M.S. AAD, GSAPP Columbia University

Architectural Engineer Diploma NTUA

Ezio Blasetti co-founded ahylo, an architectural design, research and construction practice as well as “apomechanes”, an annual intensive summer studio on algorithmic processes and fabrication. Founder of algorithmicdesign.net, Ezio’s recent collaborations include maeta design, biothing, acconci studio, a|Um studio and kwonix. His work as a project architect at Acconci Studio has received awards in international competitions – 2008 Annual Design Review I.D. / Perm Museum XXI / Kravi Hora Sculpture Park. He has taught generative design studios and seminars by means of computational geometry at Columbia University, Pratt Institute, Rensselar Polytechnic Institute, Univeristy of Pennsylvania, Sciarc, the Architectural Association and the Bartlett. In 2004 he co-founded otn studio, a young design-build practice and completed several projects in Greece. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and is part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou.

Francis A. Bitonti is an architect/designer and researcher based in New York. Francis holds a Masters of Architecture from Pratt Institute and a BFA from Long Island University in Digital Media. Francis has worked in a variety of design offices and in disciplines ranging from architecture to industrial design. Currently Francis is the founding principal of FADstudio, FADstudio is dedicated to the research and application of new technologies specifically algorithmic form generation, smart materials, and interactive environments. Francis’s work with FADstudio has been exhibited and published internationally in many prestigious institutions including the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. In addition to his work with FADstudio Francis has been a visiting instructor at Pratt Institute and is currently teaching at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

2012 Spring

• ARCH2210: Architectural Design 1

David Bell is an associate professor and faculty member of Rensselaer’s School of Architecture since 1980. He holds an M.Arch. degree from the University of Virginia, where he had also been in the Ph.D. program in physics before taking up the study of architecture. He has taught architectural design studio and a variety of courses in the history and theory of architecture at every level in Rensselaer’s undergraduate and graduate programs. His writings on the history and theory of architecture have been published in a variety of national and international journals. His most recent articles are “The Irritation of Architecture” in the Spring 2011 issue of the Journal of Architectural Education and “The Panoptic Garden”, which will appear in the book EARTH PERFECT? Nature, Utopia, and the Garden to be published by Black Dog Publications in spring 2012. Professor Bell is currently writing a series of books regarding the formative importance of constraints in the architectural creative process. The first three of these books will appear in 2012. Their titles are Bernini and Borromini: Theater & Heresy, Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia: Knowledge & the Middle Landscape, and Adolf Loos: The Irritation of Modernity.

Evan Douglis is the principal of Evan Douglis Studio; an internationally renowned architecture and interdisciplinary design firm committed to the practice of digital alchemy. The firmʼs unique cutting edge research into computer-aided digital design and fabrication technology, new materials and multi-media installations as applied to a range of diverse gallery installations, commercial projects, and more recently a series of prefabricated modular building assembly systems has elicited international acclaim.

Prior to his appointment as Dean of the of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute he was the chair of the undergraduate department at Pratt institute, an associate assistant professor and the director of the architecture galleries at Columbia University, and a visiting instructor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union.

Recognized for his innovative approach to design Douglisʼ awards include: a NYFA fellowship, a Design Vanguard profile by Architectural Record, an I.D. Magazine Honorable Mention, a FEIDAD Design Merit Award, two finalist nominations for the North American James Beard Foundation Restaurant Design Awards, a selected fellow in the EKWC European Ceramic Work Centreʼs Brick Project Residency Program, an ACADIA Award for Emerging Digital Practice, a Presidential Citation from The Cooper Union and more recently, an AIA/LA Peopleʼs Restaurant Choice Award.

His work has been exhibited at the SAM Swiss Architecture Museum, ARCHILAB in Orléans, France, the MOCA Museum at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, Artist Space in New York and the Rotterdam and London Biennales. His Helioscope project is in the permanent architecture collection at the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France.

His work has been published in the following books and journals: Sign as Surface, INDEX Architecture, The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st c, the Phaidon publication titled 10 x10_2, Distinguishing Digital Architecture, the SAM catalog Re-Sampling Ornament, the AD issues; Protoarchitecture: Analogue and Digital Hybrids and Programming Cultures: Design, Science and Software, FURNISH: Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century, Architecture Now 5 by Taschen

Publishers Digital Architecture Now: a Global Survey of Emerging Talent and Total Fluidity: Studio Hadid Projects 2000-2011. His book Autogenic Structures was published by Taylor & Francis.

