Design + Research Group

Thursday, October 3, 11:00am
Research Technology

Jared Abraham, Associate Studio Professor @ CMU, will present “AI for the rapid production of architectural studies, testing formal variations, and expanding design ideation” based on his student’s work from his Mobile Home 2nd Year Options Studio, which utilized a hybrid design approach, combining traditional analog media with AI image-generation tools. Students first produced hand drawings and physical study models. Images of students’ drawings and models were then combined with text descriptions in Midjourney (an AI image generator), producing an array of digital images representing formal variations based on the analog inputs. Students were then forced to grapple with the question of what (if anything) should be incorporated into their designs. See https://www.architecture.cmu.edu/news/e-span-newsletter-v032 , and https://www.architecture.cmu.edu/profiles/jared-abraham for more information. 

Thursday, November 7, 11:00
How-To Session

Lynn Lynn Kawaratani, Arts and Humanities Librarian – Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries on “Effective AI-assisted Research Literature Searches for the Built Environment” Lynn serves as the Arts and Humanities Librarian where she liaises with the School of Architecture and manages the Architecture Archives at Carnegie Mellon University. She specializes in data visualization and community engagement. Her current research focuses on developing materials collections.

Wednesday, December 4, 2:00pm
Research Presentation

AECM Synthesis reports on AI for PID in Pittsburgh

Near Future Opportunities

Brunner Grant: $15,000 (match required), mid-career architects, due February 2023. 

Graham Foundation, Grants to Organizations: (Non-profits only) Due in February 2023.

Distant Future opportunities

AIA Upjohn Research Initiative, Due September 1, 2023

Latrobe Prize (Stage one Review due in November 2023): No application details posted yet, Perkins Eastman current, extended 1 year

Joshua Lee, PhD, AIA | Chair
Carnegie Mellon University

Research Interests:
sustainable design, adaptable architecture, systems-based architecture, public interest design, post-occupancy evaluation, and educational facilities.

Azadeh Sawyer, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University

Research Interests:
Sustainable Design , Facade, Health Outcomes, Daylighting, Simulation

Chris Guignon, AIA
GBBN

Research Interests:
Sustainable Design, Building Physics, Adaptive Reuse, Air Quality, Phenomenology, Futurology

Christian (Chris) Pegher, AIA
WTW Architects

Dina Snider, AIA
Strada

Drew Armstrong, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

Research Interests:
architecture historian (with a B.Arch.); specialization in late 19th-early 20th century architecture US + Europe; currently working on research in the Oakland neighborhood and Pitt campus; buildings I’m studying right now include Rodef Shalom Synagogue and the Frick Fine Arts Building. Will be teaching an undergraduate course on the Pitt campus and adjacent communities this fall.

Ed Shriver, FAIA
Strada

Research Interests:
Urban Design, Neuroscience, Urban Ecology

Emily Chmielewski, EDAC
Perkins Eastman

Research Interests:
Founding member of Perkins Eastman’s Design Research Department, an industry-forerunner of practice-based environment-behavior research; advocate for research in practice and helps create better built environments by pushing the boundaries of professional knowledge and improving environmental design through design research. 

Areas of focus: senior living and K-12 educational environments.

Erica Cochran Hameen, PhD, NOMA, Assoc. AIA
Carnegie Mellon University

Research Interests:
Daylighting, Simulation, Social Equity, Energy Tools AECM

Jason Brody
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ)

Research Interests:
Adaptive Reuse, Sustainability, Materials, Community Impact, Mass Timber Construction (Embodied Energy, Carbon, Affordable Housing), Food production (vertical farming, brownfield redevelopment)

Jeff Light
DLA+

Jeff Murray, FAIA
CannonDesign

Research Interests:
Prototype design of COVID testing booths, AR, Computational Design, Energy Modeling, Design Blueprint for Better (Human-Environment Interaction and wellbeing), Design of Research Buildings

Kirsten Wade, AIA
University of Pittsburgh

Research Interests:
neuroscience/mental health + built environment, how place-based experience affects identity at the community & individual level, equitable urban development

Michelle Fanzo
AIA Pittsburgh

Research Interests:
BluePrint for Better, Neuroscience related to the built environment; urban resilience/ disaster preparedness; decon/ reuse/ circular economy for building material

Nathan Myers
Jacobs

Research Interests:
Sustainable Community Development, Focused on large scale intermodal transportation hubs, Power Generation, Water purification, Vertical Farming, regional infrastructure

Sara Chodkowski
Stantec

Research Interests: Building Performance, Internal Programming, Database of Program Performance, Open Offices, Education

Amanda Markovic
GBBN

Research Interests:
Sustainable community development, community libraries, Blueprint for Better Pittsburgh, community wellbeing through the built environment, neuroscience

Shan Jiang, PhD
GBBN

Research Interests:
People-enviornment relationship, therapeutic landscapes, healthcare design, evidence-based design, sustainable community development

Dario Giandomenico, AIA
Studio APERTO

Research Interests: Interdisciplinary/integrated Practice, Integrated Project Delivery, High-performance Buildings, Adaptive Reuse, Deconstruction/salvage/reuse, Building Technologies, Material + Product Development