Skip To Main Content
Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Select where to search:


Advanced research + computational design

The SCDC is devoted to advanced design research and learning in computational design. We are a multidisciplinary community of researchers exploring computation as a subject of creative and scholarly inquiry in design across scales and modes of engagement: from the territorial to the micro, from the theoretical to the material, and from the applied to the speculative and critical.

Quick Links:

News | Projects | Publications | Labs + Facilities | People | Industry Partner Program

Smart Textiles + Growing Architecture

SCDC faculty and Ph.D. candidate researchers are receiving awards and accolades for ground-breaking research and scholarship related to textile architectures – from bio-sensing ‘smart’ garments that can improve health outcomes to large-scale, fungus-based composites and cultivated biodegradable structures. (Photo credit: Rebecca Kiger for The Washington Post)


SOM Foundation Research Prize for MycoKnit


Washington Post profile of Felecia Davis


Architectural Digest: Designer Using Black Hair to Inspire the Architecture World


Vision

Through high-impact research and publications spanning the design fields, the SCDC will contribute to society’s understanding and application of computing and information technologies in the production of built environments across scales – from cities to territories, buildings, products, and interfaces.


Mission

The SCDC’s mission is to become a design research and learning center of international relevance. This entails fostering an open and multidisciplinary culture of research that engages faculty, doctoral researchers as well as master and undergraduate students. Beyond the Stuckeman School’s three excellent design programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic design, the center will take advantage of Penn State’s status as one of the largest and most important public research universities in the United States to initiate design-centered collaborations with partners in the scientific fields and the humanities. Furthermore, the center will form and maintain alliances with peer centers in academia and industry both nationally and internationally.


The Stuckeman Center Laboratory

The Center is headquartered in the Stuckeman Center Laboratory – a large and beautiful space on the first floor of the Stuckeman Family Building on the University Park campus. The laboratory hosts various projects led by faculty and post-doctoral Fellows, involving graduate, undergraduate, and visiting students as research assistants.


Resources

The SCDC encompasses a number of state-of-the-art facilities including an Immersive Environments Laboratory (currently under re-construction), the Stuckeman Center Laboratory, and a Digital Fabrication Laboratory including an architectural robotics lab. The Stuckeman School, which houses the SCDC, is part of the College of Arts and Architecture, a vibrant arts and design community also comprising the School of Music, the School of Theatre, the School of Visual Arts, and the Department of Art History, along with the Palmer Museum of Art and the Center for the Performing Arts.


Plans

The SCDC is currently implementing initiatives to improve the dissemination of its work – to the Stuckeman community and to society at large – and better communicating the value of the research and advanced instruction taking place in the Center. The SCDC plans to tackle this challenge through two initiatives. The first is by organizing a yearly open house event in the SCDC Laboratory. This is a one-day event showcasing the finished and ongoing projects of the Center through demos, an exhibition, and talks. All school students and faculty are invited. Second is by the design and development of a high quality, media-rich, and responsive website for the SCDC highlighting its projects and teams, as a “Lab of Labs.”

 


Research projects

Below is a selection of SCDC projects, which variously engage architectural robotics, simulation and visualization, game development, Geographic Information Systems, sustainable development, digital fabrication, as well as historical and theoretical aspects of computation in design.


Explore All SCDC Research Projects


Textural Threshold

Textural Threshold

Textural Threashold Hair Salon: Dreadlock centers around a project Felecia Davis and her SOFTLAB researchers initiated called “Dreadlock Series,” which looks at art, design, and architectural works that have been inspired by Black hair and its unique material properties.

Textural Threshold: Dreadlock
MycoKnit

MycoKnit

MycoKnit: Cultivating Mycelium-Based Composites on Knitted Textiles for Large-Scale Biodegradable Architectural Structures, is a project brings together materials that were developed by Felecia Davis and Benay Gürsoy and their respective research teams to create a lightweight material for biodegradable architectural structures.

MycoKnit
Adaptive Envelopes

Adaptive Envelopes

A Penn State-designed responsive building façade system featuring screens made of smart and bistable materials, which are located inside a building’s windows, that open and close based on the weather conditions and lighting outside, as well as the indoor lighting and climate requirements.

Adaptive Envelopes
MycoCreate 2.0

MycoCreate 2.0

MycoCreate 2.0 is a compression-based architectural structure, measuring approximately 10 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet high, that is composed of 64 unique load-bearing mycelium-based components. The project came about from the ForMat Lab team’s exploration of using mycelium, which comes from the root of fungi, to cultivate biodegradable building composites.

MycoCreate 2.0
BOOTH Project

BOOTH Project

The Barrier for Outside Outpatient Testing of Heath (BOOTH) is a structure designed at Penn State by a multidisciplinary team involving faculty, staff, and students from the College of Arts and Architecture and the College of Engineering, all working within the context of the University-wide MASC project.

BOOTH Project
Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing

The project focuses efforts in three areas: development of a novel concrete formulation, development of the 3D printing processes, and design and development of the overall 3D printing system necessary to print large structures. The production of the geopolymer binder used in the formulation of the concrete designed by the team does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Additive Manufacturing
Costuming and Dancing Sculptures

Costuming and Dancing Sculptures

The Corporeal and Computational in Design and Fabrication of Lightweight Mobile Structures – This work describes a new approach to designing and fabricating costuming and dancing sculptures and the potential application of this system at the architectural scale.