Thomas Mical completed his professional M.Arch. at Harvard GSD with a thesis on “Blade Runner Urbanism for Cyber-City Tokyo”, and his first doctorate (in architectural theory) at Georgia Tech and Emory, which examined the influence of Nietzsche‘s Eternal Recurrence in Georgio de Chirico‘s ‘Metaphysical’ Urbanism. His second doctorate, in media-philosophy through the European Graduate School, is entitled “A Hegelian-Surrealism Account of the Genesis and Inversion of Impossible Worlds.” He has worked in the design firms of SOM Chicago and Murphy/Jahn, and is the author of Surrealism and Architecture (Routledge, 2004).

Shundana Yusaf has joined the faculty at the School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Spring 2012. Her teaching interests include modern architecture and mass culture, sound and space, architecture and planning in the age of global imperialism, and British history from early colonialism to late globalization. She has studied architecture at National College of Arts, Lahore, and architectural history at Harvard, MIT, and Princeton University. She has taught at H.ECO College Peshawar University, MIT, Princeton University, and Pratt Institute before joining the faculty at RPI. RPI students interested in developing architectural writing skills and a career in art or architectural history, theory and criticism are encouraged to contact her.

She is currently working on the manuscript of her first book. “Entitled Wireless Sites: Architecture in the Space of British Radio (1927-1945), it is the first detailed exploration of architecture in the age in radiophony. It studies the architectural discourse sponsored by the newly established British Broadcasting Corporation.

Shundana Yusaf has presented her work at ACSA in Québec, IASTE in Bangkok and Oxford University, École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture in Paris, and SAH. She has received grants from Paul Mellon Fellowship in British Art and Architecture, Graham Foundation, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Art and Architecture, and the Common Wealth. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Architecture, TDSR, JSAH, and Architecture + Identity, Thresholds.

Elsewhere, Ghoche has written on ornament in relation to theories of aesthetics from Immanuel Kant to Jules Bourgoin, and on the politicization of the decorative arts in Émile Zola’s utopian novel Travail. Ghoche’s recent publications include “Nature by Design,” published in a special issue of Tarp: Architectural Manual titled “Not-Nature,” and “The Science of the Beautiful: S.C. Constant-Dufeux and the Parabola as Constructive and Symbolic Form,” published in Nuts and Bolts of Construction History: Culture, Technology and Society (Picard, 2012). He is currently preparing a comprehensive article on ornament in the nineteenth century to be published in the Blackwell compendium to nineteenth-century architecture in the spring of 2013.

Prior to his recent appointment as a Lecturer at Rensselaer, Ghoche taught architectural history and theory at Pratt Institute from 2007 to 2012. Ghoche has also taught at Columbia University and at Vassar College.

Courses

2012 Fall

• ARCH4140- Modernity in Culture and Architecture

With a background in music, sociology and cognitive science, Sykes began his career working with Walter Gropius’ firm TAC in Cambridge (projects in the middle east & healthcare). He then joined TAC-co-founder Ben Thompson to work on design research projects exploring the boundaries between behavioral economics and market theory (e.g., Faneuil Hall, Design Research). During this period he re-visited a childhood passion for product design (furniture, housewares, apparel, travelware, man-machine interfaces). After a brief interlude at Harvard Business School, he launched a company manufacturing his own products that scaled quickly enabling him to sell the company. Offered a professorship at Boston University, he organized a research center called PIRI to investigate cognitive issues related to information technology. The group coined two terms that have become generic: “cognitive ergonomics” and “information architecture.” During this period, Sykes worked with Steve Jobs and Apple Computer to create the “desktop publishing” market. He also linked PIRI to Congress and built a research partnership to consider the social impacts of the information revolution. This work became a book from MIT Press and a software company that was then sold to a large public company. This transaction drew Sykes back to San Francisco to run a division of the acquirer. Following a major earthquake that destroyed his house, he returned to Cambridge and worked with MIT-based, venture-backed early-stage companies in the software, environmental technologies and new media industries. A meeting with national medal of science winner Leo Beranek and other MIT luminaries at the architectural acoustics firm, Bolt Beranek and Newman and WorldWideWeb founder Tim Berners-Lee led to several patents and the funding of an entrepreneurial venture that pioneered the architectural acoustics field of “speech privacy.” While working on speech privacy, Sykes reengaged with members of Congress to develop public policy related to privacy laws in healthcare and financial services. This led to the founding of the Acoustics Research Council, a public interest group focused on policy issues related to the funding of research and development in acoustical science and to the development of design guidelines for the healthcare industry subsequently adopted by the US Green Building Council and the International Code Council. Following his contribution to the National Academy of Engineering report “Technology for a Quieter America” Sykes and his partners launched the “Towards a Quieter America” project. Sykes has appeared on CNBC and has been profiled in and/or quoted by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune, Christian Science Monitor and other media.

