Teaching
Areas of Teaching Competence
Areas of Teaching Competence
- Architectural Design year 1-5 (UK diploma), MArch. (UK post-graduate course), MPhil/PhD (secondary supervision)
- Digital Design and Digital Theory (same as above)
- Technical Dissertations year 1-5
- CAD/CAM fabrication
- Urban Design (Urban Arabesques, Adaptive Urbanism)
- Cultural Design (neo-Islamic tendencies)
By looking into advances within a wide range of manufacturing technologies and working methodologies, I expect student work to result from an open-minded and creative interpretation of such processes, simultaneously pursuing a synthetic model of design that convolutes the technological with the poetic, the visionary with the historic, as well as the ornamental and the tectonic. In fact, the nature of contemporary architectural design, as I understand it, goes beyond the functions of opulence and intricacy, of technique and simulation, of module and optimisation. It invokes something ranking above notions of beauty, style, and elegance - it evokes the sublime, the blissful and the mysterious even within the digital domain. The most successful students develop their own architectural language that enables their projects to achieve the elusive synthesis of typological and topological criteria, of programme and poetic phenomena, of strategy and phenomenology, of structure and style.
In basic terms, if my approach towards design, theory and teaching was to be summarised with one word, it would be ‘convolution’, as the term conveys the various notions of blur (pushing the boundaries of the discipline), overlap (layering of contexts, ideas, technologies…) and interference (interdisciplinarity and multitasking). Convolution establishes a debate and a methodology in which experimentation, technology and progress do not exclude emotions, traditions and identity. It bridges the gap between architectural theory and the built environment. Convolution understands research as not sole programmatic requirements, and design as not mere form generation. It entails an organic spatial and strategic vision that includes the significance of atmospherics and bodily experience, in conjunction with the student’s technological and poetic awareness. Rather than extrapolating singularities (of an architectural language) into multiplicities and modulations (of geometry and tectonic) via parametric cohesion, convolution intrapolates multiplicities and modulations (of geometry and tectonic) into singularity (of an architectural language) via convoluted cohesion. Under these circumstances, I teach the student to spiral away from the apparently unquestioned and rather predictable version of what can be understood as the contemporary emergence of a new ‘digital modernism’: the unspecified whitewash (or often just ‘greywash’) of 3D surfaces, the universal Sachlichkeit [objectiveness] of parametric design techniques, and the mechanistic concept of the computer as a purely generative utensil. In turn, they are asked to challenge such approaches, envisioning experimental, and thus unpredictable conditions in design that are the result of the student’s eccentric, ‘spiritual’, phenomenological and humanistic, yet informed understanding of architecture.
My research, design and teaching agendas are positioned within the field of digital architecture, despite of my criticisms towards pure parametric and algorithmic computerised architecture. Instead I favour a poetic digital avant-garde that achieves the synthesis of (technological) parameters and (poetic) properties, implying an approach that develops from inside out, involving experiential qualities, inhabitation and use. Rather than following the structural ‘truthful’ efficiency of the Gothic and its parametric revival, phenomena of convolution are intrinsically associated with a sense of formal, structural and spatial complexity, borrowing from a plethora of Baroque binary conditions, such as the dichotomy of rational and empirical thinking, along with the morphing of classical architectural semantics into playful theatrical tectonics and typologies. Convolution thus also involves the body in a variety of (digital and analogue) arguments that aim for the synthesis of techniques, technics and technologies, and the performance (understood both as task and as staging) of architecture. Techniques are here understood as process and method, technics as skills and functions, and technologies as scientific knowledge and applications.
My aim is to widen the vocabulary of digital architecture. Consequently I believe that due to its narrative potential, ‘original digitality’ ought to be defined and fashioned both in design (projects), as well as in text (theory). Hence I favour a poetic digital avant-garde, equally developed through 3D software and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC), Rapid Protoyping (RP), Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies. I consider digital design and fabrication to be of great potential for the development of truly contemporary design, which is nonetheless embedded within a wider contextual architectural conversation.
