Building Research: Centering Buildings in the Construction of Knowledge * 

DATE2026

TYPESymposium

LOCATION Margaret and Frank Robinson Lecture Hall in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

ORGANIZER David Costanza

CONTRIBUTORS Cobalt Office (Andrew Colopy & Robert Booth) CommonMatters (Sungwoo Jang)
 Ja-Ja Co. (Michelle Chang)
Studio  J-Jih (J-Jih)
French   2D (Jenny French & Anda French)
Primary  Projects (Kyle Barker)
LADG: The Los Angeles Design Group (Andrew Holder & Benjamin Freyinger)
HANNAH (Leslie Lok & Sasa Zivkovic)
SAW: Spiegel Aihara Workshop (Dan Spiegel & Megumi Aihara)
BCL: Building Construction Lab / DCS: David Costanza Studio (David Costanza)

MODERATORS Billie Faircloth
Lily Chi

FUNDING Preston H. Thomas Lecture Series

OVERVIEW The Building Research Symposium examined the dual aspects of architectural inquiry: the meticulous study of the built environment and the creative act of building knowledge through construction. To do so, the speakers invited to the symposium were contemporary architects whose work sits at the intersection of practice and academia, demonstrating that buildings and their making are central to their research agendas.
    At the core of these presentations was a vital examination of three urgent topics central to disciplinary conversations: affordability, performance, and carbon. Speakers were prompted to address these issues by describing the tough trade-offs and friction points that naturally arise when these three factors interact. The symposium aimed to show how high-performance goals interact with economic realities in construction and the urgent need for carbon reduction. This approach links analysis with design practice, shifting the view of buildings from static objects to dynamic sites of innovation and knowledge creation.
    Finally, the Building Research Symposium sought to fold the horizontal breadth of architectural research around a shared set of interests that re-centered buildings in research. Whether through archival documentation of historical precedents or innovative robotics research, the goal was to demonstrate how rigorous academic research centered on building(s) can help address affordability, performance, and carbon reduction at a time when these issues demand a reconsideration of disciplinary modes of thinking and making. The curiosity underlying this variety of work is a shared desire to question, challenge, reinvent, analyze, and advance the discipline—not just to create ‘good buildings’. This collective effort aims to influence professional practice and architectural education, shaping how we teach and prepare future generations of architects.

DCS