On February 18, Professor Philip F. Yuan presented his lecture titled “DigitalFUTURES of Material Intelligence” as the first event of the Spring 2022 SoA Lecture Series. Professor Philip F. Yuan is a tenured full professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP) at Tongji University in China, where he also serves as associate dean. Professor Yuan founded DigitalFUTURES Association in 2011 and he is the editor-in-chief of Architectural Intelligence.

Professor Yuan is one of the top forerunners in digital technologies in architecture. He is an astounding pioneer in robotic fabrication and artificial intelligence in China. His research has over 16 publications in the realm of computational design and robotic fabrication. Also, his works have been collected by prestigious museums including Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Moreover, Professor Yuan is the founder of the architectural practice, Archi-Union Architects based in Shanghai. Professor Yuan participated in various international biennales including 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale where he presented a digitally fabricated outdoor pavilion “Cloud Village.” His office already has become a major voice in contemporary Chinese architecture.

In this lecture, Professor Yuan talked about his current works and the application of digital technologies in the projects, furthermore he delivered philosophical discourse related to them.