Teaching Positions Held
In basic terms, if my approach towards design, theory and teaching was to be summarised with one word, it would be ‘convolution’, as the term conveys the various notions of blur (pushing the boundaries of the discipline), overlap (layering of contexts, ideas, technologies…) and interference (interdisciplinarity and multitasking). Convolution establishes a debate and a methodology in which experimentation, technology and progress do not exclude emotions, traditions and identity. It bridges the gap between architectural theory and the built environment. Convolution understands research as not sole programmatic requirements, and design as not mere form generation. It entails an organic spatial and strategic vision that includes the significance of atmospherics and bodily experience, in conjunction with the student’s technological and poetic awareness. Rather than extrapolating singularities (of an architectural language) into multiplicities and modulations (of geometry and tectonic) via parametric cohesion, convolution intrapolates multiplicities and modulations (of geometry and tectonic) into singularity (of an architectural language) via convoluted cohesion. Under these circumstances, I teach the student to spiral away from the apparently unquestioned and rather predictable version of what can be understood as the contemporary emergence of a new ‘digital modernism’: the unspecified whitewash (or often just ‘greywash’) of 3D surfaces, the universal Sachlichkeit [objectiveness] of parametric design techniques, and the mechanistic concept of the computer as a purely generative utensil. In turn, they are asked to challenge such approaches, envisioning experimental, and thus unpredictable conditions in design that are the result of the student’s eccentric, ‘spiritual’, phenomenological and humanistic, yet informed understanding of architecture.
My research, design and teaching agendas are positioned within the field of digital architecture, despite of my criticisms towards pure parametric and algorithmic computerised architecture. Instead I favour a poetic digital avant-garde that achieves the synthesis of (technological) parameters and (poetic) properties, implying an approach that develops from inside out, involving experiential qualities, inhabitation and use. Rather than following the structural ‘truthful’ efficiency of the Gothic and its parametric revival, phenomena of convolution are intrinsically associated with a sense of formal, structural and spatial complexity, borrowing from a plethora of Baroque binary conditions, such as the dichotomy of rational and empirical thinking, along with the morphing of classical architectural semantics into playful theatrical tectonics and typologies. Convolution thus also involves the body in a variety of (digital and analogue) arguments that aim for the synthesis of techniques, technics and technologies, and the performance (understood both as task and as staging) of architecture. Techniques are here understood as process and method, technics as skills and functions, and technologies as scientific knowledge and applications.
My aim is to widen the vocabulary of digital architecture. Consequently I believe that due to its narrative potential, ‘original digitality’ ought to be defined and fashioned both in design (projects), as well as in text (theory). Hence I favour a poetic digital avant-garde, equally developed through 3D software and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC), Rapid Protoyping (RP), Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies. I consider digital design and fabrication to be of great potential for the development of truly contemporary design, which is nonetheless embedded within a wider contextual architectural conversation.
Teaching Positions Held
- 2013 Director of Computing, the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
- 2013 Head of Institute, Institute for Experimental Architecture, University of Innsbruck Austria.
- 2013 Acting Director of MArch Architecture (part 2, ARB-RIBA), the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
- 2012 University Professor at the Institute for Experimental Architecture.Hochbau, University of Innsbruck Austria (01.01.12-indefinite).
- 2011 Visiting Professor at TU Vienna Austria (01.10.11-31.01.12).
- 2011 Senior Lecturer, the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London (01.10.11-indefinite).
- 2010 Visiting Professor at UT Arlington Texas USA (01.09.10-20.10.10).
- 2010 Visiting Professor at UCLA Los Angeles USA (with M Cruz) (04.01.10-18.03.10).
- 2010 Visiting theory studio master at SCI-Arc Southern California Institute of Architecture Los Angeles USA (rejected due to personal circumstances).
- 2008-09 Visiting Lecturer in Urban Design at the Institut für experimentelle Architektur.studio3, Innsbruck University, Austria.
- 2008-... Senior Lecturer (p/t) and DS10 design master, diploma unit (4th and 5th year), Westminster University, London.
