PEOPLE

Elif Erdine is an architect and researcher. During 2010-2015, Elif Erdine conducted her PhD at the Architectural Association PhD in Design Programme, titled ‘Generative Processes in Tower Design: Algorithms for the Integration of Tower Subsystems’. Since 2010 she has been directing various AA Visiting School programmes (AA Istanbul VS, AA Summer DLAB), exploring generative design techniques, integration of algorithmic design methods with large-scale digital fabrication tools. Her research interests include the role of the individual building within complex urban systems, the exploration of urban data as design drivers, biomimicry, and robotic design and fabrication. She has presented her research in Design Studies, eCAADe, CAAD Futures, SimAUD, and ACADIA, among others.

Michael Weinstock studied Architecture at the Architectural Association and has taught at the AA School of Architecture since 1989 in a range of positions from workshop to through Academic Head. He received the Acadia Award for Excellence 2008. Whilst his principal research and teaching has been conducted at the Architectural Association, he has published and lectured widely, and taught seminar courses, studios and workshops on Emergence and associated topics at many other schools of Architecture, in Europe including Delft, Rome, Barcelona, Vienna and in Stuttgart; and in the US at Yale and Rice. He has been Honorary Chief Academic Adviser to the International Research Centre of Computational Design, Tsinghua University Beijing/The University of Hong Kong.

Milad Showkatbakhsh is an architect and a doctoral candidate at Architectural Association. He holds BSc. in Architectural Engineering from Shahid Beheshti University and M.Arch. from Pratt Institute where he graduated with Sidney Katz award for design excellence in 2015. Milad has worked for several architecture and design firms in Asia, U.S.A and Europe as design technology specialist such as Contemporary Architecture Practice (CAP) amongst others. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Milad is the co-director of the AA Istanbul visiting school with the research focus on integration of algorithmic design methods with large-scale digital fabrication tools. He is the co-founder of ‘Wallacei’, an evolutionary and analytic engine with embedded machine learning algorithms that gives users full control over their evolutionary simulations in Grasshopper 3D

Alican Sungur is an architect and researcher. He holds a March degree with distinction from the AA, Emtech studio and a BArch degree from METU. Currently, he is been employed by WilkinsonEyre. He is specialised in analysis driven design, computational tool making and complex modelling. Currently, focusing on dynamic modelling he is working on the use of such in form finding and optimisation. Alican has taught at the Architectural Association and Oxford Brookes University. Prior to his current position he worked at Pattern Design, London.

Eleana Polychronaki is an Architect and Computational Designer. She holds a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from the N.T.U.A Athens and an MSc in Emergent Technologies and Design from the AA, awarded with distinction. She is currently employed as a Computational Design Specialist in Grimshaw, focusing on enabling the design and analysis of complex geometries, as well as actively developing a series of in-house computational tools and workflows. Prior to her position as tutor in the AA, she has led a number of workshops around AR and VR technologies and has worked as a research collaborator in the project “Healthy Housing for the Displaced” carried out by the University of Bath and the EPSRC. She has a keen interest in participatory design, the concept of spatial perception and how these can be pursued through immersive technologies. Her research has been published in SimAUD, BRI and CoDesign among others.

Abhinav Chaudhary is an architect and musician from New Delhi, India currently employed at PLP Architecture in London as a Computational Design specialist. His work focuses on developing AR/VR and geometry optimisation tools for use over various scales of building design and construction. He has previously worked at Orproject (Delhi, London, Beijing) on a number of award winning and published installations and pavilions. He received B. Arch from Sushant School of Art and Architecture in 2011 and M. Arch with distinction from AA Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) in 2019.

Lorenzo Santelli is a charted architect and structural engineer. Since he graduated from EmTech in 2015, he has been part of Eckersley O’Callaghan’s Structural Glass Team, Digital Design Group and Glass Technology Group. He developed expertise in geometrically complex structures, structural analysis and parametric design. He is currently working on glass, steel, cable and carbon fibre structures for building and marine applications based in Europe and Asia. His experience also benefits from long construction site supervision roles. Lorenzo graduated in Architecture and Construction Engineering from the University of Pisa and obtained the licences to practice engineering and architecture both in Italy and the United Kingdom.

INVITED CRITICS

Each year EmTech invites critics from established practices and academic institutions to assist with studio sessions. Ranging from architects, engineers, computational designers and academics, they provide critical feedback on the studio projects and trigger intellectual debates and research development, thus forming an integral part of the programme.

Our guest critics for the previous year have included:

Andrei Martin, PLP Architecture

Lars Hesselgren, PLP Architecture

Camila Rock De Luigi, Grimshaw

Yassaman Mousavi, Grimshaw

Spyros Efthymiou, AKT II

Nicolo Bencini, Buro Happold Engineering

Mike Cook, Buro Happold Engineering

Eduardo Rico, Architectural Association

VISITING LECTURERS

Each year EmTech invites Visiting Instructors to lead workshops and assist in seminar and studio sessions. Visiting Instructors for last year included:

Jens Pedersen, Aalborg Uninersity

Kostas Grigoriadis, Architectural Association, UCL Bartlett

Axel Koerner, ITKE Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design – University of Stuttgart

Suryansh Chandra, Automata Technologies

Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen, Centre for Complexity Science – Imperial College London

Murat Erkurt, Centre for Complexity Science – Imperial College London

Anand Sahasranaman, Centre for Complexity Science – Imperial College London

DR. GEORGE JERONIMIDIS

Our distinguished colleague Emeritus Professor Dr. George Jeronimidis,  is the director of the Centre for Biomimetics in the School of Construction Management and Engineering. He is an active member of the Smart Materials and Structures Committee of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3) and has published extensively in these fields. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute of Colloid and Interfaces in Potsdam and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Virtual and Physical Prototyping.

PhD RESEARCHERS

Researchers at the AA pursuing their PhD degrees in parallel to EmTech research agenda are:

Mohammed Makki

Milad Showkatbakhsh

Aiman Tabony

Hyunjae Nam

Anna Font Vacas