Matias del Campo
SPAN Architects, Vienna
www.span.vox.com

Vienna based Architecture Firm SPAN, headed by Matias del Campo and Sandra Manninger, is driven by a compulsive desire to speculate about architectural opportunities in the presence of animated matter, organic entities and their underlying geometrical and mathematical logics. Their award winning architecture designs fuse these obsessions into projects applying the most advanced digital design tools and cast them into form by computer-controlled machinery. Their activities include Architecture Design, exhibitions and lectures as well as teaching in various countries and institutions such as the ESARQ in Barcelona, The Dessau Institute of Architecture at the Bauhaus and the Postgraduate Course of the Angewandte in Vienna.

Marc Fornes
THEVERYMANY
www.theverymany.net

Arnold Walz
DesignToProduction
www.designtoproduction.com

Arnold Walz, Architect (born 1953 in Stuttgart) studied architecture and planning theory at the University of Stuttgart. He started as one of the fi rst to develop parametric CAD-models for design optimization, construction planning and helped to improve workmanship and precision of some of the most discussed buildings of the past years such as the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Centrum Paul Klee in Bern, P&C Weltstadthaus in Cologne, the new Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Lufthansa Headquarters Frankfurt and many others.
In his long professional background, he has collaborated with architects such as Frei Otto, Bodo Rasch, Christoph Ingenhoven, Renzo Piano, Ben van Berkel, Zaha Hadid, Herzog de Meuron and some of Germany’s most innovative engineers, such as Bollinger Grohmann, Jörg Schlaich, Victor Wilhelm and Werner Sobek. In 2006 he founded, together with Fabian Scheurer, DesignToProduction with offices in Stuttgart and Zürich.

Cristiano Ceccato
Zaha Hadid Architects
www.zaha-hadid.com

Cristiano Ceccato (Milan, Italy, 1968) is currently a Lead Architect with Zaha Hadid Architects in London. His work entails a range of management, design and technology leadership responsibilities, leading large-scale public and private projects. Professional focus includes technical team management, design and development of building infrastructure, systems and cladding, including geometric rationalization and constructability resolution of structural and envelope systems; Project governance and cost control through the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems and associated practice methodologies across the firm.

Cristiano was a co-founder and Director of Research & Consulting of Gehry Technologies, where he was responsible for professional consulting services and technology transfer. At Gehry Partners he was responsible for the development and application of parametric design tools and integrated modeling principles, and associated digital construction methods, on a wide range of design projects at all stages of development. In addition to Frank Gehry projects, Cristiano worked on a wide range of external projects through Gehry Technologies, most recently the Swire One Island East Tower in Hong Kong and the new 2008 Olympic Stadium in Beijing with Herzog & de Meuron and ARUP, as well as cross-disciplinary research with Boeing.

Cristiano trained as an architect and computer scientist, and specializes in the development of design solutions for complex forms using parametric technologies and computer programming, supporting computational design tools and associated fabrication methods. Cristiano has practiced architecture in Europe, Asia and the US. He has lectured widely on the subject of computational rule-based design systems and parametric form finding in digital building processes. He has held academic faculty positions in London, Milan, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Australia, where he is currently a Visiting Professor of Architecture at QUT. He received his professional Diploma in Architecture degree from the Architectural Association (1996) and an MS in Computer Science from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London (1997). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK) in 2004.

Mr. Stanton joined Buro Happold in the Fall of 2007 to initiate the development of the New York office Special Projects group. This group is a collection of imaginative designers with backgrounds in Structural Engineering, Architecture and Computer Science that work collaboratively to solve complex or non-standard engineering challenges. There are a number of Special Projects groups spanning several offices within Buro Happold that are intended to be research groups in Structural Engineering design.

Prior to joining Buro Happold, Mr. Stanton completed his studies in Mechanical Engineering, Structural Engineering and Architecture in 1998, eventually working towards a Doctoral Degree in Architecture that explored the relationship between each field in a digital environment. This followed an exploration of structural design as a guest student at the ETH in Zurich in 1997. After working in Architecture and Structural Engineering, Mr. Stanton received licensure in both fields in 2000.

