Manufacturing The Parametric: 
Architects in Manufacturing

The way that architects design has changed, and with it, so has the way architectural products are manufactured. More importantly, the role architects play in this manufacturing process has shifted and expanded. The confluence of some key movements: parametric design, open-source culture, and mass-customization, has created a new paradigm for manufacturing.

This talk will outline a new paradigm: one of embedded architects within manufacturing. Within the restraints of everyday architecture, it is their command of digital tools and algorithmic design that make the novel, complex, and extraordinary achievable.

Presenter: Michael Riggin, Design Director at Ceilings Plus and faculty member at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design

Michael Riggin is the Design Director at Ceilings Plus in Los Angeles, CA. He leads the Parametric Art and Technology Integration team, also known as PARTi, an in-house studio that uses computational methods for design-assist services, along with research and development.

Michael is also a faculty member at the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego, where he has taught courses in parametric modeling, computational methodologies, and studio design. He has recently guest-lectured at USC and SCI-Arc about the evolving role of architects in the manufacturing process.