Costuming and Dancing Sculptures
Decoding + Recoding

Decoding + Recoding

Using Technology to Support Social Integration – The World experiences a significant growth in population coupled with fast urbanization processes particularly in the Southern hemisphere, which puts an enormous pressure on cities, giving rise to numerous social, infrastructural, ecological, and urban problems.

Decoding and Recording
Woven Light

Woven Light

Design of a Solar Fiber Tension Structure Shade Prototype Using Fiber Optic Strands – The Woven Light project is a solar fiber tension structure shade prototype that substitutes polymer fiber optic strands for solar photovoltaic [PV] strands to understand the problems and potential for PV fibers in fabrics.

Woven Light
Mass Customization and Design Democratization book cover – an SCDC publication
SCDC 'Design Across Boundaries

Publications

Following is a brief overview of publications that have been produced to document research, events, and courses within the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing.


Featured Publications

Materiality + Computing

Computation, as a term, is itself very open-ended. There are various ways to compute in design as we see through the SCDC Flash Symposium series. The theme for 2018, to accompany computing, is materiality.

Link: Issuu
Publication date: 2020

Mass Customization and Design Democratization

Parametric design and digital fabrication are enabling non-designers to mass produce non-standard, highly differentiated products – from shoes and tableware to furniture and even houses. The result of these newly available mass customization tools has been a ‘democratization’ of design.

Links: Routledge | Amazon
Publication date: 2019
Team: Edited by Branko Kolarevic, José Pinto Duarte

Design + Computing

Design + Computing operates as both a title and agenda for the second Stuckeman Center for Design Computing Flash Symposium and Open House.

Link: Issuu
Publication date: 2016

Design Across Boundaries

‘Design Across Boundaries’ combined an exhibition of computational design research and coursework directed by faculty in the Stuckeman School and the School of Visual Arts, with a symposium with emerging scholars and practitioners of computational design.

Link: Issuu
Publication date: 2015

Exploring Algorithmic Tectonics

Algorithmic Tectonics is a course on creative computing in architecture and design. By learning to create computational design artifacts (such as experimental software, responsive objects and robotic fabrication applications) participants explore computation as a territory for speculative, critical and poetic thinking about design (rather than merely as an instrument of production or representation).

