ARI and the Next Frontier for Architects

At PennDesign, architecture education extends beyond current practices into the realm of ideas, facilitating exchanges and debates across disciplinary boundaries.

PennDesign’s Advanced Research and Innovation Lab (ARI) opened in 2017. Comprised of three distinct, specialized initiatives—the Autonomous Manufacturing Lab, the Polyhedral Structures Lab, and the Baroque Topologies Lab—ARI is on its way to placing the School to the forefront of applied and speculative research. 

“Architecture is typically not known as a research activity,” says Winka Dubbeldam, Miller Professor and chair of architecture and the director of ARI. “One of my missions is to make more clear that we are serious researchers.”

Access to robotic technology enables designers to manipulate materials in new ways, opening up new territories for innovation. And students have an opportunity to develop skills and experience in computer programming, physics-based simulation, and robot motion planning.

It’s one more way in which PennDesign equips designers not only to excel in their field, but also have a lasting impact on the profession and meet the challenges of the future.