MS. AAD. Columbia University School of Architecture Planning and Preservation

B.Arch. Southern California Institute of Architecture

Brian DeLuna currently works in New York City and has taught as a Professor of Architecture at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is the principal of Parabol, an interdisciplinary design firm operating in New York and Los Angeles. Prior work experience includes teaching at Princeton University; assistant to Hani Rashid; and conducting several workshops throughout the United States focusing on Digital Design and Visualization. Brian gained professional experience from collaborating with international architecture firms including Xefirotarch and Asymptote Architecture where he supervised a wide range of high profile projects as a senior designer.

Russ Leslie, M.Arch., is a practicing architect, Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Associate Director of the Lighting Research Center (LRC). Co-author of the proposal which established the LRC, Leslie is responsible for program development and operation of the LRC’s $6.0 million dollar annual research and education operation. He is program head for the LRC’s graduate programs in lighting. Leslie conducts research in architecture, lighting, daylighting, light art, and energy efficiency. He teaches lighting design, inventions, energy, and lighting for developing countries. He is project architect for over one hundred buildings, has authored numerous research reports, books, and articles on lighting, daylight, architecture, and energy, including the award-winning Lighting Pattern Book for Home and The Outdoor Lighting Pattern Book. Leslie developed and directed the National Lighting Product Information Program and has been the Feltman Chair in Lighting at Cooper Union. He has served as Director of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and as Chair of the Society for Building Science Educators. He is a Rensselaer Distinguished Teaching Fellow and a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society. He has won two Society for Technical Communications international awards, the Governor’s Award for Energy Excellence, and the AIA School Medal.

John Pocorobba holds responsibility for EYP Architecture & Engineering’s overall operations and project profitability. He leads the firm’s Venture Team, where he applies his strategic planning skills to a broad range of initiatives including business development and corporate branding. He is also charged with developing the firm’s project delivery systems and securing and growing EYP’s professional staff. An early proponent of Building Informational Modeling (BIM), John has been instrumental in the development of two innovative in-house programs, A16 and E10, which are designed to ensure that the firm maintains its leadership in Integrated Project Delivery with BIM by developing the technical and leadership skills of top young talent. A16 is an intensive learning program for architects; E10 provides a similar experience for engineers. These innovative programs along with John’s leadership positioned the firm to be selected as one of the Nation’s Best Firms to Work For by Building Design + Construction Magazine in 2012. John’s expertise in BIM, Integrated Project Delivery and Leadership makes him a nationally sought-after speaker. Prior to assuming his current business leadership role, John focused his career on programming and designing complex, high-technology buildings. One of the Capital District Business Review’s “40 Under 40,” his civic engagement and business acumen also earned him a place in Albany’s Capital Leadership Program.

Stephen F. Reilly is a licensed architect and LEED Accredited Professional with more than 20 years’ experience working on some of the most important historic structures in the United States. He has a strong materials conservation and technical background, and he is particularly experienced with projects involving preservation, restoration, adaptive reuse and contextual additions. Stephen holds Architecture and Building Science degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and has a senior associate and project director with EYP Architecture & Engineering, Inc. since 2007. Prior to joining EYP, Stephen worked for the architecture firms of John G. Waite Associates Architects PLLC, Ann Beha Associates, and Mesick Cohen Waite Architects. Stephen has been an adjunct faculty member at Rensselaer since 2001; a member of the Board of Directors of the Historic Albany Foundation since 2008; a technical reviewer for the Association for Preservation Technology International since 1999; and this year was appointed a planning board commissioner in the Village of Voorheesville, NY. Most recently at EYP, Stephen has directed projects including restorations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City; the Naval Academy Chapel at Annapolis, Maryland; the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; Governors Island National Monument in New York City; Ellis Island Recreation Pavilions, New York City; the structural stabilization of Castle Williams on Governor’s Island; and selected projects at the Harry S. Truman, and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Libraries in Independence, Missouri and Hyde Park, New York, respectively. Stephen is also currently conducting research on the history of the Norcross Company, the contractors for many of H. H. Richardson’s greatest buildings.

