Mathias Peter Bernhard

Mathias Bernhard is a postdoctoral researcher at the Media x Design Laboratory LDM , EPFL. Before that, he was a postdoc at the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory PSL , Weitzman School of Design , University of Pennsylvania, and at Digital Building Technologies DBT , ETH Zurich, investigating computational design tools for additive manufacturing. He holds a Doctor of Sciences (Dr. sc.) in Architecture from ETH Zurich. His thesis “Domain Transforms in Architecture – Encoding and Decoding of Cultural Artefacts” draws a map of the variegated field of CAD and investigates the implications of alternative models of abstraction and their creative potential. He is an architect with profound specialization in computational design, digital fabrication, and information technology. He is particularly interested in how artifacts can be encoded, made machine-readable, and digitally operational. His research focuses on how the increasingly ubiquitous availability of data and computational power influences the design process and how different methods of artificial intelligence, machine learning, or evolutionary strategies can be employed in the design and development of our built environment.