Throughout his career, Mr. Stanton has been involved with universities, either as a teacher or contributing through lectures and reviews. In 2000 and 2001, he taught Structures 1 and 2 to undergraduate and graduate architecture students at the University of Michigan. In 2007, he continued his teaching career at the Pratt Institute in New York City with a graduate level seminar in the History of Structural Art that he is still teaching today.

Mr. Stanton’s current interests and explorations are in the development of non-standard structural materials and the evolution of structural form in a digital environment.

Luca Buzzoni joined Arup in 2003, following his graduation in Structural Engineering from Bologna University. His experience includes the design of structures from concrete, steel and timber and the refurbishment of existing buildings.
His experience is particularly focused on the design of seismic resistant structures and sport venues and stadia. He lectures in engineering and architectural seminaries and writes articles for building construction magazines. He is a member of the Institution of Engineers of Milan.
Luca also worked in the Arup offices in London and in Madrid.
At the moment is part of the team that is:
- designing the new mixed-use development of Porta Nuova Isola in Milan
- designing a new leisure development with a 15,000 seat arena in Bologna (Parco delle Stelle)

* 06.April.1973

Oliver Tessmann is currently working in the engineering office Bollinger + Grohmann in Frankfurt at the interface between architecture and engineering. He is teaching at the Städelschule Architecture Class (SAC) in Frankfurt. After graduating in 2001 at the University in Kassel he was working with Coop Himmelb(l)au in Mexico and Vienna and Bernhard Franken in Frankfurt. In 2008 Oliver Tessmann received a doctoral degree after four years of research in the field of "Collaborative Design Procedures for Architects and Engineers" at the University of Kassel. The research sought for novel strategies to use structural analysis as a design driver in architecture by establishing digital interfaces between the disciplines. His work has been published and exhibited in Europe, Asia and the US.

Bruce Frey
Hines
www.hines.com

Mr. Frey joined Hines in 1979 after 7 years with Turner Construction Co.  After working on major projects in Houston, Minneapolis, Detroit and Louisville, he moved to Barcelona in 1996 to work on Diagonal Mar.  Since 1996 he has worked on Hines projects in Spain, Russia and Italy.  His current responsibilities include major projects in Milan with a construction value of more than € 500 Million.

Education: Bachelor of Science, Building Construction & Contracting - Purdue University, 1972

Career Highlights: Diagonal Mar Mixed-use Development, Barcelona, Spain, winner of the inaugural Urban Land Institute European Award for Excellence.  The project includes a 100,500 m2 commercial center with 5,000 below grade parking spaces, three office buildings, five residential phases, three hotels, the third largest park in Barcelona and associated infrastructure.

Comerica Tower, Detroit, Michigan - 45 story, 93,000 m2 office building, winner of the 1996 Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence.

Wells Fargo Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 57 story, 120,000 m2 office building, winner of the 1989 Urban Land Institute Award for Excellence.

Chase Tower, Houston, Texas - 75 story, 200,000 m2 office building

Christian R Pongratz is the Director of the Master of Science Program in Digital Design and Fabrication and Associate Professor in the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University. Together with Maria Perbellini, he co-founded and is a principal with pONGRATZ pERBELLINI Architects since 2002, a research oriented atelier investigating computation with material based processes. In 2008 the partnership received the segnalazione Compasso d’oro XXI, the most recognized award in industrial design, awarded by ADI in Italy, and entered Compasso d'oro's historical design collection as cultural patrimony of Italy. In 2007 they were awarded the Silver Prize of the Biennal Miami for interior design and an Honorable Mention in Urban & Landscape Design. In 2006 they received the 1st Prize of the international Estetica Design Award. In 2005 they were awarded an Honorable Mention for their project to revitalize Gwangbok Street & PIFF Plaza in Busan, Korea. In 2002, they were selected by the Deutsche Bahn Immobilien Gesellschaft mbH to design a 380 Meter long Lifestyle Center at the new central train station in Berlin.

