Introducing “Zones Unseen”: Spring 2026 CodeLab Event Series
The Spring 2026 CM-A Computational Design Event Series, titled Zones Unseen, brings together a cross-disciplinary group of researchers and practitioners. Spanning architecture, robotics, data visualization, and cybernetics, this series aims to illuminate contemporary blind spots within design culture and practice.
Throughout the semester, our guest speakers will examine how emerging technologies, specifically AI and time-based media, intersect with the social, material, and visual worlds of design.
All events are in CodeLab (MMCH 403).
More details about the series.
Events
Lara Stöhlmacher | Encoding Situated Knowledges
Date: February 19, 2026, 5pm
Focus: This talk examines the role of situated spatial knowledge within AI-assisted architectural workflows. Lara will discuss how automated systems risk reinforcing hegemonic narratives if their underlying design logics remain unexamined.
Nathan Felde | Whither Design?
Date: March 12–13, 2026
Focus: Presented in collaboration with Lab4C, Nathan addresses the challenges facing design educators, including the rise of AI tools and the consolidation of design firms into international corporations. He explores how cybernetics and philosophy can improve the quality of questions we ask in a changing world.
Robert Rapoport | Visual Reasoning Models and Critical Montage
Date: March 19, 2026, 5pm
Focus: Framing a roundtable discussion, Robert explores how the history of 20th-century montage can help us imagine critical design practices for machine learning. He will address the pedagogical stakes of vision models that lack a pre-existing syntax.
Jer Thorp | Data Natures
Date: March 28–29, 2026
Focus: Renowned data artist Jer Thorp leads a workshop and lecture at IDeATe. Best known for the 9/11 Memorial algorithm, Jer is a leading voice for the ethical use of big data and its intersection with art.
Yigit Menguc | Researching New Ways of Science: A Journey in Soft Robotics
Date: April 9–16, 2026
Focus: Yigit shares an anthropological perspective on his journey from corporate science back to independent research. This conversation-heavy seminar explores biologically-inspired soft robotics and the search for “heart-full” ways of conducting science.
