Director – Theodore Spyropoulos
Dr. Theodore Spyropoulos is the Director of the Architectural Association’s Design Research Lab (AADRL) in London and resident artist at Somerset House. Theodore has previously chaired the AA Graduate School, was Professor of Architecture at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt and a visiting Research Fellow at M.I.T.’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. He co-founded the experimental art, architecture and design practice Minimaforms. The work of Minimaforms has been acquired by international art and architecture collections that include the FRAC Centre, the Signum Foundation and the Archigram Archive. He has been exhibited at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Barbican Centre, Onassis Cultural Centre, MoCA Taipei, Somerset House, Detroit Institute of Arts, Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Leonardo Da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology and the ICA. Theodore has previously worked for the offices of Peter Eisenman and Zaha Hadid Architects. He received his Bachelor of Architecture with honours from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, his Master of Architecture and Urbanism from the Architectural Association and his PhD from University College of London, Bartlett School of Architecture. In 2013 the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture awarded him the ACADIA award of excellence for his educational work directing the AADRL. He has been published internationally including authoring Adaptive Ecologies: Correlated Systems of Living (2013), Enabling (2010) and forthcoming Behaviors (2021).
Founder – Patrik Schumacher
Dr. Patrik Schumacher is principal of Zaha Hadid Architects and is leading the firm since Zaha Hadid’s passing in March 2016. He joined Zaha Hadid in 1988 and was seminal in developing Zaha Hadid Architects to become a 400 strong global architecture and design brand. Patrik Schumacher studied philosophy, mathematics and architecture in Bonn, Stuttgart and London. He received his Diploma in architecture in 1990. He has been a partner since 2003 and a co-author on all projects. In 2010 Patrik Schumacher won the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture together with Zaha Hadid, for MAXXI, the National Italian Museum for Art and Architecture of the 21st century in Rome. He is an academician of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1996 he founded the Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association in London where he continues to teach. In 1999 he completed his PHD at theInstitute for Cultural Science, Klagenfurt University. Patrik Schumacher is lecturing worldwide and is currently a guest professor at Harvard’s GSD. Over the last 20 years he has contributed over 100 articles to architectural journals and anthologies. In 2008 he coined the phrase Parametricism and has since published a series of manifestos promoting Parametricism as the new epochal style for the 21st century. In 2010/2012 he published his two-volume theoretical opus magnum “The Autopoiesis of Architecture”. Patrik Schumacher is widely recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders within the fields of architecture, urbanism and design.
Course Master – Shajay Bhooshan
Shajay is an Associate at Zaha Hadid Architects where he heads the research activities of the Computation and Design (CoDe) group. He also works as a studio master at the AA DRL Master’s program in London. He pursues his research in structure and fabrication aware architectural geometry as a PhD Candidate at the Block Research Group, ETH Zurich. Previously, he has worked at Populous, London and completed his M.Phil from the university of Bath and M. Arch from the AA School of Architecture, London.
Course Master – Alicia Nahmad Vazquez
Dr. Alicia Nahmad Vazquez is the founder of Architecture Extrapolated (R-Ex) and works as studio master at the AA DRL. As a research-based practising architect, Alicia explores materials and digital design and fabrication technologies along with the digitization of building trades and the wisdom of traditional building cultures. Her projects include the construction of award-winning ‘Knit-Candela’ and diverse collaborations with practice and academic institutions. She holds a PhD in human-robot collaborative (HRC) design from Cardiff University and a MArch from the AADRL. Alicia previously worked on a large range of projects for practices like Populous and Zaha Hadid architects. Alicia has also been an Artist-In-Residence at Autodesk Pier 9, and has taught and lectured extensively in Latin America and Europe. Her research has been widely published internationally in journals and conference proceedings.
Course Tutor – Pierandrea Angius
Dr. Pierandrea Angius is an Architect and an Educator, specialised in the application of procedural and form-finding techniques at all stages of the design process with an established expertise in the design development of complex and large scale buildings. He holds a PhD in Building Technology and he received his MArch in Architecture and Urbanism from the AA School. He is an Associate at Zaha Hadid Architects and since 2009 has taught at the London Design Studio of the University of Pennsylvania Visiting Design Studio.
