ABOUT
DIGITAL DESIGN COMMUNITY
The Digital Design Community is a forum that focuses on showcasing technology - driven design by leading individuals, practices, and universities. It is dedicated to disseminating the application of cutting-edge design methodologies and fabrication techniques related to digital technologies, computation, and digital prototyping in a collegial setting. In a series of quarterly events, design leaders from multiple industries showcase their most current and stimulating work at a variety of scales and stages of design. These gatherings bring together individuals from across the field who are in the forefront of developments in digital design, establishing a platform for those who are actively shaping a new profile for their industries and raising the bar for methods of practice in the future.
PAST EVENTS
Spring '24 Event
March 24, 2024
Host:
Perkins&Will
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Speakers:
Perkins&Will
Charlie Portelli, AIA, RIBA, CDT | Digital Innovation Strategist
AE Superlab.
Ahmed ElHusseiny, AIA | Principal and Founder
HUSH Studios
Erik Karasyk | Technical Partner, HUSH Studios
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Moderator:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Director, AA Visiting School New York; Visiting Assistant Prof. Pratt GAUD
Winter '24 Event
January 18, 2024
Host:
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Speakers:
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Why We Love Rhino.Compute
Justyna Szychowska | Senior Software Developer
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Ennead Architects
Bespoke Facade Generations
Alan Cation | Director of Computational Design
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SHoP Architects
Interactive Visualization
Tim Li | Associate, Interactive Visualization
Sheldon McLeod | IoT Engineer
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Moderator:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Director, AA Visiting School New York; Visiting Assistant Prof. Pratt GAUD
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Autumn '22 Event
November 21, 2022
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Host:
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
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Speakers:
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Alexander Jordan | PE, AIA | Associate - Structural Engineer
Samuel Wilson | PE | Associate - Structural Engineer
URBAN BETA
Paul Clemens Bart | MSc, MArch AA | Managing Partner
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder, Digital Design Community; Director, AA Visiting School New York; Lead Computational Designer, OPT
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Summer '22 Event
September 21, 2022
Host:
Buro Happold
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Speakers:
Buro Happold
Wolf Mangelsdorf | Partner, Global Head of Design, Technology and Innovation
Kohn Pedersen Fox
Luc Wilson | Director, KPF Urban Interface
Hypar
Andrew Heumann | Software Developer
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Moderator:
Andrew Haas / Founder, Digital Design Community; Director, AA Visiting School New York; Visiting Assistant Prof. Pratt GAUD
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Winter '20 Event
December 14, 2020
Host:
Virtual Hosting made possible by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
Speakers:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Caitlin Mueller, PhD | Associate Professor at MIT, Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ramon Elias Weber | PhD Student, MIT Building Technology Group
Harvard Graduate School of Design | project:if
Iman Fayyad | Lecturer in Architecture, Harvard GSD; Founder and Director, project:if
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OPT Industries, Inc
Jifei Ou (欧冀飞) PhD | Founder, CEO @ OPT Industries, Inc
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Computational Designer, KPF; Director, AA Visiting School New York
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Summer '20 Event
July 14, 2020
Host:
Virtual Hosting made possible by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
Speakers:
Foster + Partners
Francis Aish | Head of Applied Research and Development
Heatherwick Studio
Pablo Zamorano | Head of Geometry and Computational Design
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
Cobus Bothma | Director - Applied Research
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Computational Designer, KPF; Director, AA Visiting School New York
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Autumn '19 Event
November 06, 2019
Host:
WSP
Speakers:
WSP
Joseph Provenza, AIA, PE, LEED AP / Associate
Elliot Glassman, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, CPHD / Associate and Technical Principal
Turner Construction
Ayse Polat, AIA / VDC Manager, NY Main
Snøhetta
Sam Brissette / Designer
VR/3D Scanning Showcase:
NavVis
WSP
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Computational Designer, KPF; Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
Alfonso Oliva / Co-Organizer of Digital Design Community; Director of LERA+, LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
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Summer '19 Event
July 25, 2019
Host:
Buro Happold Engineering
Speakers:
Buro Happold Engineering
Wolf Mangelsdorf, Dipl Ing (Arch) Dipl Ing (Civil) CEng MIStructE / Partner
Tom Ben-David, PhD, EIT, LEED AP BD+C / Graduate Mechanical Engineer
Kayleigh Houde, PE / Computational Community Leader
KieranTimberlake
Mark Davis, AIA, LEED AP BD+C / Principal
Ryan Welch / Principal
Christopher Connock / Design Computation Director
Jacobs
Chitwan Saluja, Intl. Assoc. AIA / Director of Technology
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Computational Designer, KPF; Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
Urban Futures Summer Series
July 10 - 17, 2019
Host:
The Cooper Union​
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One of the biggest challenges for architects today is to plan for rapid advancements in technology and the changes these innovations have on society and our urban systems. This lecture series explored emerging possibilities in advanced architectural design and urban futures, and exposed attendees to both professional expertise and the utilization of new technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres of what will encompass new conceptions on aspects of the city and how we inhabit in them.
