The Archiologist

Julia Koerner is an award-winning Austrian designer working at the convergence of architecture, product and fashion design. She is internationally recognised for design innovation in 3D-Printing, Her designs have been featured in the National Geographic Magazine, VICE, WIRED and the New York Times among other publications. Julia is founder of JK Design GmbH, specialising in digital design for 3D-Printing. In 2015, Julia launched an entirely 3D-Printed ready-to-wear collection entitled ‘Sporophyte’. Her collaborations involved 3D-Printed fashion pieces developed with Haute Couture Houses for Paris Fashion week and 3D printed costumes for Hollywood entertainment productions such as Marvel’s Black Panther which recently won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. She also collaborated with Swarovski on a showpiece which displays Swarovski’s continued strive for innovation and the early developments of 3D-printing technology with glass.

Born in Salzburg, Austria, Julia received master degrees in Architecture from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and the Architectural Association in London. She is currently based between Los Angeles and Salzburg and has previously practiced in London and New York. Since 2012 Julia has been a faculty member in the Architecture and Urban Design Department at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

In this episode, we talk about what inspires her to create beautiful designs and where she first got the inspiration to become a designer from. We talk about her years in school, and her experience working in many different countries as well as meeting some of her mentors. She goes deep into her creative process and what software she currently uses. We talk about how she gets the amazing collaborations that she has and how she landed the Marvel collaboration to design a costume for Black Panther. We then talk about her opinion on the future of technology and architecture, and finally why she loves being a professor at UCLA. She also gives some great insight into the not so pretty side of collaborations and talks about some of her struggles.

Michael Young is an architect and an educator practicing in New York City where he is a founding partner of the architecture and urban design practice Young & Ayata. Michael is an Assistant Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union. He is the recipient of the 2019-20 Rome Prize from the American Academy of Rome. Formerly, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University and Visiting Lecturer at SCI-Arc.In the Fall of 2016 he was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University. Michael received his Masters of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Michael is a Registered Architect in the State of New York.

Young & Ayata formed a partnership in New York in 2008 to explore the conceptual and aesthetic possibilities of architecture and urbanism. The practice is dedicated to both built commissions and experimental research. The practice views the reality of contemporary building as a provocation for architectural form, material and technology. In following these trajectories it is necessary to understand architecture in its historical processes. Both principals teach and view the educational experience as crucial to the continual development of architectural ideas.

In this episode, Michael and I talk about how important it is for design schools to primarily teach design, because all the projects talk about the real world, even if sometimes we believe that schools don’t teach us enough. We talk about his experience as a student, and how he believes that waiting 2-4 years before going to graduate school is the most beneficial decision. He talks about how his teaching experience has given him the ability to continue learning, year after year, from his students, and how he applies that knowledge into his firm Young & Ayata. We talk a little bit about exactly when he realized that he wanted to create his own studio and why it was so important for him to have a work partner, whom he could trust in order to build something together.

Alvin Huang, AIA is the Founder and Design Principal of Synthesis Design + Architecture and an Associate Professor at the USC School of Architecture. He is an award-winning architect, designer, and educator specializing in the integrated application of material performance, emergent design technologies and digital fabrication in contemporary architectural practice. His work spans all scales ranging from hi-rise towers and mixed-use developments to temporary pavilions and bespoke furnishings.

His work has been published and exhibited widely and has gained international recognition with over 30 distinctions at local, national, and international levels including being honored as the Presidential Emerging Practice of the Year by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter in 2016, being selected as one of 50 global innovators under the age of 50 by Images Publishing in 2015, being featured as a "Next Progressive" by Architect Magazine in 2014, and being named one of Time Magazine's 20 Best Inventors of 2013. He has been an invited critic, guest lecturer, and keynote speaker at various institutions in the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Japan and China.

In this episode, we talk about technologggyyyy! Yeah, that’s right, we talk about a text Alvin wrote not too long ago, where he characterized the intersection between technology and intuition as “techne.” He believes that we should start seeing technology as a provocation (as a means) instead of as a solution (as an ends). He raises the question of what it means for architects and designers to be able to intuitively and knowledgeably using digital tools for fabrication and for designing. We also talk about the term “parametricism” and about how pattern, a focus of his studies for a long time, is actually an architectural device that can communicate a lot for people and its environment. We also talk about pattern for the sake of aesthetics is a waste of time. Don’t forget to listen to this episode!

