Daniel Baerlecken
Associate Professor, Associate Chair; Director, Bachelor of Science in Architecture program
Daniel Baerlecken
Associate Professor, Associate Chair; Director, Bachelor of Science in Architecture program
Education
Diploma in Engineering/Architecture with honors, June 2003, RWTH Aachen University
Master Class: Professor Zaha Hadid (2001-2003), University of Applied Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Prediploma in Engineering/Architecture, June 1998, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Keywords
Design + Build; Prototyping; Pattern Systems; Digital Craft.
Biography
Daniel Baerlecken is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology and founding principal of BFR lab, office for architecture, design, and research. His research integrates pattern morphologies and material systems in digital design research to design, develop, and build locally responsive, articulated constructions. His recent work in South Africa and Ghana investigates how pattern system prototypes can be deployed as a way to make “poor” materials “rich” in the context of underserved communities.
He has significant professional experience as a project designer and design architect for Zaha Hadid Architects. He received his diploma in Architecture with honors from Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Germany, and from the University of Applied Science Vienna, Austria, in the master class of Zaha Hadid.
Baerlecken, D., Wright, K., Reitz, J., Mueller, N., & Heiermann, B. (2016). Performative Agency of Materials: Matter Agency of Vernacular African Pattern Systems. Living Systems and Micro-Utopias: Towards Continuous Designing: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia.
Baerlecken, D., Reitz, J., Wright, K., Mueller, N., & Heiermann, B. (2016). Agency of Materials. Shaping New Knowledges: Project Proceedings of the 104th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting.
Baerlecken, D., Reitz, J., & Gokmen, S. (2016). Ver Sacrum. Shaping New Knowledges: Project Proceedings of the 104th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting.
Baerlecken, D., & Gokmen, S. (2015). Osteotectonics: Trabecular Bone Structures and Their Adaptation for Customized Structural Nodes Using Additive Manufacturing Techniques. In B. Martens, G. Wurzer, T. Grasl, W. E. Lorenz, & R. Schaffranek, (Eds.), Real Time: Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe.
Baerlecken, D., Gentry, R., Swarts, M., & Wonoto, N. (2014). Structural, Deployable Folds - Design and Simulation of Biological Inspired Folded Structures. International Journal of Architectural Computing, 12(3), 243-262. Special Issue: Design Agency: Pluri-disciplinary Models in Design Research and Architecture.
Baerlecken, D., & Wright, K. B. (2014). Nominalized Matter: Agency of Material. International Journal of Architectural Computing, 12(3), 339-356. Special Issue: Design Agency: Pluri-disciplinary Models in Design Research and Architecture.
Baerlecken, D., Reitz, J., Mueller, N., & Heiermann, B. (2014). Re-Materializations: Prototypical Exploration of Neovernacular Structures in South Africa, Journal of Architectural Education, 68(2), 246-254.
Gokmen, S. & Baerlecken, D. (2014). Digital Wallpaper: Tiles of Proliferation and Continuity. In D. Gerber, A. Huang, & J. Sanchez (Eds.), Acadia 2014 Design Agency: Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture.
Baerlecken, D. & Gokmen, S. (2014). Emphatic Lines: Surface Structuring Based on Walter Crane's Pattern Making Methods. In M. E. Thompson (Ed.), Fusion: Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe.
Baerlecken, D., & Gokmen, S. (2014). Vitalized Geometry. In A. Kimm, & J. Choi (Co-Chairs), Open Cities, The New Post-Industrial World Order: Project Proceedings of the 2014 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture / Architectural Institute of Korea International Conference.
Baerlecken, D. & Gokmen, S. (2013). Gemming: Architectonics of Facets. SIGraDi 2013: Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics.
Baerlecken, D., & Johnson, K. (2013). Nominalized Matter: Generative Textiles Procedures. SIGraDi 2013: Proceedings of the 17th Conference of the Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics.
Baerlecken, D., Johnson, K., & Vialard, A. (2013). Mobilized Materials: Textile Constructs. Open Systems: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia.
DAM Award 2018 (German Architecture Museum, Frankfurt). Shortlist: Foreign Countries.
1st Prize – 2017 Architizer A+Awards: Guga S'Thebe Children's Theatre - Jury Winner in Architecture +Collaboration.
1st Prize – 2017 Architizer A+Awards: Guga S'Thebe Children's Theatre - Jury Winner in Architecture +Learning.
Finalist – 2017 Architizer A+Awards: Guga S'Thebe Children's Theatre - Finalist in Hall / Theater.
1st Prize – DesignBuildXchange Award 2017, in Recognition of Excellence in Public Interest Design.
Honorable Mention - 2016 Innovation by Design Awards by Fast Company. Category: Social Good.
1st Prize – AIT Award, Best in Interior and Architecture 2016 by Architecture Interior Technical Solutions. Category: Newcomer.
1st Prize – 2016 Best Worldwide Prize, AIT Award, Best in Interior and Architecture 2016.
JAE Best Design as Scholarship Article Award, 2016. ACSA & JAE.
Honorable Mention – AIT Award, Best in Interior and Architecture 2016 by Architecture Interior Technical Solutions. Category: Public Building/Education.