Assistant Professor - Computation and Design Methods - Department of Architecture

University of California; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a full‑time tenure‑track Assistant Professor position in Computation and Design Methods. The department seeks candidates exploring computation as a social, technical, and creative force in architectural design, linking systems, tools, and intelligent environments to authorship, governance, and participation.

The position emphasizes research, pedagogy, and practice across theoretical, applied, and industry-facing modes, with a commitment

Qualifications

• PhD or terminal degree in architecture or related field.
• Active evidence of research in computation, design methods, or related areas.
• Experience in teaching design computation and related topics.

Responsibilities

• Teach computation and design methods to undergraduate and graduate students.
• Advise and lead design studios and foundational representation courses.
• Develop courses that connect computation to practice, governance, and human experience.
• Engage in cross‑disciplinary collaboration across campus and industry.

Skills

Computational thinking

Teaching

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in Architecture or related field

Tools

Python

Grasshopper

Revit

Job description

The Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Computation and Design Methods. Berkeley's Department of Architecture sits within the College of Environmental Design, a leader in cross-disciplinary environmental design education since 1959, and is uniquely positioned in the Bay Area, where design practice, technological innovation, and critical inquiry converge in uncommon proximity; for more information, visit UC Berkeley's Department of Architecture.

We seek candidates whose work examines and/or demonstrates promise in applying computation as a creative, social, and technical force in architectural design, connecting systems, tools, and intelligent environments to questions of authorship, agency, governance, participation, and the changing responsibilities of design. "Computation and Design Methods" names a broad area of inquiry concerned with how tools, systems, data, media, and methods shape architectural design, representation, research, and practice. Its primary concern is the study and making of socio-technical systems through which design activity is organized, coordinated, and governed, and design artifacts are generated, represented, and evaluated. Possible areas of focus include technically-oriented subjects such as building information modeling, digital twins, spatial data systems, and urban information systems; methodological inquiry such as feedback systems, human-building interaction, participation, distributed agency, and self-regulating processes; and sociotechnical and critical research such as platform studies, civic data, public-interest technology, and built-environment science and technology studies. Across these areas, the field asks how computation operates in architectural design as means, as material, and as media, ultimately shaping how the built environment is experienced and inhabited over time. That is: as a way of making and evaluating design work, as a technical substrate shaped and incorporated into designed artifacts, and as a system that acts back on design practice and culture.

This search responds to a moment in which computation is rapidly reshaping design knowledge, pedagogy, and practice. As data-rich, automated, and intelligent systems transform how buildings are conceived, coordinated, evaluated, and inhabited, the need for critical frameworks has never been more pressing. Artificial intelligence, as much a cultural force as a technical one, has generated expectations, anxieties, and professional reorganizations that now bear directly on how architecture is taught, practiced, and understood. The College of Environmental Design’s foundational work on “wicked problems,” feedback, participation, patterns, and design-as-argumentation offers an urgently needed foundation for preparing designers to act responsibly within this transformed landscape, recognizing that technical decisions are inseparable from their human, social, and environmental consequences.

As the position is situated within a broad and pluralistic field, work in this role may span research, practice, making, criticism, and scholarship across theoretical, applied, experimental, and industry-facing modes. The position carries responsibility for teaching computation both as an instrument of design and as a cultural actor with social, technical, and political consequences. The position involves advising and/or leading design studios and foundational representation courses, helping students connect computational tools and methods to questions of participation, governance, and human experience. Teaching duties include broad undergraduate lecture courses, among them large-format courses introducing students to computation on both a theoretical and practical level, as well as advanced graduate seminars shaped by the faculty member's expertise

This position may include opportunities to build collaborations across Berkeley’s campus with units such as computing, data science, information science, engineering, building technology, new media, design innovation, and science and technology studies. Through such partnerships, the appointed faculty member may advise students across colleges and degree programs, develop shared computational resources, and contribute to a range of curricular sequences. The position also includes opportunities to develop funded research and partnerships with industry or public‑sector organizations, connecting students to emerging professional workflows and extending the department’s reach beyond architectural practice. Service to the department, college, university, profession, and broader community is an essential component of the appointment and includes advising at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The department is committed to addressing the family needs of faculty, including dual career couples and single parents. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths or who have taken time off for family reasons, or who have achieved excellence in careers outside academia. For information about potential relocation to Berkeley, or career needs of accompanying partners and spouses, please visit the Office for Faculty Equity and Welfare's website.

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent international degree at the time of application.