How to Design More Intuitively with Digital Tools / Alvin Huang

The Archiologist

Alvin Huang, AIA is the Founder and Design Principal of Synthesis Design + Architecture and an Associate Professor at the USC School of Architecture. He is an award-winning architect, designer, and educator specializing in the integrated application of material performance, emergent design technologies and digital fabrication in contemporary architectural practice. His work spans all scales ranging from hi-rise towers and mixed-use developments to temporary pavilions and bespoke furnishings.

His work has been published and exhibited widely and has gained international recognition with over 30 distinctions at local, national, and international levels including being honored as the Presidential Emerging Practice of the Year by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter in 2016, being selected as one of 50 global innovators under the age of 50 by Images Publishing in 2015, being featured as a "Next Progressive" by Architect Magazine in 2014, and being named one of Time Magazine's 20 Best Inventors of 2013. He has been an invited critic, guest lecturer, and keynote speaker at various institutions in the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Japan and China.

In this episode, we talk about technologggyyyy! Yeah, that’s right, we talk about a text Alvin wrote not too long ago, where he characterized the intersection between technology and intuition as “techne.” He believes that we should start seeing technology as a provocation (as a means) instead of as a solution (as an ends). He raises the question of what it means for architects and designers to be able to intuitively and knowledgeably using digital tools for fabrication and for designing. We also talk about the term “parametricism” and about how pattern, a focus of his studies for a long time, is actually an architectural device that can communicate a lot for people and its environment. We also talk about pattern for the sake of aesthetics is a waste of time. Don’t forget to listen to this episode!