Links: Issuu | Academia
Publication date: 2015

Recent SCDC Researcher Publications

2021-22

  • Ashrafi, N. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Nazarian, S., Meisel, N., & Pinto Duarte, J. (Corresponding Author, 25%) (2021). Experimental calibration and compensation for the continuous effect of time, number of layers and volume of material on shape deformation in small-scale additive manufacturing of concrete. Additive Manufacturing, 47, 13. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.102228, ISBN/ISSN: 2214-8604 (Submitted May 5, 2020, Revised July 6, 2021, Accepted August 2, 2021, Published online August 6, 2021)
  • Ashrafi, N. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Nazarian, S., Meisel, N., & Pinto Duarte, J. (30%) (2022). A grammar-based algorithm for toolpath generation: compensating for material deformation in the additive manufacturing of concrete. Journal of Additive Manufacturing, 55, 1-20. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2022.102803
  • Aviles Rincon, Luis, and Matthew Kennedy, et al. “Unbreathable.” Faktur: Documents and Architecture, no. 3. (2021): 3. ISBN/ISSN: 2578-4234
  • Aviles, Pep. “Nikolaus Pevsner, Photography and the Architecture of Antoni Gaudí.” Getty Research Journal, no. 14. (2021): 28. DOI: doi.org/10.1086/716583
  • Azari, Rahman (Co-Editor), and Hazem Rashed-Ali. Research Methods in Building Science and Technology. Edited by Azari, Rahman; Rashed-Ali, Hazem. Springer Nature, 2021. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73692-7
  • Azari, Rahman, and Maryam Singery. “Laminated Timber Buildings; An Overview of Environmental Impacts.” In The Importance of Wood and Timber in Sustainable Buildings, edited by Sayigh, Ali. Springer Nature, 2021.
  • Azari, Rahman, and Negar Badri. “Life Cycle Assessment as a Research Methodology for Estimating the Environmental Impacts of Buildings.” In Research Methods in Building Science and Technology, edited by Azari, R.; Rashed-Ali, Hazem. Springer Nature, 2021.
  • Becker, Austin, Noah Hallisey, Ellis Kalaidjan, Peter Stempel, and Pamela Rubinoff. “The Hazard Consequence Prediction System: A Participatory Action Research Approach to Enhance Emergency Management.” Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management 19, no. 1. (2021). DOI: 10.1515/jhsem-2021-2013
  • Berfin, V. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Evrim, B. (Co-Author – Graduate Student), & Pinto Duarte, J. (30%) (2021). Snapping skins: A digital workflow for designing bistable kinetic façades. Towards a new, configurable architecture – Proceedings of the 39th eCAADe Conference. (1), (pp. 365-372). Novi Sad: University of Novi Sad.
  • Bhagat, P., Deng, C., & Gürsoy, B. (2022). Frame House: An Open-Source Housing Design and Construction System. 6th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference Proceedings.
  • Boothby, T. E., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Crannell, A. (2021). In International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures (Eds.), “Saving appearances: Treatment of anomalies in the projective geometry- graphic statics analogy.” Proceedings of the IASS Symposium 2021. Online.
  • Braasch, Cathy. “How Yale Professor Robert Reed Built Equity in Art and Architecture Classrooms.” Metropolis Magazine. (2021): 10.
  • Brown, N. (Primary Author), Pinto Duarte, J., Memari, A. M., Xiao, M., Nazarian, S., Duarte, G., & Wu, Z. (2022). “A comparison of thermal insulation strategies for 3D printed concrete structures in cold regions.” 2022 Residential Building Design & Construction Conference. Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Brown, N. (Primary Author, 60%), & Bunt, S. (Co-Author – Graduate Student) (2022). “Optimization tools as a platform for latent qualitative design education of technical designers.” National Conference on the Beginning Design Student 37.
  • Broyles, J. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Hartwell, A., Gascon Alvarez, E., Ismail, M., Norford, L., Mueller, C., & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2022). “Shape optimization of concrete floor systems for sustainability, acoustical, and thermal objectives.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Structures and Architecture. [In press – forthcoming July 2022].
  • Broyles, J. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Shepherd, M. R., & Brown, N. (Co-Author, 30%) (2022). Design optimization of structural-acoustic spanning concrete elements in buildings. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 28(1), 04021044.
  • Broyles, J. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Shepherd, M. R., & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2021). “Evaluation of shaped concrete floor slabs for structure-borne and air-borne acoustic performance.” Proceedings of the IASS Symposium 2021. Online: International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures.
  • Broyles, J. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Shepherd, M., & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2021). “Quantifying sound transmission of building structures for optimization in early-stage design.” INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings., 263(5), (pp. 1215-1226). Institute of Noise Control Engineering. DOI: doi.org/10.3397/IN-2021-1781
  • Bunt, S. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2022). “Evaluating profession-based vocabulary in teams of architecture and engineering designers.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Structures and Architecture. [In press – forthcoming July 2022].
  • Bunt, S. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2021). “Homogeneity versus heterogeneity in architect-engineer design teams.” Proceedings of the IASS Symposium 2021. Online: International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures.
  • Castro e Costa, E., Pinto Duarte, J., & Bilen, S. G. (2021). Aprendizes Robóticos: Aplicação de Realidade Aumentada para Treinamento de Robôs em Fabricação Automatizada / Robotic Learners: Applying Augmented Reality for Robot Training in Automated Manufacturing. Brazilian Journal of Development, 7(10), 95490-95503. DOI: 10.34117/bjdv7n10-50
  • Costa, E. (Primary Author – Postdoctoral Student), Pinto Duarte, J., & Bilen, S. (2021). Aprendizes de robótica: Aplicação de Realidade Aumentada para Treinamento de Robôs em Fabricação Automatizada. Gestão & Tecnologia de Projetos. ISBN/ISSN: 2725-8761
  • Davis, F. ”The Black Flower Antenna” in The Pandemic Effect, Ed. B. Brownell, Princeton Architectural Press, New York,  forthcoming Nov. 2022.
  • Davis, F. Lewis, Erin, Oghazian, Farzaneh, Evrim, Berfin, “Tuning in: Reflecting in the Wake of Blackness through a Knitted Flower Antenna”, Possibilities, 27th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), Barcelona, 10-16 June 2022.