- 2008-… MPhil/PhD supervisor, the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London. Primary supervision of MPhil/PhD students.
- 2007 Visiting Professor and acting Head of Institute for the summer semester at the Institut für experimentelle Architektur.Hochbau, Innsbruck University, Austria.
- 2007 Guest-critic at South Bank University, London UK.
- 2006-... Design and research faculty at Westminster University, London (part-time senior lecturer since 2008).
- 2006-… Lecturer in Architecture (p/t) and Unit 20 design tutor (with Marcos Cruz), diploma unit (4th and 5th year, Bolt-on masters), the Bartlett.
- 2006-08 Visiting Lecturer and DS10 design tutor (with M Cruz), diploma unit (4th and 5th year, Bolt-on masters), Westminster University, London.
- 2005-06 Unit 20 design tutor (with S Murray), diploma unit (4th and 5th year), the Bartlett.
- 2004-05 DAC – Digital Augmentation Course tutor, the RCA Royal College of Art, London.
- 2004 Invited guest lecturer (first year) KIAD Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury UK.
- 2003-05 Unit 20 design tutor (with M Cruz), diploma unit (4th and 5th year, Bolt-on masters), the Bartlett.
- 2000-03 Unit 5 design tutor and dissertation tutor (with J Backhaus), degree unit (2nd and 3rd year), the Bartlett.
Workshops
- 2010 Workshop instructor (with M Cruz) at the École Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris (25.03.10-02.04.10).
- 2009 Workshop instructor (with M Cruz) at CITA: Center for Information Technology and Architecture, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen Denmark (05.-11.03.09). Tutoring of a group of 12 students into 2D and 3D digital modeling and CAD/CAM manufacturing techniques. Design, supervision and construction management of CAD/CAM manufactured installations.
- 2008 Workshop instructor (with M Cruz) at the Tonghai & marcosandmarjan Digital Architecture Workshop, Tonghai University, Taichung Taiwan (31.03.08-09.04.08). Tutoring of a group of 30 students into 2D and 3D digital modeling and CAD/CAM manufacturing techniques. Design, supervision and construction management of CAD/CAM manufactured installations.
- 2008 Workshop instructor (with M Cruz) at the Oslo School of Architecture, Norway (04.-09.03.08). Tutoring of a group of 20 students into 2D and 3D digital modeling and CAD/CAM manufacturing techniques. Design, supervision and construction management of CAD/CAM manufactured installations.
- 2005 Workshop instructor (with M Cruz) at the FCU & Bartlett Digital Architecture Workshop, Feng Chia University, Taichung Taiwan (02.03.05-09.03.05). Tutoring of a group of 35-40 students into 2D and 3D digital modeling and CAD/CAM manufacturing techniques. Design, supervision and construction management of CAD/CAM manufactured installations.
Visiting Critic
- 2011 Guest-critic at the Azrieli School of Architecture Tel Aviv Israel.
- 2011 Guest-critic at the TU Vienna Austria.
- 2010 Guest-critic at IAAC Barcelona Spain (postponed due to personal circumstances).
- 2010 Guest-critic at the TU Vienna Austria (postponed due to personal circumstances).
- 2010 Guest-critic at the AA Architectural Association, London UK.
- 2010 Guest-critic at Innsbruck University (Institut für experimentelle Architektur.studio3) Austria.
- 2009 Media and Design Lab, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- 2009 AA Architectural Association, London UK
- 2008 École Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris France.
- 2008 Innsbruck University (Institut für experimentelle Architektur) Austria.
- 2008 AA Architectural Association, London UK (2x).
- 2008 RCA Royal College of Art, London UK.
- 2007 South Bank University, London UK.
- 2006 University of East London UK.
- 2006 AADRL Architectural Association, London UK (2x).
- 2006 Innsbruck University (Institut für experimentelle Architektur) Austria.
- 2006 University of Applied Arts Vienna School of Architecture (Studio Prix) Austria.
- 2006 RWTH AAchen (Institut für Gebäudelehre und Grundlagen des Entwerfens) Germany.
