The Organizing Committee
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Caitlin Mueller is a researcher, designer, and educator working at the interface of architecture and structural engineering. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Building Technology Program, where she leads the Digital Structures research group.
As a researcher, Mueller focuses on developing new computational methods and tools for synthesizing architectural and structural intentions in early-stage design. She also works in the field of digital fabrication, with a focus on linking high structural performance with new methods of architectural making. In addition to her digital work, she conducts research on the nature of collaboration between architects and engineers from a historical perspective. Mueller also aims for interdisciplinary learning and integration in her teaching efforts, which include subjects in structural design and computational methods.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
John Ochsendorf is an engineer, educator, and designer on the MIT faculty since 2002. Trained at Cornell, Princeton, and the University of Cambridge, he is known for creative research at the intersection of structural engineering and architecture. Ochsendorf and his students have contributed to numerous design projects, including the Mapungubwe Interpretive Centre, the Sean Collier Memorial, several projects at the 2016 Venice Biennale of Architecture, and multiple sculptures with leading artists. He served as the Director of the American Academy in Rome from 2017-2020, and as the founding director of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design since 2022.
Ochsendorf was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Spain (2000), a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome (2007) and a MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2008). At MIT, he was named a MacVicar Fellow in 2014 for exceptional teaching and he received the Gordon Y. Billard Award for exceptional service in 2016.
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Studio Gang
Jonathan Rabagliati is a Senior Project Leader in Studio Gang’s New York office. With over 15 years of experience in computational design—Jonathan’s expertise in complex geometries helps realize designs across the Studio’s portfolio.
With a focus on geometry, topology, and curvature, Jonathan brings a nuanced approach to design shaped by his time at Foster + Partners, Wilkinson Eyre, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he served as Geometry and Computational Design Lead. At Studio Gang, Jonathan plays a key role in advancing projects and exhibitions, collaborating with engineers and fabricators throughout the construction process.
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SINTEF
Konstantinos Gavriil is a Research Scientist in the Geometry group of the Department of Mathematics and Cybernetics at SINTEF Digital. His research focuses on applied geometry, geometry processing, and computational design, with applications in architecture and digital fabrication.
Konstantinos received his PhD in Technical Mathematics from TU Wien in 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Helmut Pottmann, where he developed interactive computational methods for geometry-driven and material-aware architectural design. He previously studied mathematics and computational science at the University of Athens, and has held research positions in geometry groups at TU Wien, Inria Sophia Antipolis, and the University of Athens, working on shape analysis and machine learning for geometric data. During his PhD, he was also a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Evolute GmbH in Vienna, a software and consulting company known for its applied research in architectural geometry and geometry optimization.
In 2021, Konstantinos joined SINTEF, where he now leads the EIC-funded project STACK—a collaboration between SINTEF, DTU, and Zaha Hadid Architects—exploring innovative geometry-driven design, optimization, and fabrication methods for dual-configuration stackable freeform structures.
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Harvard University GSD
Iman Fayyad is a designer and Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she teaches and conducts research in spatial geometry with a focus on tectonics, construction, and representation. She is founding director of projectif, an award-winning research practice that explores architectural geometry’s relationship with material economy, sensory perception, and the politics of physical space and building practice. Her writing and design work have been published and exhibited in venues including the New York Times, The Avery Review, Technology: Architecture and Design, Nexus Network Journal (Architecture and Mathematics), Log, Pidgin, Archinect, Yale Architecture Gallery, Carnegie Museum of Art, citygroupNY, and the Roca Gallery in London. Her public work and research on zero-waste geometric construction techniques has been funded by grants through the MetLife Foundation and Lender Center for Social Justice, and has received recognition by the Architects’ Newspaper Best of Design Young Architects Prize, the ACSA Faculty Design Award, and Architizer’s Design For Good Award. She is a 2024 MacDowell Fellow.
Previously, Fayyad was Assistant Professor at Syracuse University where she coordinated the first-year design studio curriculum and taught courses in digital media. Her course on Projective Systems and Architectural Form, designed for the new Directed Research Program, was the recipient of the 2024 Britton Memorial Collaborative Research Prize. Fayyad has served on the faculty at MIT, Princeton, and Harvard, where she was also the inaugural John Irving Innovation Fellow. She was twice named the Architecture Faculty of the Year at Harvard University.
Fayyad holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from MIT (Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honors), and a Master in Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she was the recipient of the AIA Certificate of Merit, Faculty Design Award, and the Araldo A. Cossutta Prize for Design Excellence. Prior to starting her own practice, she worked at offices in Boston, New York, and Paris.