  • Davis, F., “Fabricating Networks Quilt: Designing an Architecture of Social and Physical Spaces” in The Architecture of Weaving, Ed. Marieke Stoll and Christian Sauer, JOVIS Verlag GmbH, Berlin, forthcoming Nov. 2022.
  • Davis, F., Lewis, Erin, Oghazian, Farzaneh, Evrim, Berfin, Demonstration: “Petal Antenna: An Knitted Textile EMF Sensor” Possibilities, 27th International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), Barcelona, 10-16 June 2022.
  • Diarte, J. & Vazquez, E. (Student Author – Graduate Student) (2022). Exploring Low-cost Acoustic Panels with Origami Patterns for Classrooms,” Proceedings of the ARCC-EAAE 2022 International Conference.
  • Duarte G., Brito, J., Bravo, M., Nobre, J. (2019), Mechanical performance of shotcrete produced with recycled coarse aggregates from concrete, Journal of Construction and Building Materials 210, 696–708. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.156
  • Duarte G., Brown N., Memari A., Duarte J.P. (2021), Learning from historical structures under compression for concrete 3D printing construction, Journal of Building Engineering, 43 (2021) 103009. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103009
  • Duarte G., Gomes R., Brito, J., Bravo, M., Nobre, J. (2020), Economic and Technical Viability of Using Shotcrete with Coarse Recycled Concrete Aggregates in Deep Tunnels, Applied Sciences 10(8), 2697. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/app10082697
  • Duarte, G. P. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Pinto Duarte, J., Brown, N., & Memari, A. M. (2021). Learning from historical structures under compression for concrete 3D printing construction. Journal of Building Engineering, 43, 19. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103009
  • Duarte, G., Brown, N. C. (Co-Author), Memari, A. M., & Duarte, J. P. (2021). Learning from historical structures under compression for concrete 3D printing construction. Journal of Building Engineering, 43, 103009.
  • Duarte, J. M. P. (40%), & Verniz, D. (2021). Assessing Santa Marta: Using Evaluation Tools to Inform Parametric Urban Design. Proceedings of the 25th SIGraDi Conference. (pp. 749-758). Lisboa, Portugal: Sociedade Ibero-Americana de Gráfica Digital. DOI: 10.5151/sigradi2021-18
  • Vazquez, E. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Ounaies, Z., & Pinto Duarte, J. (45%) (2022). Kinetic bistable flaps actuated with magneto-active elastomers. Proceedings of the Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials XVI conference. International Society for Optics and Photonics.
  • Esmaeilirad, Mohammadreza, Artem Baskin, Alireza Kondori, Ana Sanz-Matias, Jin Qian, Boao Song, Mahmoud Tamadoni Saray, Kamil Kucuk, Andres Ruiz Belmonte, Pablo Navarro Munoz Delgado, Junwon Park, Rahman Azari, Carlo Segre, Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, David Prendergast, and Mohammad Asadi. “Gold-like activity copper-like selectivity of heteroatomic transition metal carbides for electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction.” Nature Communications. (2021).
  • Fitton, James M., Kwasi A. Addo, Philip-Neri Jayson-Quashigah, Gustavo J. Nagy, Ofelia Gutiérrez, Daniel Panario, Inti Carro, Leo Seijo, Carolina Segura, José E. Verocai, Samrit Luoma, Johannes Klein, Ting-Ting Zhang, Jeff Birchall, and Peter Stempel. “Challenges to climate change adaptation in coastal small towns: Examples from Ghana, Uruguay, Finland, Denmark, and Alaska.” Ocean & Coastal Management 212. (2021): 105787. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105787
  • Ghazvinian, Ali, and Benay Gürsoy. “Basics of Building with Mycelium-Based Bio-Composites: A Review of Built Projects and Related Material Research.” Journal of Green Building 17, no. 1. (2022): 37-69. DOI: doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.3992/jgb.17.1.37
  • Ghazvinian, Ali, and Benay Gürsoy. “Challenges and Advantages of Building with Mycelium-Based Composites: A Review of Growth Factors that Affect the Material.” In Fungal Biopolymers and Biocomposites – Prospects and Avenues, edited by Deshmukh S.K., Deshpande MV, and Sridhar KR. Singapore: Springer Nature. 21. Peer-reviewed/refereed. [Accepted November 2021].
  • Ghazvinian, Ali, and Benay Gürsoy. “Mycelium-Based Composite Graded Materials: Assessing the Effects of Time and Substrate Mixture on Mechanical Properties.” Biomimetics Journal 7, no. 2. (2022). DOI: doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics7020048
  • Ghazvinian, Ali, Arman Khalilbeigi, Esmaeil Mottaghi, and Benay Gürsoy. IASS (International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures) Annual Symposium 2020/21. “Computational Framework for the Design and Fabrication of Spatial Structures with Mycelium-based Composites,” 2021. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
  • Hens, I. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Solnosky, R. L., & Brown, N. C. (Co-Author) (2021). Design space exploration for comparing embodied carbon in tall timber structural systems. Energy and Buildings, 244, 110983.
  • Hojati, M., Li, Z., Memari, A. P., Park, K., Zahabi, M., Nazarian, S., Duarte, J. P., & Radlinska, A. (2022). 3D-printable quaternary cementitious materials towards sustainable development: Mixture design and mechanical properties. Results in Engineering, 13. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2022.100341, ISBN/ISSN: 2590-1230
  • Khan, Zahida (Corresponding Author – Graduate Student), and Rahman Azari (Co-Author). “Outdoor Thermal Comfort & Human Behavior Factors, Models, and Methodologies.” In Research Methods in Building Science and Technology, edited by Azari, R.; Rashed-Ali, Hazem. Springer Nature, 2021.
  • Leonard, S., Solnosky, R., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Griffin, C. (2022). “Parametric evaluation of embodied carbon within Design for hybrid mass timber floor systems.” 2022 Residential Building Design & Construction Conference. Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Li, Z., Hojati, M., Pinto Duarte, J., Nazarian, S., Bilen, S. G., Memari, A. M., & Radlinska, A. (2021). “Towards 3D-printable cementitious materials on Earth and beyond.” Concrete Engineering International.
  • Ligler, Heather. “Reconfiguring Atrium Hotels: Generating Hybrid Designs with Visual Computations in Shape Machine.” Automation in Construction 132. (2021). DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103923
  • Lima, F. (Corresponding Author – Postdoctoral Student), Brown, N., & Duarte, J. P. (Co-Author, 25%) (2022). A grammar-based optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 0(0), 1-18. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/23998083211048496
