Design-Tech Talk 10

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.

Dr. Nic Dingwen Bao is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Architecture Technology Course Coordinator, and PhD supervisor at the School of Architecture and Urban Design, RMIT University, where he founded the FormX Research Lab. His research focuses on computational design, artificial intelligence, structural optimisation, robotic fabrication, and intelligent construction for performance-driven architecture. Nic is a practising architect with over 12 years of professional experience and is a Registered Architect in Australia (ARBV) and the US (NCARB), and RIBA Chartered Architect in the UK. He is the Director of BW Architects (BWA) and a partner at Ameba Technology. He also serves as Secretary of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) and the DigitalFUTURES Association. His work has been widely exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, Shenzhen Biennale, DigitalFUTURES, IASS Expo, and Melbourne Design Week. He is also a core member of the organising committee of the IASS 2023 Annual Symposium in Melbourne, curator of the IASS 2023 Expo and ACADIA × CAADRIA joint exhibition, and co-chair of the Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication International Conference 2026.

Dustin White is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Structural Design in the School of Architecture at Florida Atlantic University. The mission of his research and design practice is to collaborate with and explore interdisciplinary partnerships within and across art and design professions including interior design, architecture, furniture design, exhibition design, patent development, material development, and digital fabrication. Computation, sustainability, and fabrication strategies drive and inform all aspects of his process and work. Maximizing ideas, material resources, and energy, as well as value engineering time and human effort inspire him to employ inventive hybrid practices merging traditional, digital, and emerging technologies that integrate tools from across a spectrum of shared disciplines. His work has been invited and shown around the world including at the Marmomac Stone Expo “Italian Stone Theater Exhibition” in Verona, Italy (2019), Marmomac Meets Academies in Verona, IT (2022 & 2023) the Venice Architecture Biennale (2021), The PASEO art festival in Taos, NM, Italian Consultant in Washington DC and has led to being a finalist for competition awards from Surface Awards (London), NYCxDESIGN, SXSW Eco in Austin, TX, and the Friends of the High Line in New York. Prior to FAU he was the Director, Digital Technologies and Fabrication and an Assistant Undergraduate Chair at the New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design. Dustin is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Politecnico di Bari in Bari, Italy, and received his M. Arch degree from Clemson University School of Architecture.