Assistant Professor Christos Marcopoulos was one of 13 speakers from the U of T to present a TEDx Talk at the University on May 18th, 2013. His lecture explored the work of the RAD lab (Responsive Architecture at Daniels), a research unit at the Daniels Faculty that investigates and experiments with embedded technology and ubiquitous computing in architecture.

Premised on the notion that every building or landscape can be equiped with computational power, RAD researchers consider how sensors and other technologies can enable our built environments to respond to changing conditions. Think: a blanket that monitors your movements when you sleep, a window that can gauge interior air quality and respond by introducing fresh air into a building, or wallpaper that responds to light level fluctuations over the course of the day.

Marcopoulos is a co-founder of the RAD lab with Assistant Professor Carol Moukheiber and Associate Professor Rodolphe el-Khoury. The researchers recenty released the book Make Alive: Prototypes for Sentient Architectures (also called The Living, Breathing, Thinking Responsive Buildings of the Future), which features projects developed under the supervision of RAD’s principal designers/researchers: Marcopoulos, Moukheiber,  el-Khoury, and Nashid Nabian.

Marcopoulos is also a co-founder and partner in the architecture practice Studio NMinusOne (n-1). He has worked in the offices of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) in Rotterdam, led by Rem Koolhaas; and SOM (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill) in San Francisco. His work on the domestic environment has been acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and he is the co-editor of Wild Wild Urbanism, Redesigning California [CCA 2006]. Marcolpoulos' built work has been published widely in academic and mainstream media including Praxis Journal of Architecture, Domus, The New York Times Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. Studio NMinusOne was selected by the New York Architectural League for its Emerging Voices lecture series in 2012.