Kovacs, is an academic professor and an architect, he is a faculty at UCLA and the creator and curator of Archive of Affinities, a website devoted to the collection and display of architectural b-sides. Kovacs’ work on architecture and urbanism has been published widely including Pidgin, Project, Perspecta, Manifest, Metropolis, Clog, Domus, and Fulcrum. His recent design work includes a proposal for a haute dog park in downtown Los Angeles and the renovation of an airstream trailer into a mobile retail store that travels the Pacific Coast Highway.

Archive of Affinities is the longest project he has ever worked on and all of the research and work he does emerges from it. It is a project with no deadline, no client, and no budget. Therefore it is a project that has no outside impositions and is free to be a project of pure passion. Archive of Affinities is both deeply personal and extremely public. Archive of Affinities is a constantly updated collection of architectural images that exploits the dual meaning of affinity and the likeness associated with the word as both personal predilection and the relationship between things.

In this episode, Andrew and I talk about his life-long project called Archive of Affinities, he tells all of us how and why he started the longest projects of his career yet. He describes the relationship he has found along useless images as he calls it, to the architectural field, and how this archive can be of great help for designers to understand architecture better. We talk about his process, how he finds an image and then proceeds to scan it and publish it. We also talk about what he has learned through the archive and how he brought that knowledge with him to do amazing projects for his studio, Studio Kovacs. He then talks about why architecture should be playful and communicative, instead of boring and dull and finally, how we must have fun doing what we love and pursue it.

 Nicolas Turchi is a designer currently working at Zaha Hadid Architects and a Digital Futures PhD scholar at Tongji University. Nicholas holds a Master in Architecture II from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Bologna and University of West of England. He has worked for several firms including Eisenman Architect, Xefirotarch, Mario Cucinella Architects and 5+1AA. Nicolas is particularly interested in emergent technologies and how they affect the theoretical aspect of the discipline. He has also been studying the relationship between architecture and philosophy and graduated with a thesis on Time and Space in architecture, influenced by the thought of Henri Bergson and Edmund Husserl.

For today’s episode we will be talking to Nicolas Turchi about why it is so important for him to expose himself to new circumstances, new cultures, new places, new ideologies, new everything in order to stay ahead. We talk about his different backgrounds, from Italy, to London, to the United States, and to London again… We talk about why he loves working at Zaha Hadid Architects, and he gives us some insights into his thesis project and life long obsession, time and architecture and specifically why he believes that architects must bring something from outside of the discipline, to have a more well-rounded profession. We also talk at great lengths about how parametricism is becoming a new norm, but how we as designers should always stay above that term, and not let the computer design for us nor have parametric designs for the sake of being innovative, but using parametric workflows to be more efficient and have better performance. Really interesting conversation, I am really excited about it, hope you all enjoy! Let the talk begin...

In this episode we talk about her experience attending the top two universities in the United States, Columbia and Harvard. We talk about the most important thing to her "rethinking what design is" and asking the right questions in design. She tells me about how her and her partner Dwayne Oyler started Oyler Wu Collaborative together by basically making ends meet financially only to pay rent and to survive while they felt amazingly motivated to continue working on projects even if they didn’t even a client and she explains how the dedication and hard work has paid off over the years. She talks a little bit about what it is like to have the same partner in life and in work. She also tells the story of how she started LACE, her 3D printed jewelry lane that has grown amazingly over the years. Finally, she gives her best piece of advice to you guys, studying architecture right now or even recent graduates, to learn that school should be the place to study different ideas, you do not need to know exactly who you are now. I loved this conversation, I loved Jenny’s positivism and openness to tell her story with all of you. I cannot wait to hear what you all think!

Jenny Wu received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design.  Currently, Jenny is a member of the design faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc) and Columbia GSAPP.  She has previously taught at institutions such as Syracuse University and Renssellaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition to her architectural practice, she also founded LACE by Jenny Wu, a line of 3D printed jewelry, in 2014.  The pieces have been widely featured in publications such as Forbes, People, and Elle Magazine.  Most recently, Jenny was named one of four design visionaries by Porsche and Dwell Magazine in their "Powered by Design" documentaries, showcasing her pioneering work in 3D printing.

Jenny Wu is a partner at the Los Angeles based architecture firm, Oyler Wu Collaborative, which she founded in 2004 with Dwayne Oyler. The firm is recognized for its experimentation in design, material research, and fabrication, and was the winner of 2013 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record. She was recently named one of the four design visionaries by Porsche and Dwell Magazine in their Powered by Design documentaries, showcasing her pioneering work in 3D printing. The office has won numerous design awards, including the 2013 Emerging Talent Award from AIA California Council, 2012 Presidential Honor Award for Emerging Practice from AIA LA, Taiwan’s ADA Award for Emerging Architect, and 2011 Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League in New York. They published Pendulum Plane in 2009, and most recently Trilogy: SCI Arc Pavilions (SCI-Arc Press) in 2014.

