M.Arch at Columbia University with honors.

Nikoletta Karastathi, the practicing architect, tutor, and material designer, will lecture for 45 minutes and answer questions for 15 minutes in the upcoming Computational Design: NEXT 12 online conference. Nikoletta is an architect, Ph.D. Candidate and Lecturer at The Bartlett School of Architecture. She has a diverse background, working in the industry as a practicing architect and in academia as a design tutor at Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. Her work has been exhibited at the London Design Festival, Dutch Design Week, Lakeside Arts Gallery, and the Baltic Centre of Contemporary Arts. Her key interests lie in architecture, textiles, computation, and material programmability.

Eva Khan, a multidisciplinary designer artist, and an advanced computational designer will be delivering a 90-minute tutorial at the upcoming Computational Design: NEXT 12 online conference. Eva holds a Master’s degree in M.Sc. CAD from DesignMorphine and a B.Arch. degree from the Faculty of architecture and planning, Lucknow India. Her works are inspired by science fiction, dystopian future, and cyberpunk. During her master’s studies with DM, she has been looking at ‘Architecture as Machine’, and takes interest in cybernetics. She looks at architecture as a new perspective of cinema. Her belief is, science fiction is where imagination and fantasy meet and is an endless source of inspiration for designers, artists, filmmakers, and architects to a new narrative. Currently, she is working as a Procedural Generator at Wilder World.

Hamid Hassanzadeh is a distinguished architect, entrepreneur, researcher, and speaker. Having earned his degree in architectural engineering in 2012, Hamid has since contributed to various architectural projects across multiple regions around the globe. In early 2016, he founded the ParametricArchitecture platform, initially launching on Instagram. Today, ParametricArchitecture, often abbreviated as PA, stands as a globally renowned hub for parametric, computational design, and AI lovers, boasting over 20 million monthly interactions on the internet. Hamid endeavors to demystify the intricacies of the parametric, computational, and AI realms through compelling articles, interviews, workshops, podcasts, and conferences disseminated across various digital platforms. Furthermore, he’s the visionary behind PAACADEMY, an educational entity under the aegis of PA, dedicated to propagating the concepts of computational architecture and design. The PAACADEMY, as an educational platform, educates and engages with its audience, introducing them to advanced techniques and algorithms employed by architects, designers, and coders alike. He highlights exemplary projects executed using state-of-the-art design software, ensuring that his audience not only witnesses but also comprehends the depth and philosophy of these avant-garde design practices. Moreover, as the esteemed host of the 'PA Talks' interview series, he engages in enriching conversations with architects, orchestrates numerous workshops, conferences, and events, and has had the privilege of interviewing myriad globally acclaimed architects, delving into their methodologies and foresighted visions for the architectural landscape.

Michael Pryor is a multi-faceted designer utilizing Rhino + Grasshopper, C#, Maya, ZBrush, Houdini and others. He is currently a Head of Procedural Generation at Wilder World Metaverse and the CDO of DesignMorphine. Previously he was a Computational Designer at Nike NXT on performance footwear. He has been involved in various major architectural works in the US, China, Dubai, and Lebanon. Previously, he worked at Trahan, SOMA, OLI, and [AY]A on projects ranging from museums, housing, restaurants, furniture, products, exhibits and prototypes. Michael is the author of the popular Grasshopper3d plug-in Pufferfish with over 150k downloads. He has been the tutor to workshops by the AA visiting school Paris with Louis Vuitton, 3D-Dreaming, Rese.Arch, MIT OSL, Harvard GSD, rat[LAB], PA, Meal, and DesignMorphine.