Phillip Bernstein to Present 'Machine Learning' Lecture Sept. 26

Photo courtesy of Phillip Bernstein

Architecture firm Foster and Partners used a robot dog named Spot to oversee construction at Battersea Power Station in London.

Phillip G. Bernstein will present a lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the U of A campus, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

Bernstein, FAIA, is an associate dean and professor adjunct at the Yale School of Architecture, where he has taught various courses in professional practice since 1988. He is a former vice president at Autodesk, where he was responsible for the company's Building Information Modeling strategy that included the development of the Revit platform.

In his lecture, "Machine Learning: Architecture in the Era of Artificial Intelligence," Bernstein explores how the era of computer-aided design (CAD) once signaled the use of computers to replace manual drafting techniques. Traditional CAD gave way to building information modeling (BIM) in the 21st century, followed immediately by the extensive digitization of an array of architectural, engineering and construction processes. But what comes next?

Bernstein argues that artificial intelligence will soon join the collection of necessary tools for designers and builders, presenting architects with a set of opportunities and threats. When machines become autonomous, how does practice — and with it, the process of creating the built environment — change as a result?

Prior to Autodesk, Bernstein was an associate principal at Pelli Clarke Architects, formerly called Cesar Pelli and Associates, where he managed many of the firm's most complex commissions, including projects for the Mayo Clinic, Washington National Airport, UCLA and Goldman Sachs.

He is the author of several books, most recently Architecture Design Data: Practice Competency in the Era of Computation (Birkhauser, 2018), and Machine Learning: Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (RIBA Publishing, 2022).

Bernstein is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council and former chair of the AIA Contracts Documents Committee. He has been honored twice by DesignIntelligence as one of the "30 Most Admired Educators in Architecture."

He received his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture from Yale and is licensed to practice in California.

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects.

This lecture is open to the public. Admission is free, with limited seating.

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.