 Arturo Tedeschi is an architect, independent researcher and computational designer, since 2004 complemented professional practice in Italy with a personal research on parametric design, focusing on relationships between architecture and new design tools. In 2010 he published “Architettura Parametrica”, a bestseller book on parametric design, translated into english as “Parametric Architecture with Grasshopper” in 2011. In the same year he worked at Zaha Hadid Architects in London. In 2011 he founded A > T a cloud based office which provides computational design services and training for architects, designers and companies. 

He’s currently director and teacher of a series of workshops on parametric design and he has been an invited lecturer at universities and conferences worldwide. From 2012 to 2014 he is co-director of the AA Rome Visiting School for the Architectural Association School (London). His projects have been exhibited in Rome (MACRO museum), Milan, London, Paris (Carrousel du Louvre, Centre Pompidou), Cologne and Venice (Off event at Biennale 2014). In 2014 he published AAD_Algorithms-Aided Design the worldwide reference book on algorithmic modeling, based on the Grasshopper platform. In 2019 he has been appointed Italian Ambassador for Design at IDD19 by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

​In this episode, we talk about his random encounter with a parametric sculpture at a museum and how it changed his whole life. We talk about what architects he has always admired and where to start learning parametric design. We go deep into the topic of computational design as a new way to assist the designer in a project and how he sees the future of architecture changing due to all this. He gives some insights into what his design process is and how he goes through idea, concept, to final product and what are the obstacles he has faced through the fabrication method. He talks about his beliefs about how architecture is not merely building or real estate, but that to him, architecture is about solving complexities in our everyday objects and making our quality of life better. Finally, he gives advice to all architecture students and designers out there, talking about how competition can destroy our lives and how to take advantage of social media.

Zoe Russian is an experimental architect that is currently focusing on Graphics & Visualizations, visual effects, animations, previs, and post-production. She aspires to improve herself as a designer and continues to learn about the CGI world as much as she can in every way possible. From CG conferences to online classes. She constantly experiments with software, and therefore her style is defined by what she is currently 'ticking' with. However; detail and story-telling with each project is her ultimate goal. 

In this episode, we talk about how her venture into the CGI and VFX world started from a very early age, with her parent’s cinematographic influence. You’re going to learn that she actually studied Architecture but found out about this amazing passion for virtual effects and cinema late in her school years. We speak about how architecture is an evolving career, always challenging the norm of the profession and how you can mix your hobbies and passions into the area of design. We talk about her transition from architecture into animation path and how she was able to mix them together. We also talk about how it feels like to be a female in a predominantly male career. And finally we talk about how does storytelling influence architecture. And the steps that must be taken in order to tell a story that captures the viewers. 

Today we have a very special guest, someone that we have seen grow in their professional career and personal life through our constant contact in social media, Dinorah Martinez Schulte. She is a Mexican architect that graduated from la Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City with a specialization in Creative Design Code from CENTRO. 

She has worked with amazing firms like arquitectura 911, Sordo Madaleno, MAD Architects in China, Rojkind Arquitectos, and 3ARCH. We contacted her because she has done many conferences which she titles “The Utopian Architect” and we wanted to know what it was all about. In her talk, she refers to the many struggles she had finding herself within the profession. Realizing that architecture is NOT only design and construction work, but also entails other things such as marketing, editorial publishing, photography, and many more. She talks about how trying to push herself to be the best left her broken and how she realized that she could not compete with others, and she needed to slow down and take in her circumstances. She gave herself a break from work and studying for a bit, and has found herself again by doing inner work and sharing her personal experience in the design field with students.

 David Drazil is a young architect and artist from the Czech Republic, based in Prague. He has a  passion for visual presentation of architecture; he shares tips & tricks on architectural sketching and creates freebies and educational resources on how to #SketchLikeAnArchitect. He is an online teacher, author, external lecturer AND the founder of SketchLikeAnArchitect.com. He has an engaging community of over 90,000 only on Instagram currently, and has thousands of students taking his sketching courses.

During the conversation, we talk about how and why he started Sketch Like An Architect: how through consistency and passion, he developed an extremely compelling platform for students to understand and feel comfortable sketching. David gives amazing pieces of advice on how to become better at sketching and designing, on how to stop being afraid of failure and how to be more productive and develop faster ideas through sketching. We talk about how design should be more about people and the relationship they have with one another, and not so much on the building. This is an extremely interesting conversation, one you definitely do NOT want to miss! Let the talk begin.