M.S. AAD, GSAPP Columbia University

Architectural Engineer Diploma NTUA

Ezio Blasetti co-founded ahylo, an architectural design, research and construction practice as well as “apomechanes”, an annual intensive summer studio on algorithmic processes and fabrication. Founder of algorithmicdesign.net, Ezio’s recent collaborations include maeta design, biothing, acconci studio, a|Um studio and kwonix. His work as a project architect at Acconci Studio has received awards in international competitions – 2008 Annual Design Review I.D. / Perm Museum XXI / Kravi Hora Sculpture Park. He has taught generative design studios and seminars by means of computational geometry at Columbia University, Pratt Institute, Rensselar Polytechnic Institute, Univeristy of Pennsylvania, Sciarc, the Architectural Association and the Bartlett. In 2004 he co-founded otn studio, a young design-build practice and completed several projects in Greece. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and is part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou.

B.S., Inha University

M.Arch., Columbia University, GSAPP

Eunjeong Seong is an architect based in New York City. Seong’s architectural and urban design work have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and presented in lectures and conferences at MoMA as well as Columbia University and PS1. Her work has also been shown on television on MSNBC, Reuters and Fox Business News. Seong has extensive experience in housing design in the United States and prior to forming her firm, Visible Weather, she was a project designer at SHoP Architects, Dean/Wolf, and SPACE Group, Seoul. She was the founding director of a New York design office for Michigan based Yamasaki Associates in 2007. Seong holds a Master of Architecture Degree from Columbia University, where she was awarded the Matthew W. Del Gaudio Award for excellence in design over the six-semester graduate program. She has written for SPACE magazine where she also served as the New York contributing editor. Seong has taught at RPI, RISD and the New School and currently teaches in the Degree Project program at Pratt Institute. Seong was installation designer and assistant curator for an exhibition titled “Flatiron, High and Low” curated by Joan Ockman at the Van Alen Institute, New York.

Bachelor of Arts, Architecture, University of California Berkeley

M.Arch., University of California Los Angeles

Born in La Jolla, California in 1970, Tom Wiscombe is a licensed architect living in the United States. He is founder and principal of Tom Wiscombe Design, an internationally recognized contemporary design office. His work stands out in terms of its synthesis of form, pattern, color, and technology into singular, irreducible constructions.

Wiscombe has developed an international reputation through winning competition entries, exhibitions of work at major cultural institutions, and publications worldwide. In 2011, Wiscombe won first place in two competitions for the 2013 Chinese National Games. His work is part of the permanent collection of the FRAC Centre Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, MoMA San Francisco, and MoMA New York. ICON Magazine, in its May 2009 issue, named Wiscombe one of the “top 20 architects in the world who are making the future and transforming the way we work”.

Wiscombe is a senior faculty member at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and currently holds the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professorship at Yale University.

Previously, Wiscombe worked for Coop Himmelb(l)au, where he was the right hand of Principal Wolf Prix for over 10 years. Notably, he was Chief Designer for BMW Welt, Munich, known as one of the most important works of architecture of the 21st century.

B.S., Architecture and Urbanism, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil

M.S., Lighting, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;

Ph.D., Multidisciplinary Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., is Light and Health Program Director at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) and Associate Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She conducts research on the effect of light on human health, circadian photobiology, and lighting for older adults. Figueiro holds a bachelor’s in architectural engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and a master’s in lighting and a doctorate in multidisciplinary science from Rensselaer. Her master’s and Ph.D. dissertation research focused on the area of human circadian response to light. Figueiro is the recipient of the 2007 NYSTAR James D. Watson Award, the 2008 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and the 2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute James M. Tien ’66 Early Career Award for Faculty. She is the author of numerous scientific articles in her field of research, along with the AARP-sponsored publication, Lighting the Way: a Key to Independence, which provides guidelines for the design of lighting to meet the needs of older adults. In addition, Figueiro has developed a 24-hour lighting design plan to help improve sleep quality in older adults and has conducted groundbreaking research in the use of lighting to improve postural stability among older populations.