Interactive Design

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 surrounding space through the implementation of emerging technologies. Her work addresses issues such as feminism, emotion, bodily perception and social interaction. She specializes in computational design, interactive technologies, additive manufacturing and digital fabrication technologies. Farahi has won several awards including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum Digital Design Award, Fast Company Innovation By Design Linda Tischler Award, World Technology Award (WTN). She has received her PhD in Interdisciplinary Media Arts and Practice at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Design, California State University, Long Beach. Neil Leach is an architect, curator and writer. His research interests fall broadly into two fields, critical theory and digital design. In the field of critical theory, he has published many monographs and edited volumes, dealing largely with the impact of importing theoretical tools from critical theory into an architectural arena. He has taught at numerous international universities including Columbia GSAPP, Dessau Institute of Architecture, IaaC, London Consortium, Royal Danish School of Fine Arts, University of Bath. Neil Leach is currently Visiting Professor at Harvard University GSD, Professor at the European Graduate School, Gao Feng Professor at Tongji University, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California. Contributing authors and interviewees Philip Beesley, Digital I/O, Behnaz Farahi, Michael Fox, John Frazer, Mona Ghandi, Ruairi Glynn, Usman Haque, Harshika Jain, Yasuaki Kakehi, Asif Khan, Kimchi and Chips , Manuel Kretzer, LAb[au], Neil Leach, Elyne Legarnisson, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Minimaforms, MIT Media Laboratory, Güvenç Özel, Lisa Park, Gordon Pask, Dan Roosegaarde, Jenny Sabin, F. Myles Sciotto, SOFTlab, teamLab, Skylar Tibbits, Lining Yao, Weidi Zhang]]>