Mission

Connect spatial, urban and real estate, technologists, share emerging tech and companies, and develop techniques for growing into careers and entrepreneurs in this new field.

Background

In recent years, the overlap of technology with mapping, 3d modeling and spatial approaches has pushed urbanists and technologists closer together. Start ups use satellites and remote sensing to solve city infrastructure issues, or 3d modeling to anticipate energy loads in buildings. Google, Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, WeWork are developing proprietary technologies to expedite project delivery. Architects are developing building software, software engineers are requiring an urban planning mindset, entrepreneurs are learning about real estate developers, and transit planners rely more on simulation. This creates new untested careers in the built environment.

Past Events

There are numerous reasons why ‘ Architects are Super Well-Suited for Startups ’ as identified in a past article by Harvard GSD grad and former startup founder, Jude Fulton – from rapid prototyping to thinking in terms of systems – many of the design principles, processes and tools are the same. Several architects have even gone on to build notable startups including Pinterest co-founder and chief product officer, Evan Sharp and WeWorks’s co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Miguel McKelvey.

Have you thought about working in the tech industry? Ever wondered how to put those Python scripting skills for Rhino to use in another context?

Join us for a panel discussion to hear about how, as an architect, you can bring your unique skills and problem-solving abilities to the tech industry.

Speakers:

  • Caroline Lukins, Product Designer, Birchbox & Co-founder, Campo

  • Abigail Hart Gray, Director, User Experience at Google

  • Jack Kim, Senior User Experience Designer at NYPL

Moderated by:

Vanessa Quirk, Editorial Manager, Sidewalk Labs & Co-host of City of the Future Podcast

We'll be discussing:

  • What is product design, UX design, interaction design?

  • What are the parallels between product design and architecture?