ABOUT AUGMENTED ARCHITECTURES

Augmented Architectures is a research and design practice developing projects that operate in-between the human body and architectural scale and engage topics pertaining to biotechnology, digital and bio fabrication, computational design, virtual reality, interactive design and data visualization. We create interactive installations, wearable devices, sustainable material systems, and drawings as extended notions of architecture. Our work has been exhibited internationally at various events such as Venice Architecture Biennale, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Istanbul Design Biennale, London Design Festival, The Today Art Museum in China, EYEBEAM NY, MILAN EXPO 2015 and City College of New York. We have curated and co-curated exhibitions, symposia and workshops internationally, some include 'Artificial Realities: Virtual as an Aesthetic Medium in Architectural Ideation' an exhibition and symposium for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2019 and the "Data & Matter" exhibition at the GAA Foundation as a parallel event of the 2018 Venice Architecture Bienalle. Parallel to the studio work we have been developing bioMATTERS LLC, a brand of products bio-manufactured with waste. bioMATTERS is a member of NEWINC New Museum New York 'Creative Experiments' incubator and an alumni of Futureworks NY Incubator Entrepreneurs program.

Nancy Diniz is a registered architect and educator practicing in New York City and London. Nancy is the Course Leader of the Masters in Biodesign at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships namely the 2016 NYSCA New York State Council on the Arts award sponsired by Storefront NY, MacDowell Colony, EYEBEAM, Seoul Art Space Geumcheon, Korea and The Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal. Nancy is a member of The Design and Living Systems Lab at CSM UAL . She has been a guest and keynote speaker at inumerous events related with computational design and biomaterials namely at Frame Awards 2020, Frieze Academy, Royal Academy of Arts, Somerset House, London Design Festival 2019 and Pioneer Works NY. She has held academic positions in the US, China, UK, Italy and Portugal and was co-Director of the Institute for Advanced Architecture Catalonia (IaaC) New York Global Summer School between 2017 and 2019. She is author of the upcoming book ‘Unstable Matters – Designing with Living Organisms’.

Frank Melendez is an architect and educator practicing in New York City. Frank is an Assistant Professor at the City College of New York, Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture. Frank is author of the book "Drawing from the Model; Fundamentals of Digital Drawing, 3D Modeling and Visual Programming in Architectural Design" and has published texts that focus on the role of responsive technologies in architectural design and educational pedagogies. These works have been supported through grants and fellowships, including the 2020 NYSCA grant award sponsored by the Van Allen Institute, The MacDowell Colony, in which he was awarded a 2017 Artist-In-Residence fellowship. Frank has held academic appointments at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy, where he was awarded the George N. Pauly, Jr. Fellowship. as well as Louisiana State University, and Arizona State University. He was co-Director of the IaaC New York Global Summer School between 2017-2019. Frank holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona and a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. His professional experience includes working at URBAN A&O, New York, NY, and Frank O. Gehry & Associates in Santa Monica, CA.