Material Acts: Experimentation in Architecture and Design

Kate Yeh Chiu is a designer and arts organizer. She is currently the Executive Director of Materials & Applications, Editor-At-Large of the Avery Review, and half of the collaborative design project yyyy-mm-dd. She teaches at the University of Southern California School of Architecture.

Jia Yi Gu is an architectural scholar, curator, and designer working on histories of knowledge production through the lens of media studies, cultural techniques, and material cultures (i.e. how we know and show our histories). She is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Harvey Mudd College and one-half of the architecture and research studio Spinagu.

Antonio Torres explores expressions and sensations through architecture and various media. He cofounded the Bittertang Farm as a place to experiment with the physics, biology, behaviors, and emotions of our surroundings. He continues to create projects between his childhood home in Michoacan, Mexico, and the city of Chicago. He is an Assistant Professor at UIC School of Architecture and has taught advanced design studios at Columbia University in New York. Recently, he has built three inflatable pavilions, a pregnant, sugar-oozing piñata, a plush toy collection, a sagging birdcage, a room of wax, an edible environment, and a living amphitheater. Torres is the recipient of numerous architectural awards, including the Architectural League Prize and the New Practices Award from AIANY. He was a finalist in the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Competition and was awarded the TED Fellowship.