  • Lima, F. (Primary Author – Postdoctoral Student), Miller, M., & Pinto Duarte, J. (35%) (2022). Teaching shape grammars and parametric urban design in the context of informal settlements: The World Studio project. In Viana, D.L.; Brandão, Emílio; Morais, Franklim; Carvalho, Isabel; Duarte, J.P.; and Brandão, Nicolau (Eds.), Emergent Perspectives on Teaching Architecture and Urbanism Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Peer-reviewed/refereed. [In press – forthcoming 2022].
  • Lima, F., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Pinto Duarte, J. (2021). “Urban design optimization: generative approaches towards urban fabrics with improved transit accessibility and walkability.” Proceedings of CAADRIA.
  • Lima, F., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Pinto Duarte, J. (2021). Understanding the impact of walkability, population density, and population size on COVID-19 spread: a pilot study of the early contagion in the United States. Entropy, 23(11), 1512.
  • Lima, F., Brown, N. (Co-Author, 20%), & Pinto Duarte, J. (2022). A grammar-based multi-objective optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering infrastructure cost. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science.
  • Lima, F., Brown, N., & Pinto Duarte, J. (25%) (2021). Understanding the impact of walkability, population density, and population size on Covid-19 spread: a study of the early contagion in the United States. EntropyJournal, 23(1512), 15. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/e23111512, PubMed Central ID Number: MDPI or Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing
  • Lima, F., Brown, N., & Pinto Duarte, J. Optimizing urban grid layouts using proximity metrics. Artificial Intelligence in Urban Planning and Design. [In press].
  • Lima, Fernando, Nathan C. Brown, and José P. Duarte. 2021. “Urban Design Optimization: Generative Approaches towards Urban Fabrics with Improved Transit Accessibility and Walkability.” In Proceedings of the 26th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia
  • Mateus, D. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Romão, L., & Pinto Duarte, J. (30%) (2021). Energy-based Design: A digital design system for the design of energy-harvesting building envelopes. Proceedings of the 25th SIGraDi Conference. (pp. 831-842). International Executive Committee and Advisory Committee. DOI: 10.5151/sigradi2021-90
  • Meisel, N. A., Watson, N. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Bilen, S. G., Pinto Duarte, J., & Nazarian, S. (2021). Design and System Considerations for Construction-Scale Concrete Additive Manufacturing in Remote Environments via Robotic Arm Deposition. 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing. DOI: 10.1089/3dp.2020.0335
  • Memari, A., Wu, Z., & Pinto Duarte, J. (Primary Author – Graduate Student) (2022). Review of Mechanical and Structural Testing for 3D Printed Concrete. Proceedings of the 6th RBDCC – Residential Building Design and Construction Conference. (pp. 10). State College: Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Modanloo B., Ghazvinian A., Matini M., & Andaroodi E. (2021). Tilted Arch; Implementation of Additive Manufacturing and Bio-welding of Mycelium-based Composites. Biomimetics DOI: doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics6040068
  • Muthumanickam, N. K. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Pinto Duarte, J., Nazarian, S., Memari, A. P., & Bilen, S. (2021). Combining AI and BIM in the design and construction of a Mars habitat In As, I., and Basu, P. (Eds.), Routledge Companion for AI in Architecture. (1st), (pp. 29). Milton: Taylor and Francis Group, Routledge. Peer-reviewed/refereed., ISBN/ISSN: 9780367824259
  • Muthumanickam, N. K., Pinto Duarte, J., Nazarian, S., Bilen, S. G. (Author), & Memari, A. M. (2021). BIM for Design Generation, Analysis, Optimization, and Construction Simulation of a Martian Habitat. Earth and Space 2021: Space Exploration, Utilization, Engineering, and Construction in Extreme Environments – Selected Papers from the 17th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments. (pp. 1208-1219). DOI: 10.1061/9780784483374.112, ISBN/ISSN: 9780784483374
  • Nazarian, S., Duarte, J. P., Bilen, S. G. (Author), Memari, A. M., Radlinska, A., Meisel, N. A., & Hojati, M. (2021). Additive Manufacturing of Architectural Structures: An Interplay Between Materials, Systems, and Design. Advances in Science, Technology, and Innovation. (pp. 111-119). DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-35533-3_15, ISBN/ISSN: 25228714
  • Nobre J., Bravo M., Brito J., Duarte G., (2020), Durability performance of dry-mix shotcrete produced with coarse recycled concrete aggregates, Journal of Building Engineering 29, 101135. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2019.101135
  • Nowobilski, Marzena, and Heather Ligler. Proceedings of the 39th eCAADe Conference. Vol. 2. “The Market Square Grammar: Reconstructing the Facades of Warsaw’s Old Town,” 2021. 283-292. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
  • Oghazian, F. 2022. “From Physically Knitted Models to Calibrated Digital Simulations: A Workflow Based on the Behavior and Geometry of the Knitted Tensioned Structures.” ConCave Ph.D. Symposium, Georgia Tech University, Atlanta.
  • Oghazian, F., & Vazquez, E. (Student Author – Graduate Student) (2021). A Multi-Scale Workflow for Designing with New Materials in Architecture: Case Studies across Materials and Scales-Case studies across materials and scales. Proceedings of the 24th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia CAADRIA 2021. Hong Kong.
  • Oghazian, F., Brown, N. (Co-Author, 20%), & Davis, F. (2022). “Calibrating a form-finding algorithm for simulation of knitted tension architectural models.” CAADRIA 2022.
  • Oghazian, F., N. Brown, and F. Davis. 2022. “Calibrating A Form-finding Algorithm for Simulation of Tensioned Knitted Textile Architectural Models.” CAADRIA.
  • Oghazian, Farzaneh (Co-Author – Graduate Student), and Felecia Davis (20%). Proceedings for the Design Communication Association, Vision and Perception Conference, Oct. 2021. “Game-Based Responsive Architecture: A Computational Methodology for Designing Game-Based Responsive Architectures,” 2021. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
  • Oghazian, Farzaneh (Co-Author – Graduate Student), Paniz Farrokhsiar (Co-Author), and Felecia Davis (Co-Author, 33%). “A simulation process for implementing knitted textiles in developing architectural tension structures.” Inspiring the Next Generation – Proceedings of the International Conference on Spatial Structures 2020/21 (IASS2020/21-Surrey7), Guilford, UK., August 23, 2021. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
  • Osseo-Asare, DK. “Scaling Microtecture: From the Primitive Hut to Vernacular Technology.” In Towards a Theory of African Architecture. Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2021. 3. ISBN/ISSN: 978-3-86922-400-8
  • Osseo-Asare, DK, and Yasmine Abbas. “Occupying Africa: Prototyping a Transformal Makerspace Network.” Architectural Design: Production Urbanism: The Meta Industrial City. (2021).
