Philadelphia—The University of Pennsylvania School of Design (PennDesign) welcomes Robert Stuart-Smith to the faculty as Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, effective January 2017, subject to University approval. A specialist in robotic manufacturing and generative design, Stuart-Smith will work with other faculty in the Department under the leadership of Department Chair Winka Dubbeldam in establishing the School’s Advanced Research and Innovation Lab, the first phase of which is expected to open in the spring of 2017.
Stuart-Smith is a director of RIBA-Chartered architectural practice Robert Stuart-Smith Design, co-founder of computational research group Kokkugia, and a Principle Research Associate in Computer Science at University College of London for Aerial Additive Building Manufacturing (Aerial ABM), an EPSRC funded research project developing an autonomous robot swarm system for in-situ 3D-printed construction. Prior to establishing his own practice, he worked in the Advanced Geometry Unit at international engineering firm Arup and for the architectural practices of Grimshaw Architects and Lab Architecture Studio.
Stuart-Smith was a Studio Course Master for eight years at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, predominantly in the AA.DRL Master’s program. He has also taught at Washington University, RMIT, University of Innsbruck, and University of East London. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from the University of Canberra, and a Master’s in Architecture + Urbanism from the Architectural Association School of Architecture’s Design Research Laboratory.
Stuart-Smith is one of six new faculty appointees in the School this year, including Masoud Akbarzadeh, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture; Allison Lassiter, Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning; Michelle Lopez, Assistant Professor, Department of Fine Arts; Vincent Reina, Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning; and Lisa Servon, Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning. Faculty appointments are formally reviewed by the Provost and the Board of Trustees.
About PennDesign
PennDesign is an inventive place of learning where the many fields of architecture, planning, preservation, landscape and the fine arts come together on shared ground. At PennDesign, we are dedicated to design that is creative in nature and transformative in impact. In a collaborative environment that fosters inquiry and experimentation, faculty and students seek to recast the distinction between theory and practice, expand knowledge and invention through research, and contribute works of value and beauty.