Christian Pongratz was awarded the John W. Potter Endowment from the University of Texas, Austin in 2000, for his experiments with holograms in architectural design. Since 2003, Christian Pongratz is directing research projects with a pool of leading Italian companies in the stone, marble and conglomerate sector,  integrating digital design processes with new modes of industrial fabrication, all funded by State and Industry grants in Venice, Italy.
Their building product designs are shown in international exhibitions and venues in Europe, Asia and the US. Their curatorial work involves among others, a participation in two international annual exhibitions, Abitare il Tempo and Marmomacc, in Verona, Italy.
He taught at The School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin from 2000 to 2002, and was visiting professor at Yeungjin Jr. College, Taegu, as well as at the Busan International Architectural Design Seminar, Busan, Korea. In 2008, he was a Visiting Critic at the Facolta di Architettura di Ferrara, Italy.

pONGRATZ pERBELLINI Architects are the authors and designers of the monograph Peter Eisenman, (KA Korean Architects, Seoul, Korea, 1997). They published in the series IT Revolution in Architecture by Bruno Zevi, “Natural born CaaDesigners”, (Birkhaeuser, Basel, 2000). “Cyberstone”, a book investigating digital design and fabrication with natural stone is published in the IT Revolution series directed by Nino Saggio, (Edilstampa, Rome, 2009). A book in progress is “300+”, a manual on recent structural and material innovations in the development of skyscrapers.

Erwin van Maaren
Nedcam
www.nedcam.com

NEDCAM, a company which finds has evolved from the Marine and Yacht building industries.
In the past years it has become increasingly involved with architectural projects, their enthusiasm has been driving the research and development of using composite materials into today’s Cladding and Formwork Technology in combination with up to date 3D milling technology.

This year NEDCAM produced wall and roof cladding of 9.000 m2 for two BLOB (Binary Large Objects) form shaped fuel stations in Kruibeke, Belgium and a 1300 m2 formwork for the concrete constructed Spencer Dock Bridge in Dublin, Ireland. For the fuel stations which were built for Texaco, NEDCAM developed together with their suppliers, a special fire-resistant system of Polyurea with a UV-fire resistant coating.

The only materials which can be used for both this type of Cladding and Formwork is EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) and Polyurea, this is most likely the first time, throughout the world, these materials have been used on this scale and for this function.

The experience gained from producing products of this magnitude creates new opportunities for future developments in composite building.
In this presentation we will explain the advantages and disadvantages of our systems and the possibilities to use several materials and choices for freeform designs in architecture.

Work experience:

• 4 yrs Officer on Merchant Reefer ships
• 4 yrs Production manager, several companies
• 5 yrs Maritime Research Institute (MARIN), project manager research maritime projects
• 4 yrs NEDCAM, founder and stakeholder

Recent Projects in Freeform Architecture:

• Bus station Hoofddorp – Netherlands Polyester
• Texaco Tankstations – Belgium          Polyurea
• Spencer Dock Bridge – Ireland                       Concret

Martin Bechthold is Professor of Architectural Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He currently teaches courses in building structures and technology with a focus on the relationship between design, innovative construction and fabrication methods, lightweight structures, and new materials. His research primarily deals with computer-aided design and manufacturing applications in architecture, with a current focus on structural systems, construction automation, and robotics. His work on the design and fabrication of surface structures has won several awards. Bechthold has published on a broad range of topics in technology, has lectured widely, and participated in symposia in North-America, Asia, and in Europe. He is co-author of the recently published Digital Design and Manufacturing: CAD/CAM Applications in Architecture, of Structures, as well as the author of Innovative Surface Structures. Current research projects focus on the use of robotic fabrication in architecture.

Christian Florian
Permasteelisa Group
www.permasteelisa.it

Civil engineer, is Designer in Permasteelisa, and professor of Techniques of Representation at the University of Udine.
PhD at the same university, Christian Florian follows a research path inherent the use of digital tools in the design process, from concept to installation, involving consolidated cad systems and advanced tools for the parameterization of architectural projects characterized by complex geometries.

