Heather Ligler

Heather Ligler is a designer and architect whose teaching and research are in the areas of shape grammars, rule-based design, and design history/theory. She is an assistant teaching professor of architecture and a faculty researcher in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing (SCDC).

Ligler earned doctorate and masters degrees in design computation from the School of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology and dual Bachelor of Architecture/Bachelor of Interior Architecture degrees from Auburn University.

Ligler’s research focuses on visual-computational methods, creative design generation, adaptive reuse, and novel media in architectural history, theory, and heritage. Her ongoing interest is in how rule-based design provides a generative basis for design and criticism. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, General Services Administration, SCDC, President’s Fellowship at Georgia Tech, and the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences Fellowship.

Ligler is a registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects. She has been invited to present her work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emory University, National Chiao Tung University, and the National Taiwan Institute of Technology. Her background includes research at the Shape Computation Lab where she contributed to the development of Shape Machine and CourtsWeb; teaching at Georgia Tech, where she was a studio critic in the School of Architecture and lecturer in the Architectonics in Greece + Italy Program; and professional experience on domestic and international projects, primarily with John Portman & Associates.