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The Urban Futures Series ran in partnership with the AA Visiting School New York, an intensive 10-day think-tank studio course hosted at The Cooper Union in July 2019. It focused on developing urban solutions for the changing landscapes of our metropolises around the world.
​Lecture Curators
Andrew R. Haas / Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York; Computational Designer, KPF
Ali Farzaneh, AA PhD / Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
​​Speakers
Dr. Tom Verebes / UrbanISMS: Four Short Stories About Hong Kong / Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor, School of Architecture and Design at New York Institute of Technology NYIT; Director, OCEAN CN / July 10, 2019
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Marvin Bratke / Conquering Urban Air Mobility: Resilient Architectures for Aerial Logistics / Head of Architecture at Brandlab, Founding Partner of BART//BRATKE, Visiting Professor at Universidad Internacional SEK / July 11, 2019
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Luc Wilson / How to Design Smart(er) Cities / Director, Urban Interface, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP / July 12, 2019
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Violet Whitney, LEED AP BD+C / Urban Computation / Product Manager, Sidewalk Labs; Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia GSA / July 13, 2019
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Snoweria Zhang / Between Space / Urban Innovation Architect, KPFui / July 14, 2019
Stefan Al, PhD LEED AP / The Future of Mobility and How it Could Shape Cities / Senior Associate Principal at KPF, TED Resident / July 15, 2019
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Wolf Mangelsdorf / Wechselwirkungen—Reframing Urban Planning / Partner at BuroHappold / July 16, 2019
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Ali Farzaneh, AA PhD / On the Biological Nature of Cities / Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York / July 17, 2019
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Spring '19 Event
May 9, 2019
Host:
WeWork Headquarters
Speakers:
Andrew Heumann, Senior Scientist, Research & Applied Science, WeWork
Jonatan Schumacher, Director of Design & Construction Technology, WeWork
Christopher Morse, Associate, Interactive Visualization, SHoP Architects
Adam Chernick, Associate, Interactice Visualization, SHoP Architects
Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Computational Designer, KPF; Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
Alfonso Oliva, Director of LERA+ Consulting Structural Engineers
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Autumn '18 Event
November 7, 2018
Host:
United Technologies Digital
Speakers:
Luc Wilson, Senior Associate Principal and Director, KPF Urban Interface
Nicholas Desbiens, Head of Digital Practice, KPF
Dan Levine, Associate Director, Solutions Engineering – United Technologies (UTC)
Jan Leenknegt, Architect and BIM Manager, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Co-Director, AA Visiting School New York
Alfonso Oliva, Director of LERA+, LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
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Summer '18 Event
July 11, 2018
Host:
ARUP
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Speakers:
Ian Mackenzie, Software Developer, ARUP
Shamil Lallani, Facade Designer, Wener Sobek New York
Jan Klaska, Lead Architect, Zaha Hadid Architects
Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Designer, SOM
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Spring '18 Event
April 11 2018
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Host:
LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
Speakers:
Alfonso Oliva, Director - LERA+
Neil Katz, AIA, Design Associate - SOM
Daniel Innocente, Senior Designer - SOM
Islay Burgess, AIA, Digital Design Manager - GENSLER
Chang-Yeon Cho, AIA, Computational Leader - GENSLER
Alex Coulombe, Creative Director - Agile Lens
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Moderators:
Andrew Haas / Founder of Digital Design Community; Designer, SOM