Course Tutor – Evangelia Magnisali
Eva Magnisali is the Head of Robotics at Bryden Wood, where she is responsible for creating and implementing the company’s Digital Manufacture and Robotics strategy. She is currently working on the development of Bryden Wood’s Framework for Robotics and Automated Construction, aiming to de-risk and optimise the use of 6-axis industrial robotic arms for offsite construction through a DfMA and technology-led creative design approach. Eva is also the founder of DataForm Lab, an Architectural Robotics consultancy based in London. Previously, Eva coordinated the Architectural Robotics Lab of the University of Westminster, leading research projects that explored emerging techniques around digital manufacturing and robotics. As an architect, she has been involved in large-scale infrastructure projects at Foster+Partners, using advanced computational tools to deliver complex facades, always focusing on bridging the gap between design and its materialisation. Eva is also actively involved in academia, teaching at the Design Research Laboratory of the Architectural Association and the University of Westminster, and she has lectured and presented her work internationally.
Course Tutor – Apostolos Despotidis
Apostolos Despotidis is a registered architect in UK and in Greece. He is working as an Associate Partner at Foster and Partners where he is involved in a wide range of projects worldwide. He is a tutor at the Architectural Association since 2013 focusing on the development of the prototypes at the DRL while running various design workshops in the UK (Architectural Association, Royal College of Art, École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris). He holds an MArch degree from the DRL in the Architectural Association and an Architect/Engineer degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Course Tutor – Mostafa El-Sayed
Mostafa co-founded the robotic company Automata. Prior to setting up his company he worked at the office of Zaha Hadid Architects within the computational design department. At the DRL Mostafa specialises in combining design and technology in the field of fabrication and architecture. Mostafa has engaged with varied audiences from automotive design to 3d printing companies prior to finding a shared interest in simplifying robotics and their applications.
Course Tutor – Ryan Dillon
Ryan Dillon studied architecture at Syracuse University and holds an MA from the AA's Histories and Theories programme. He has been Unit Master of Intermediate 5 since 2013 and currently teaches in the AA's undergraduate History & Theory programme and the AA DRL, where he serves as Programme Coordinator. He has also taught at the University of Brighton. He has previously worked at Moshe Safdie Architects on projects such as the Khalsa Heritage Complex and the Peabody Essex Museum.
Technical Tutor – Albert Williamson-Taylor
Albert is one of the co-founders of the leading engineering office AKT II. He is a member of the Newham Design Review Panel as well as previously sitting on the Southwark Design Review Panel from 2006-2012. In 2008, Albert was made a fellow of the Institute of Structural Engineers and granted an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2009. He has been lead technical tutor within the program since 2011.
Program Coordinator – Alexandra Vougia
Dr. Alexandra Vougia graduated in 2007 from the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She holds an MS in Advanced Architectural Design from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation – GSAPP, Columbia University (2008). In June 2016, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the Architectural Association – School of Architecture, London. Alexandra has been teaching at the Architectural Association since 2012. She is currently a studio master in the First Year Studio of the AA Experimental Programme and a Programme Coordinator and Course tutor in the Master of Architecture and Urbanism (MArch) – DRL. Since 2009, together with Platon Issaias and Theodossis Issaias, Alexandra works at Fatura Collaborative, an architecture and research collective.
Course Tutor – Aleksandar Bursac
Aleksandar received training as an architect in Belgrade, but soon discovered that his interests expand into more specialized areas of design. Following his move to London to study at the AADRL he worked in an experimental office spear-headed by Soomeen Hahm where they focused on the problems of digital fabrication. Following this experience, he joined Zaha Hadid Architects where he currently works as a designer.
Seminar Tutors:
Klaus Platzgummer
Technical Tutors:
Edoardo Tibuzzi
Danae Polyviou
Software Tutors:
Mariana Custodio Dos Santos
Federico Borello
Konstantina Stella Tsagkaratou
Torsten Broeder
Octavian Mihai Gheorghiu
Consultants:
Andy Watts