- 2006 Regular critic at Westminster University, London UK.
- 2004 KIAD Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury UK.
- 2004 Innsbruck University ((Institut für experimentelle Architektur.hochbau), Austria.
- 2004 Westminster University, London UK.
- 2003 Oxford Brooks University.
- 2002 UTA University of Arlington, Texas USA.
- 2002 Innsbruck University (Institut für experimentelle Architektur.studio 3), Austria.
- 2001 Westminster University, London UK.
- 2001 Kingston University, London UK.
- 2000-… Regular critic at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL London UK.
- 1998 RWTH Aachen (Institut für Hochbau) Germany.
Peer reviewing
- Invited Assessor with the Australian Research Council (ARC) 2013.
- Expert for the Postdoctoral Fellowships Committee at EPFL co-funded by Marie Curie (2013).
- Jury Member, ArchMEDIUM Spain (2013).
- Reviewer for SmartGeometry 2013, London UK (2013).
- Member of the Technical Program Committee (TPC), International Conference on Earth Science and Environmental Protection (ICESEP2013) Kunming, China.
- Member of the Scientific Review Committee, eCAADe Future Traditions Portugal (2012).
- Reviewer for the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2013 and 2012).
- Member of the Advisory Board [En]coding Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh (2012).
- Member of the Advisory Board, Rob|Arch 2012 Vienna Austria.
- Committee Member for the Canada Foundation for Innovation (2012).
- Jury Member (deputy) for Initiative Architektur Salzburg Austria (2012).
- International expert/reviewer, the New Eurasia Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Science, Russian Federation (max. individual grant sum: €6.5 million), (2013 and 2011).
- Peer reviewer for the journal Environment and Planning (2011).
- Peer reviewer for Ashgate Publishing (2011).
- Member of the Scientific Committee for the 8th International conference of the Architectural Humanities Research Association AHRA, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast UK (2011).
- Peer reviewer for the Journal of Cultural Economy, Routledge/Taylor & Francis (2010).
- Reviewer for the University of Innsbruck, Austria (2006).
Academic Administrative Experience
- 2007 Innsbruck University. Coordination, organization and management of Design Institute and faculty staff (tutors, student tutors). Organization of lecture series, finding sponsoring, liaising with sponsors and the industry (manufacturers). Participation in professorial curia (Professorienkurie). Having responsibility for administrative duties in areas such as admissions, time-tabling, examinations, assessment of student progress and attendance, collaborating with colleagues on the implementation of assessment procedures, contributing towards the accreditation of courses and quality control processes and to provide advice on strategic issues such as student recruitment and marketing.
- 2006-… Westminster University London, UK. Delivery of research output (RAE Research Assessment Exercise 2008 evaluation). Presentation and editing of student work to internal and external examiners and evaluation committees (ARB/RIBA 2008). University admission interviews.Having responsibility for administrative duties in areas such as admissions, time-tabling, examinations, assessment of student progress and attendance, collaborating with colleagues on the implementation of assessment procedures, contributing towards the accreditation of courses and quality control processes and to provide advice on strategic issues such as student recruitment and marketing.
- 2000-… The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Coordination, organization and management of public lecture series and of research seminars, symposia and conferences. Delivery of research output (RAE Research Assessment Exercise 2008 evaluation). Unit presentations and admission interviews. Presentation and editing of student work to internal and external examiners and evaluation committees (ARB/RIBA 2004, 2006). ARG Architecture Research Group member. Curation of official Bartlett exhibitions in national and international venues (London, Florence, Prague, Kosice, Bratislava…). Editing of catalogues. Having responsibility for administrative duties in areas such as admissions, time-tabling, examinations, assessment of student progress and attendance, collaborating with colleagues on the implementation of assessment procedures, contributing towards the accreditation of courses and quality control processes and to provide advice on strategic issues such as student recruitment and marketing.
- 1998-00 Innsbruck University. Writing design briefs. Coordination and organisation of field trips. Editing of publications, posters and design briefs. PR. Management of lecture series.