  • Paulino, Danielle M. S., Rebecca Napolitano, Heather Ligler, Klaudia Bak, Sierra Hogan, and Jennifer C. Moreno Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. Vol. XLVI-M-1-2021. “A Grammar Based Methodology to Support the Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings: The Case Study of the Sobrado Building Type,” 2021. 515–521. Peer-reviewed/refereed. DOI: doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVI-M-1-2021-515-2021
  • Pinto Duarte, J. (2021). Urban Design Optimization: generative approaches towards urban fabrics with improved transit accessibility and walkability. Proceedings of the 26th CAADRIA Conference. (2), (pp. 10).
  • Pinto Duarte, J. (2022). On the 25 years of SiGraDI. In Pablo Herrera, David Sperling, Gonçalo Henriques, Simone Vizioli, Gabriel Botasso (Eds.), SiGraDi #25Ç #: Sociedad Iberoamericana de Gráfica Digital 1997-2021. (pp. 1). Sociedad Iberoamericana de Gráfica Digital. DOI: 10.11606/9786586810288
  • Pinto Duarte, J. (2022). Practical Construction of 3D Printed Reinforced Concrete Members. Proceedings of the 6th RBDCC – Residential Building Design and Construction Conference. (pp. 10). State College: Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Pinto Duarte, J. (2022). Structural Evaluation of a proposed concrete 3D printed Habitat in remote Alaska. Proceedings of the 6th RBDCC – Residential Building Design and Construction Conference. (pp. 10). State College: Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Pinto Duarte, J. (Co-Author, 35%), & Elena, V. (Primary Author – Graduate Student) (2022). Bistable kinetic shades actuated with Shape Memory Alloys: prototype development and daylight performance evaluation. Smart Materials and Structures, 31. DOI: doi.org/10.1088/1361-665X/ac5014, ISBN/ISSN: 0964-1726
  • Pinto Duarte, J., Brown, N., Memari, A., Xiao, M., Nazarian, S., Duarte, G. (Co-Author – Graduate Student), & Wu, Z. (Co-Author – Graduate Student) (2022). A comparison of thermal insulation strategies for 3D printed concrete structures in cold regions. Proceedings of the 6th RBDCC – Residential Building Design and Construction Conference. State College: Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.
  • Rahimian, M. (Co-Author – Graduate Student), Iulo, L., & Pinto Duarte, J. (Co-Author) (2021). A Realtime Predictive Software Prototype for Simulating Urban Scale Energy Consumption Based on Surrogate Models. AIEDAM-Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, Design and Manufacturing, 16. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/S0890060421000184
  • Rahimian, M. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), Cervone, G., Pinto Duarte, J. (20%), & Iulo, L. (2022). A Machine Learning Framework for Mining the Impact of Urban Form on Energy Consumption in Community Microgrids. In John Gero (Ed.), International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (pp. 607-624). New York, NY: Springer. Peer-reviewed/refereed. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90625-2_36
  • Rahimian, M. (Student Author – Postdoctoral Student), Iulo, L., & Duarte, J. P. (Co-Author, 25%) (2022). Tracing Hybridity in Local Adaptations of Modern Architecture: The Case of A. William Hajjar’s Single-Family Architecture. In John Gero (Ed.), Design Computing and Cognition ’20 (pp. 171-190). New York, NY: Springer. Peer-reviewed/refereed. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90625-2_10
  • Solnosky, R. L., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Napolitano, R. (2021). “Teaching structures in an (almost) empty room: An assessment of strategies for student engagement in mixed-mode and remote classes.” ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Virtual Conference.
  • Sousa, M., Celani, G., & Pinto Duarte, J. (20%) (2022). Computationally Evaluating Street Retrofitting Interventions. Nexus Network Journal. ISBN/ISSN: 1590-5896
  • Talaei Maryam, Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad, Rahman Azari, Alejandro Prieto, and Hamed Sangin. “Multi-objective optimization of building-integrated microalgae photobioreactors for energy and daylighting performance.” Journal of Building Engineering 12. (2021). DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102832
  • Talaei, Maryam, Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad, Rahman Azari, Hadi Motevali Haghighi, and Ali Atashdast. “Thermal and energy performance of a user-responsive microalgae bio reactive façade for climate adaptability.” Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 52. (2022). DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101894
  • Vazquez, E. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Duarte, J., Ounaies, Z. Kinetic Bistable flaps actuated with Magneto-Active Elastomers. Proceedings of SPIE 2022.
  • Vazquez, E. (Student Author – Graduate Student), Evrim, B., and Duarte, J. (2021). Towards a digital workflow for designing bistable kinetic facades. Proceedings of the eCAADe Conference 2021
  • Verniz, D, Fernando Lima, and J. P. Duarte. 2022. “Decoding and Recoding Informal Settlements in a Design Studio: An Overview of the World Studio Project.” Gestão & Tecnologia de Projetos 17 (1).
  • Verniz, D., & Duarte, J. P. (Co-Author, 40%) (2022). A computational strategy to plan housing settlements: the case of Santa Marta. IMG Journal, 5, 262-303. DOI: 10.6092/ISSN.2724-2463/12810, ISBN/ISSN: 2724-2463
  • Verniz, D., & Pinto Duarte, J. (45%) (2021). From analysis to design: a proposed framework for developing synthetic shape grammars. Proceedings of the 25th SIGraDi Conference. (pp. 10). International Executive Committee and Advisory Committee
  • Verniz, D., Lima, F. (Secondary Author – Postdoctoral Student), & Pinto Duarte, J. (2021). Decoding and recoding informal settlements in a design studio: an overview of the World Studio Project. Gestão & Tecnologia de Projetos, 17(1), 10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11606/gtp.v17i1.184152
  • Wu, Z. (Co-Author – Graduate Student), Memari, A., & Duarte, J. P. (Primary Author, 20%) (2022). State of the Art Review of Reinforcement Strategies and Technologies for 3D Printing of Concrete, in Energies. Energies, 15(1), 28. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/en15010360
  • Zargar, S. H. (Primary Author – Graduate Student), & Brown, N. (Co-Author) (2021). “Deep learning in early-stage structural performance prediction: Assessing morphological parameters for buildings.” Proceedings of the IASS Symposium 2021. Online: International Association of Shell and Spatial Structures.
  • Zhao, Y., Feng, Y., Duan, Q., Wang, N., Hinkle, L. (Co-Author – Graduate Student), Zhang, E., Brown, N. (Co-Author), & Wang, J. (2021). Research Methods for Assessing the Thermal and Optical Performance of Building Windows. (pp. 1-31). Springer Nature.

