Benay Gürsoy Toykoç

• Ph.D. – Architectural Design Computing, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2016
• M.Arch. – Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2010
• B.Arch. – Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2007

HONORS/AWARDS

• Istanbul Technical University, Graduate School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, June 2017: Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award
• CAAD Futures 2015: Best Paper Award (co-writers: Iestyn Jowers, Mine Özkar)
• CAADRIA 2010: Young CAADRIA Award
• TUBITAK, 2010–15: National Scholarship Program for Ph.D. Students
• TUBITAK, 2007–09: National Scholarship Program for M.Sc. Students
• Middle East Technical University, 2007: Ranked first in her graduating class in the Department of Architecture

RESEARCH GRANTS 

• 2019-20: “Fabrication of Custom Wood-Based Filaments using An Open- Source 3D Printer Filament Extruder”, The Pennsylvania State University – President’s Fund for Undergraduate Research/Creative Activities.
• 2019-20: “Mycelium-Based Materials in Architecture: A Biodegradable and Renewable Alternative to Construction”, The Pennsylvania State University – SCDC Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Grants.
• 2019-20: “Designing for Shape-Change: Smart and Bio-Smart Materials in Architectural Skins and Structures”, The Pennsylvania State University – Collaborative Design Research (CDR).
• 2018-19: “An Open-Source 3D Printer Filament Extruder for 3D Printing Using Unconventional Materials”, The Pennsylvania State University – President’s Fund for Undergraduate Research/Creative Activities.
• 2018-19: “Responsive Architectural Surface Systems for Harvesting and Saving Energy”, The Pennsylvania State University – SCDC Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Grants.
• 2016: “Digital Fabrication Tools Informing Design Ideation: Studies in 3D Printing with Clay”, The Pennsylvania State University – SCDC Project Support.
• 2016: “Light It Up!”, The Pennsylvania State University – SCDC Project Support.
• 2015-16: “Visualizing Making in Design”, Istanbul Technical University – Coordinatorship of Scientific Research Projects, (with Mine Özkar).

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• eCAADe + SIGraDI 2019, September 9-13, 2019,  University of Porto, Porto – Portugal
  “Mycelium-Based Bio Composites for Architecture: Assessing the Effects of Cultivation Factors on Compressive Strength” (co-writers: Ali Ghazvinian, Paniz Farrokhsiar,  Fabricio Vieira, John Pecchia)
• CAADRIA 2019, April 15-18, 2019,  Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington – New Zealand
  “Designing For Shape-Change: A Case study on 3D Printing Composite Materials for Responsive Architectures” (co-writers: Elena Vazquez, Jose Duarte)
• Materiart 2019, April 11-12, 2019,  University of Lisbon, Lisbon – Portugal
  “Growing Architecture: Mycelium as Blocks and Mortar” (co-writers: Tyler Corbley, Andrew Chesakis)
• NCBDS 2019, March 14-16, 2019, University of Colorado Denver, Denver – USA
  “Model-Idea-Model: From Abstraction of Context to Systematic Organization of Space”
• eCAADe 2018, September 19-21, 2018, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz – Poland
  “From Control to Uncertainty in 3D Printing with Clay”
• Nexus 2018, June 11-14, 2018, University of Pisa, Pisa – Italy
  “Material Shapes and How to Compute with Them” (co-writer: Mine Özkar)
• CAADRIA 2018, May 17-19, 2018, Tsinghua University, Beijing – China
  “Bridging Parametric Design and Craftsmanship: Materializing the Digital Parametric Brick Wall with Low-tech Construction Techniques” (co-writers: Elena Vazquez, Julio Diarte)
• NCBDS 2018, March 1-3, 2018, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati – USA
  “Learning to Compute in Design by Making Geometry”
• CAAD Futures 2017, July 12-14, 2017, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul – Turkey
  “Computing Stitches and Crocheting Geometry” (co writers: Özgüç B. Çapunaman, C. Koray Bingöl)
• CAADRIA 2016, March 30-April 2, 2016, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne – Australia
  “Why is Making Important for the Culture of Design?”
• CAAD Futures 2015, July 6-10 2015, Unicamp, Sao Paulo-Brasil
  “Formal Descriptions of Material Manipulations” (co writers: Iestyn Jowers, Mine Özkar)
• Nexus 2014, June 9-12, 2014, Middle East Technical University, Ankara – Turkey
  “Schematizing Basic Design in Ilhan Koman’s ‘Embryonic’ Approach”
• eCAADe 2012, September 12-14, 2012, Czech Technical University, Prague – Czech Republic
  “The Hands-on Basics of Contemporary Design Education”
• DRS 2010, July 7-9, 2010, Université de Montreal, Montreal – Canada
  “Is Model-Making Sketching in Design?”
• CAADRIA 2010, April 7-10, 2010, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

EXHIBITIONS

• Craft, Light, Geometry
  April 18- May 24, 2019 – Woskob Family Gallery, State College –  USA
• Dreams to Realities: Projections on Education – Vitra Contemporary Architecture Series III
  March 13- June 1, 2014 – Istanbul Modern, Istanbul – Turkey (curator: Şebnem Yalınay Çinici)
• Archizines World Tour Exhibition Design
  November 1-24, 2013 – It’s Open, Istanbul – Turkey

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Vazquez, E., Gürsoy, B., Duarte, J. (2019). Formalizing Shape-Change: Three- dimensional Printed Shapes and Hygroscopic Material Transformations. International Journal of Architectural Computing.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2015). Visualizing Making: Shapes, Materials, and Actions. Design Studies (41), pp.29-50.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2015). Schematizing Basic Design in Ilhan Koman’s “Embryonic” Approach. Nexus Network Journal 17(3), 981-1005.

