USC Architecture Research Symposium

Please join us for the 2023 USC Architecture Research Symposium, “Technological Advancements in Architecture: Challenges and Opportunities for Designers” on April 12-13, 2023. See the full program below.

RSVP by Monday, April 10: https://forms.gle/988HqSbup95k3vyE6

Contact Kay Chang (kaychang@usc.edu) with questions or for more information.

VIEW EVENT PROGRAM + SCHEDULE

PHOTOS

STUDENT POSTERS

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Keynote speaker

Kerenza Harris is the Director of Design Technology and Associate Principal at Morphosis since 2008, she oversees advanced computational design and simulation for all projects at Morphosis. Her team focuses on the research, development and integration of advanced technologies into the design and construction process, using diverse software to model and rationalize complex forms, envelopes, and structures. She also guides the firm’s use of XR technology to create immersive environments that aid in testing and communicating concepts through all phases.

Her credits in Morphosis are extensive including Milan Design Week 2019: INTERFACES, Phare Tower, Crow Museum at O’Donnell Athenæum, UT Dallas, lululemon Store Support Centre, Beirut New Embassy Campus, Eni Headquarters in San Donato Milanese, Vialia Estación de Vigo, Yangtze River International Conference Center, Sejong M-Bridge, Hanking Center Tower, Vanke Headquarters, Kolon One & Only Tower, Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, Quay Quarter Sydney, and most recently she worked on the design and documentation of the TerraCotta cladding assembly for the Orange County Museum of Art that just opened in 2023.

Simultaneous digital evolutions

This talk will provide a look into an evolving paradigm of modeling; A singular approach to the making of architecture based on the conceptualization of the working “model” as the driver of parametric organizations of complex systems. Our digital tools increasingly facilitate real-time feedback of these systems interactions. They allow us to manage, manipulate, and explore complexities while also increasing our capabilities to generate variable outputs with identical performance criteria. We shift our focus from a single design ‘solution’ and instead move towards a broader organizational system-based design process where multiple emerging directions and possibilities are simultaneously occurring. Architectural elements contain multiple identities, possibilities, and relationships resulting in a richer ecosystem of factors capable of producing surprising, compelling, and oftentimes more effective design outcomes.