SCDC Labs

High performance computing, fabrication, and visualization facilities.
See All SCDC Labs
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

AddConLab

The Additive Construction Lab (AddConLab) is a collaborative effort between the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Architecture. It is housed


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

Advanced Geometric Modeling Lab

The Advanced Geometric Modeling Lab (AdGeomLab) – housed in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing – provides high-end machines to enable the development of


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

Computational Textiles Lab

The Computational Textiles Lab, or SOFTLAB, in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing is a research group in which faculty and students examine how


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

Digital Fabrication Lab

The Digital Fabrication Lab (digiFAB lab) is the home for digital fabrication equipment that is used for design and research projects by faculty and


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

ForMat Lab

ForMat (Form and Matter) Lab is a research lab founded by Benay Gürsoy that is housed within the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing. The lab


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

Immersive Environments Lab

The Immersive Environments Lab (IEL) offers a high-end large multimodal display for visualization and research through the use of commodity level technology. Using a


Learn More
DigiFab's orange 6-axis robot arm assembling parts on gridded board.

Remote Collaboration Lab

The Remote Collaboration Lab (CoLab) offers high-end large telecommunications facilities to support remote collaborative design and research.
Learn More

People

Faculty, staff, students, as well as external researchers and industry professionals all contribute to the vital exchange of ideas and technologies in the SCDC.

Core faculty come from the Stuckeman School’s Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Graphic Design academic units. All involved are driven by the possibilities of advanced computation and its affordances for improving products and processes for people.



Core Faculty Researchers


Yasmine Abbas

Yasmine Abbas

Assistant Teaching Professor of Architecture | Profile


Cathy Braasch

Cathy Braasch

Assistant Teaching Professor, Architecture | Profile


Felecia Davis

Felecia Davis

Associate Professor of Architecture | Profile


José Pinto Duarte

José Pinto Duarte

Stuckeman Chair in Design Innovation; Director, Stuckeman Center for Design Computing | Profile


Travis Flohr

Travis Flohr

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture | Profile


David Goldberg

David Goldberg

Associate Clinical Professor of Landscape Architecture | Profile


Benay Gürsoy Toykoç

Benay Gürsoy Toykoç

Assistant Professor of Architecture | Profile


Darla Lindberg

Darla Lindberg

Professor of Architecture | Profile


DK Osseo-Asare

DK Osseo-Asare

Associate Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design | Profile


Ryan Russell

Ryan Russell

Associate Professor of Graphic Design | Profile


Peter Stempel

Peter Stempel

Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture | Profile


Rodney Allen Trice

Rodney Allen Trice

Professor of Practice in Graphic Design | Profile

A group of researchers standing in a darkened room engaging with a virtual environment projection
A student wearing VR goggles and holding two hand controllers while engaging with a virtual environment


