Toronto Geometry and Architecture 2022

Vernelle Noel

Vernelle A. A. Noel, Ph.D. is a design scholar, architect, artist, and founding Director of the Situated Computation + Design Lab. Her research examines traditional and automated making cultures and practices, interdisciplinary creativity, and their intersections with society. She builds new expressions, tools, and methodologies to explore social, cultural, and political aspects of making, computational design, and emerging technology for new social and technical reconfigurations of design practice, pedagogy, and publics. Her work is thoroughly interdisciplinary with training in design computation; architecture; science, technology, and society (sts) studies; media arts, and sciences.

Behnaz Farahi

Behnaz Farahi is a designer, creative technologist and critical maker. Trained as an architect, she explores how to foster an empathetic relationship between the human body and the space around it through the implementation of emerging technologies. Her goal is to enhance the interaction between human beings and the built environment by following morphological, and behavioral principles inspired by natural systems. Her work addresses critical issues such as feminism, emotion, bodily perception and social interaction. She specializes in computational design, interactive technologies, additive manufacturing and digital fabrication technologies.

Jay Cockburn

Jay Cockburn is a freelance journalist and podcast producer interested in how we design our lives. He's interested in urban design, science fiction and political ideas, and anything that involves imagining and realising a better world. Jay worked at the BBC in London for eight years before he moved to Toronto in 2019, where he started work as a podcast producer. Most recently he's worked with documentary podcast 99% Invisible to produce and report a story about the missing middle in Toronto and the rest of North America. Currently Jay is working as the lead producer for Darts and Letters, a show about the politics of ideas, and as a senior producer at Vocal Fry Studios. You can also read his book, The Podcaster's Audio Guide.

Anne Benaroya

Anne is an urban planner at a global architecture, engineering, planning and technology firm. Passionate about city building, she will happily talk anyone’s ear off discussing urban planning policies. She most recently talked off her friend Jay’s ear, which resulted in them collaborating on a podcast episode about the missing middle for the series 99% Invisible. Prior to planning school, Anne studied biology and environmental science before working as a performance auditor of government programs for the Auditor General and Commissioner of the Environment of Ontario. While evaluating environmental and infrastructure-related programs, Anne grew increasingly interested in how urban planning could directly reduce environmental impacts of human settlements. While completing her Master of Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University, Anne deepened her understanding of urban policies’ potential to impact equity and quality of life of residents.