(22.03.1950)
1968: HBS-B Delft
1973: Ingenieursexamen Bouwkunde TU Delft, cum laude
1989: Promotie in de technische wetenschappen TU Delft, cum laude

1973 Architectenbureau Groosman Partners Total Planning, Rotterdam: architect
1974-1975 Architectenbureau Thunissen, Van Kranendonk Becka, Den Haag: architect-junior partner
1975-1983 Architectenbureau Mick Eekhout bi BNA: directeur
1978-heden: Octatube Engineering bv, Delft: directeur
1983-heden: Octatube Space Structures bv, Delft: directeur/hoofdontwerper
1995-heden: Octatube International bv, Delft: directeur

1992-heden: Hoogleraar Productontwikkeling, faculteit Bouwkunde TU Delft
1995-1998 en 2003-heden: Research directeur/nestor afdeling Bouwtechnologie
1999-2002: Afdelingsvoorzitter Bouwtechnologie
1997-2003: Lid van de Raad van Hoogleraren TU Delft, adviesraad College van Bestuur
2000-2003: Voorzitter Research Advisory Board, faculty Industrial Design Engineering TU Delft
2003: Lid Nederlands Forum voor Techniek en Wetenschap
2003: Lid Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen

Daarnaast:
1986 Oprichter van Delft Design (Delftse vereniging van praktiserende ontwerpers)
1988: Mede-oprichter Booosting
Diverse lidmaatschappen van praktijkgerichte verenigingen, stichtingen en instellingen
Diverse lidmaatschappen en voorzitterschappen van jury’s van ontwerpwedstrijden
Schrijver van een tiental boeken over bouwtechnologie en architectuur
Houder van een aantal patenten vanuit het ontwerpbureau Octatube Engineering bv
Een dozijn ontwerpprijzen, waaronder de Kho Lian Ie prijs voor Industrial Design (1998) en
de Pioneer’s Award, University of Surrey, Guildford, GB (2002) als oeuvreprijs.

Born in Milan, 19 May 1964, Roberto Verganti is: - Full Professor of Management of Innovation at Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches at the School of Management, at the School of Design, and in the Doctoral Program in Management.

• Founder and CEO of PROject Science, consulting institute for strategic innovation
• Expert in Innovation and R&D for Keystone Strategy, consulting firm founded by Marco Iansiti of the Harvard Business School. - Director of MaDe in Lab, the laboratory for advanced education on Management of Design and Innovation of MIP-Politecnico di Milano.
• Scientific Director of the Master Degree in Strategic Design of Politecnico di Milano.
• Visiting Professor of Design Management at Copenhagen Business School
• Adjunct Professor of Design Innovation Management at Vaasa University, Finland
• Member of the Advisory Council of the Design Management Institute, Boston.
• Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Product Innovation Management
• Associate Editor for the European Management Review
• Member of the Organising Committee of the EIASM International Product Development Management Conference.
• From 2004 to 2007 he has been the founder and the first director of the Alta Scuola Politecnica, the school of higher education on multidisciplinary innovation for the best students of Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino.
• From 2000 to 2004 he has been the founder and the first director of the School of Doctoral Programs of Politecnico di Milano
• He has been a visiting at the Harvard Business School in 1997-1998 and in 2007-2008.
• Among the awards: “Compasso d’Oro” 2001 (the most prestigious design award in Italy) to the research project Sistema Design Italia, in which he participated to the Scientific Organizing Committee; best conference paper awards in the conferences EurOMA (European Operations Management Association) in 2000, and EIASM International Product Development Management Conferences in 2002, 2003 and 2004

Roberto Verganti research interests are in the field of management of innovation, with a special focus on the management of product innovation, design, and research policy. In this area he issued more than 150 publications and he has given seminars in the most acknowledged international business schools. He has directed and run executive courses and consulting to several manufacturing and service firms. His most recent book, Design-Driven Innovation - Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating what Things Mean, is issued by Harvard Business Press in the spring 2009.