That digital tools have changed the very nature of designing and making buildings is unquestioned. Yet formal innovation and ingenuity—and the technical competence needed to achieve those ends—are not merely a function of the virtuosity of form-making. Rather, they also make evident the dramatic impact that digital capabilities have on the roles, responsibility, and ultimately the efficacy of the architect in the system of delivering buildings. In this talk, Phil Bernstein will suggest that digital technology has been a catalyst in the redefinition of practice itself, trace the evolution of tools from CAD through BIM, and speculate on both next-generation tools and the methods of practice they may empower.

Phil Bernstein is Vice President, Strategic Industry Relations at Autodesk, where he sets the company’s vision and strategy for technology as well as cultivates and sustains relationships with industry leaders and associations.

Read more

Prior to joining Autodesk, Bernstein practised architecture as a principal at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. He has taught at the Yale School of Architecture as a Lecturer in Professional Practice since 1988, and his writing has been published in Architectural Record, Architecture, Architecture+Urbanism, Design Intelligence, Fast Company, Fortune, and Perspecta. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, and a former chair of the AIA National Contract Documents Committee.