In this episode of Innovation by Design, Evan Troxel and Candace Kitchen sit down with Dr. Matias del Campo, architect, theorist, and one of the leading voices at the intersection of architecture and artificial intelligence.

Matias shares the trajectory that led him from the University of Applied Arts Vienna to co-founding SPAN, a practice built on computational design and experimental architecture. He discusses how his research into AI-driven design creates what he calls a "design ecology," merging technology, nature, and philosophical inquiry into a unified creative process.

The conversation digs into how generative AI tools are transforming the way architects think about form, materiality, and authorship. Matias offers perspective on what these tools actually change in the design process, what they don't, and why the discipline of architecture is uniquely positioned to absorb and redirect these new capabilities.

You'll also hear about SPAN's high-profile projects and how academic research feeds directly into built and speculative work that pushes the boundaries of what architecture can be.

• How AI and computational design are reshaping architectural practice and aesthetics
• The concept of "design ecology" and integrating technology, nature, and philosophy
• Generative AI's impact on architectural authorship and the creative process
• SPAN's approach to experimental, technologically driven architecture
• The relationship between academic research and professional practice
• What architects need to understand about AI tools and their limitations

• SPAN Architecture
• Matias del Campo on LinkedIn
• Matias del Campo on Wikipedia
• Neural Architecture (book)
• Diffusions in Architecture (book)
• New York Institute of Technology — MS ACT program