Arch_Manu [ARC Centre for Next-Gen Architectural Manufacturing] reposted this
Reflections from an outsider at CAADRIA 2026... I don’t normally post much on LinkedIn, but the beauty of the long-haul flight after a conference is that you are afforded the time to think and reflect on everything you’ve experienced. For me, this last week was very different to any other academic conference I’d ever attended. I went to CAADRIA 2026 to co-run a scenario analysis workshop (thank you to my fantastic co-facilitators, Christian and Farnaz; and for those who don’t know, CAADRIA stands for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia... don’t worry, I looked this up so you didn’t have to). As an organisations and behaviour researcher dropped into a sea of computational designers and architects, I braced myself for jargon and polite tolerance. I got something else entirely. On day one, I asked a student something along the lines of “can you explain to me like I’m five what your research is?” He grinned and very patiently, clearly, and logically explained his work. Almost everyone I asked this question to lit up and did exactly that. Generously. Repeatedly. Without the faint sigh that academics sometimes reserve for outsiders. That alone is worth saying out loud, because it’s not the norm everywhere. The work itself was a different kind of revelation. AI-heavy, deeply technical, often beautiful. I sat through presentation after presentation, genuinely impressed and enthralled, and to be completely honest, slightly out of my depth at times, in the best way possible. I’m generally pro-AI, which is why a single nagging question kept circling my mind from the very first session through to the last conversation: just because you can, does that mean you should? I've written up my thoughts on this as an article, see below (the HK to Sydney leg of my flight took longer than planned). It includes the three aspects I kept coming back to: sustainability, professional jurisdiction, and the boundaries of any tool, as well as a quieter observation about the intended versus unintended consequences of research. A warm thank you to June-Hao and his team for putting together an unforgettable event, especially Shih-Yuan Wang as workshop chair, and Jinbao and Lee, who worked tirelessly to keep things running smoothly. Thank you also to our wonderful workshop participants and our TAs, Lotus and Ezra. And to everyone else I met and spent time with, whether chatting between sessions or over a few drinks — there are too many of you to name, but you know who you are. You made the week genuinely memorable, and far more fun than an academic conference has any right to be. See you in Suzhou. And if more of the Arch_Manu [ARC Centre for Next-Gen Architectural Manufacturing] team come along, you'll definitely see (or hear) us! Looking forward to what Marc has in store for us.