Playing Models Artificial Intelligence - Architecture - Storytelling is a series of yearly symposiums that began in 2022 as a collaboration between the University of Florida and the Chair of Digital Architectonics at ETH Zurich. Currently in its third cycle the symposium aims to develop a platform to share thoughts on the mathematical, political, and philosophical shifts emerging with the spread of AI and its many faces.

Architecture as an intelligence of jointing and connecting seemingly disparate concepts, methods, and realms is situated at the core of our discussions, telling stories about the world while being firmly present within it.

For each cycle of the symposium through lectures and panel discussions, the invited guests focus on particular themes within the larger umbrella of Playing Models.

All events are free of charge to attend in person and are broadcasted live via our YouTube channel.

team

  • Karla Saldaña Ochoa - Lead Organiser

    Karla Saldana Ochoa is a Tenured Track Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida and a faculty affiliate at the AI2 Center, the Center of Latin American Studies, and FIBER. Karla is the director of SHARE Lab, a research group focused on developing projects that leverage the interaction between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human intelligence applied to boost creativity in architectural design and create tools to analyze Big Data of Urban Phenomena. She collaborates on international projects in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, and Ecuador. Karla is an Ecuadorian architect and coder with a Master of Advanced Studies in Landscape Architecture and a Ph.D. in Technology in Architecture from ETH Zurich. Her Ph.D. researched the integration of Artificial and Human Intelligence for an accurate and agile response to natural disasters, leveraging a multimodal fusion approach for ML inference.

  • Adil Bokhari - Lead Organiser

    Adil is currently a PhD candidate at the Chair of Digital Architectonics at ETH Zürich and conducts the architecture design studio for the chair: Studio Meteora. Previously he has been a guest professor at the Peter Behrens School of Arts in Düsseldorf, and has worked as a visual studies and studio tutor at the Dessau Institute of Architecture, Städelschule Architecture Class, and National College of Arts. Professional experience also includes Najmi Bilgrami Collaborative in Karachi, Zvi Hecker Architect in Berlin and Atelier Manferdini in Los Angeles.

  • Lee-Su Huang - Lead Organiser

    Lee-Su Huang is a designer, educator, and researcher specializing in digital fabrication, parametric design, kinetic architecture, and interactive installations. He is currently a Senior Lecturer and Instructional Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida. Lee-Su received his Bachelor of Architecture from Feng-Chia University in Taiwan in 2003 and practiced in Taiwan with various firms before attaining his Master in Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2009. Afterwards, he worked for digitally innovative practices such as LASSA Architects in Seoul, Korea and Preston Scott Cohen Inc. in Cambridge, MA, specializing in complex geometry and digital fabrication.

  • Agostino Nickl - Lead Organiser

    Agostino is a Doctoral Fellow at the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA), ETH Zürich. He received the Architecture & Technology Doctoral Fellowship in 2021. Currently, Agostino is a researcher within the Digital Architectonics research group, supervised by Prof. Ludger Hovestadt and Prof. Vera Bühlmann. Before joining ETHZ, he worked at Arup Studio in London, an interdisciplinary design innovation team, and taught Architectural Design at the Oxford School of Architecture and Landscape Design and Videogame Urbanism Theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Agostino graduated with a Master’s degree (distinction) at the Bartlett School of Architecture under Prof. Laura Allen and Prof. Mark Smout in unit 11, where his work was awarded the Sir Banister Fletcher Medal, the Bartlett School of Architecture Medal and the Saint Gobain Innovation Prize

  • Wei-Chun Cheng - Organiser

    Wei-Chun Cheng is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. Cheng received MS degree in Design Theory, Pedagogy, and Architectural Technologies from SCI-Arc, where he graduated with distinction and received the “Hsinming Fung and Craig Hodgetts” Post Grad Thesis Prize. In addition, he holds an M.Arch Degree from Rhode Island School of Design, where he was awarded the AIA Norton Salk Scholarship for Design Excellence. He has extensive professional experience, having practiced in Tokyo, Taipei, and Cambridge (USA). In addition to practice, he has taught as an Adjunct faculty at the Boston Architectural College. His background in architectural design strongly informs his interests in design theory, machine vision, and platform design. His research investigates the role of representation in architectural design, exploring how technique, medium, and technology reform architectural design in the age of artificial intelligence.

  • Yasin Delavar - Organiser

    Yasin Delavar, a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida, is an experienced architectural designer with expertise in various design areas gained from both academic and professional settings. Inspired by the famous quote, 'God is in the details,' he strives to be detail-oriented in his work and approach to design. In his Ph.D. journey, Yasin is exploring the application of AI in the built environment. He is currently engaged in a research project to develop Digital Twin for the University of Florida campus.

  • Mobina Nourani - Organiser

    Mobina Nourani is a Ph.D. student in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida, where she explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and computer engineering. Building upon her academic journey, Mobina earned a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence-Computer Engineering from Iran in 2022. Her master's thesis, titled "Emotional Detection from Facial Images Using New Activation Function with Deep Learning," showcases her expertise in leveraging advanced technologies for emotion recognition. Prior to her master's studies, she completed a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology engineering in Iran in 2017. With a strong foundation in technology and a focus on cutting-edge research, Mobina is committed to pushing the boundaries of architectural applications through innovative technology solutions.

Previous Collaborators

Dr. Nikola Marincic (2023)
Dr. Guo Xifeng (2022)

Invited Participants

Pierluigi D’Acunto / Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Igor Pantic / University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture

Benjamin Ennemoser / Texas A&M University (TAMU)

Adil Bokhari / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Agostino Nickl / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Laure Michelon / University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Riccardo Villa / Technical University of Vienna (TU Vienna)

Nikola Marincic / University of Florida (UF)

Vera Bühlmann / Technical University of Vienna (TU Vienna)

Michael Doyle / Université Laval

Philippe Morel / University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture

Tina Tallon / University of Florida (UF)

Julian Besems / University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture

Heidi Boisvert / University of Florida (UF)

Karla Saldana Ochoa / University of Florida (UF), School of Architecture

Romana Rust / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Jorge Orozco / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Oneil Howell / Bad Robot Games Studio / Facebook/Meta

Damjan Jovanovic / Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

Ludger Hovestadt / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)

Guo Zifeng / University of Florida (UF)

Miro Roman / University of Innsbruck

Lee-Su Huang / University of Florida (UF)

Daniela Mitterberger / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) / MAEID

Sponsors