BOOK CHAPTERS

• Corbley, T., Chesakis. A., Gürsoy, B. (2019). Growable Architecture: Mycelium as Blocks and Mortar, in Materiality as a Process (eds: da Costa M. C., Ozkar M., Formiga B., Abbas G. M.). Casal de Cambra: Caleidoscopio – Ediçao e Artes Graficas, pp. 185-194.
• Çapunaman, Ö., Bingöl, C.K., Gürsoy, B. (2017). Computing Stitches and Crocheting Geometry, in Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Future Trajectories (eds: Cagdas G., Ozkar M., Gul L., Gurer E.). Singapore: Springer, pp. 289-305.
• Gürsoy, B., Jowers, I., Özkar, M. (2015). Formal Descriptions of Material Manipulations: An Exploration with Cuts and Shadows, in The Next City: New Technologies and the Future of the Built Environment (eds: Celani G., Sperling D.M., Franco J.M.S.). Berlin: Springer, pp. 439-457.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

• Gürsoy, B. (2019). Model-Idea-Model: From Abstraction of Context to Systematic Organization of Space, in Proceedings of the 35th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS), pp. 437-442.
• Ghazvinian, A., Farrokhsiar, P., Vieira, F., Pecchia, J., Gürsoy, B., (2019). Mycelium-Based Bio-Composites For Architecture: Assessing the Effects of Cultivation Factors on Compressive Strength, in Architecture in the Age of the 4th Industrial Revolution: Proceedings of the 37th eCAADe and 23rd SIGraDI Conference, pp. 505-514.
• Vazquez, E., Gürsoy, B., Duarte, J. (2019). Designing For Shape-Change: A Case study on 3D Printing Composite Materials for Responsive Architectures, in Intelligent and Informed: Proceedings of the 24th CAADRIA Conference, Vol.2, pp. 391-400.
• Gürsoy, B. (2018). From Control to Uncertainty in 3D Printing with Clay, in Computing for a Better Tomorrow: Proceedings of the 36th eCAADe Conference, Vol.2, pp. 21-30.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2018). Material Shapes and How to Compute with Them, in Conference Book of Nexus 2018: Relationship Between Architecture and Mathematics, pp. 263-268.
• Gürsoy, B. (2018). Learning to Compute in Design by Making Geometry in Proceedings of the 34th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS), Vol.34, No.1.
• Vazquez, E., Diarte, J., Gürsoy, B. (2018). Bridging Parametric Design and Craftsmanship: Materializing the Digital Parametric Brick Wall with Low-tech Construction Techniques, in Learning, Prototyping and Adapting: Short paper Proceedings of the 23^rd International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2018), pp. 3-8.
• Gürsoy, B. (2016). Why is Making Important for the Culture of Design?, in Living Systems and Micro-Utopias: Towards Continuous Designing 21^st International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2016), pp. 851-861.
• Gürsoy, B. (2012). The Hands-on Basics of Contemporary Design Education, eCAADe 30 Conference Proceedings, Vol.2., pp. 59-99.
• Gürsoy, B., Özkar, M. (2010). Is Model-Making Sketching in Design?, DRS 2010 Conference Proceedings, Montreal.

WORKSHOPS

• Stuckeman Robots, October 26, November 9, December 18, 2019
  The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA – USA
• Structural Weaving – Design Computing Summer School, June 25-27, 2018
  Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon – Portugal
• Robotic Mediations – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 28-July 07, 2017
  Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Parabrick, May 16-20, 2017
  Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, Asuncion – Paraguay
• Light It Up!, January 19-22, 2017
  The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA – USA
• Tectonic Symbiosis – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 13-22, 2016
  Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Cellular Revisions – AA Istanbul Visiting School, June 15-24, 2015
  Istanbul Bilgi University + Architectural Association, Istanbul – Turkey
• Electroknit – Design and Process Workshops, November 5-6, 2014
  Istanbul Bilgi University + Design Foundation, Istanbul – Turkey
• Knitting, Cutting, and Material Computing, September 17-19, 2014
  Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul – Turkey
• Inertia – Vernal Workshops 2014, April 19-23, 2014
  Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul -– Turkey
• Ilhan Koman ∞-1, October 26-27, 2014
  Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul – Turkey
• Cut & Fold, November 20-22, 2013
  Izmir Yasar University, Izmir – Turkey
• Scripting Ilhan Koman – Muses of Art and Science, September 27-29, 2012
  Izmir University of Economics, Izmir – Turkey
• Wisdom Book – Vernal Workshops 2012, April 4-8, 2012
  Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul – Turkey

PEER REVIEW OF MANUSCRIPTS

Journal Articles, Academic Journals
• Charette Journal, Reviewer. (2020)
• Journal of Architectural Engineering, Reviewer. (2019)
• Nexus Network Journal, Reviewer. (2018)

Refereed Conference Proceedings

• Siggraph, Reviewer. (2019)
• Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Hello Culture, Reviewer. (2019)
• National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Reviewer. (2019)
• Ph.D. Symposium: Divergence in Architectural Research, Reviewer. (2019)
• Architecture Media Politics Society – Mediated City Conference, Reviewer. (2018)
• Computer-Aided Architectural Design: Future Trajectories, Reviewer. (2017)

Toykoç’s research and teaching focus on computational making, digital fabrication, craft theory, shape studies, basic design education, and cognitive studies of the design process.