Affiliate Researchers


Rahman Azari

Rahman Azari

Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of RE2 Lab | Profile


Sven Bilén

Sven Bilén

Head of School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs; Professor | Profile


Nathan Brown

Nathan Brown

Assistant Professor of Architectural Engineering | Profile


Orsolya Gáspár

Orsolya Gáspár

Assistant Professor of Architecture | Profile


Thomas Lauerman

Thomas Lauerman

Assistant Professor of Art | Profile


Nicholas Meisel

Nicholas Meisel

Assistant Professor, School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs | Profile


Rebecca Napolitano

Rebecca Napolitano

Assistant Professor, Architectural Engineering | Profile


Zoubeida Ounaies

Zoubeida Ounaies

Professor, Mechanical Engineering | Profile


Timothy Simpson

Timothy Simpson

Paul Morrow Professor in Engineering Design and Manufacturing | Profile

Advisory Board

Administrative & Financial Support

  • Barbara Cutler
  • Katrina Kasper
  • Karen McNeal

Postdoc & Visiting Scholars

  • Clara Neves, Post-Doctoral Scholar

Graduate Student Researchers

  • Dima Abu-Adirah, Ph.D. Student
  • Maryam Aman, Ph.D. Student
  • Ozguc Capunaman, Ph.D. Candidate
  • Negar Dehghan, M.F.A. in Art (Graphic Design concentration)
  • Gonçalo Duarte, Ph.D. Candidate
  • Parisa Farjamfar, M.F.A. in Art (Graphic Design concentration)
  • Paniz Farrokhsiar, M.S. in Arch.
  • Lara Garcia, Ph.D. Student
  • Keerthana Govindarazan, Ph.D. Student
  • Chowdhury Ali Imam, M.S. in Arch
  • Eric Mainzer, Ph.D. Student
  • Daniele Melo Santos Paulino, Ph.D. Student
  • Mohamed Raeez Akthar Sadik, M.Eng. in Industrial Engineering
  • Nusrat Tabassum, Ph.D. Student
  • Jordan Wolf, M.F.A. in Art (Graphic Design concentration)
  • Forough Yazdanpanah, M.F.A. in Art (Graphic Design concentration)

Collaborators

  • Klaudia Bak
  • Ian Danner
  • Berfin Evrim
  • Ella Hill
  • Gavin Hinshaw
  • Sierra Hogan
  • Niousha Keyvani
  • Erin Lewis
  • Vyom Mehta
  • Jennifer Moreno
  • Hiranshi Patel
  • Daniel Quedenfeld
  • Andrew Smith
  • Natalie Walter, M.S. in Arch.
  • Nathan Watson

Alumni

  • Enam Adnan
  • Amnah Alqenaee
  • Negar Ashrafi, Ph.D.
  • Ali Baghi, M.S. in Arch.
  • Ardavan Bidgoli, M.Arch.
  • Yanan Cheng, M.S. in Arch.
  • Flávio Craveiro, Visiting Scholar
  • Julio Diarte, Ph.D.
  • Shokofeh Darbari, M.Arch.
  • Marcela Noronha de Sousa, Visiting Scholar
  • Julio Diarte, Ph.D.
  • Yi Dong, M.S. in Arch.
  • Berfin Evrim, M.S. in Arch.
  • Ali Ghazvinian, Ph.D.
  • Fei Guo, M.S. in Arch.
  • Zainab Hanzakian, M.Arch.
  • Daniel Henneh
  • Maryam Hojati
  • Krystian Kwiecinski, Visiting Scholar
  • Fernando Lima, Post-doctoral Scholar
  • Sumaiya Mehjabeen, M.S. in Arch.
  • Alale Mohseni, M.S. in Arch.
  • Sam Moradzadeh, M.S. in Arch.
  • Mahan Motalebi, M.S. in Arch.
  • Nasim Motalebi, M.S. in Arch.
  • Naveen Muthumanickam, Ph.D.
  • Vernelle A. A. Noel, Ph.D.
  • Farzaneh Oghazian, Ph.D.
  • Danielle Oprean, Post-Doctoral Scholar
  • Vina Rahimian, Ph.D.
  • Kamrun Naher Tithi, M.S. in Arch.
  • Elena Vazquez, Ph.D.
  • Debora Verniz, Ph.D.
  • Anja Wütte, Visiting Scholar

News from A&A

Stuckeman School to host open house highlighting design research

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State is hosting a Research Open House on Sept. 13 from noon to 1:30 p.m. to


Read More

Architecture professors invited to exhibit work at Venice Architecture Biennale

Faculty members in the Stuckeman School are among the 89 architects and architectural firms that were invited to display their work at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Read More

Stuckeman School professor named Civitella Ranieri/WJOR Architecture Fellow

Felecia Davis, associate professor of architecture in the Stuckeman School, has been named the WJOR Architecture Fellow by the Civitella Ranieri Foundation.
Read More