CAAD Forum: Plume: Coordinated Complexity

This talk explores the design, development, and fabrication of Plume, a permanent public art installation at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Reimagining the obelisk through digital design and advanced fabrication, the project serves as a case study in how complexity can be coordinated across disciplines. From concept to construction, Plume required the integration of computational modeling, robotic 3D printing, and collaborative workflows across design, art, and engineering. The lecture will unpack the project's layered systems—formal, material, and organizational—and reflect on how design innovation emerges through collective authorship and technological orchestration.

The CAAD Forum series is hosted by the Center for American Architecture and Design to bring faculty, students, and staff together for informal and inquisitive discussions about ideas relating to architecture and its history, theory, practice, and future. Presentations introduce and off insight into new and ongoing research, and are followed by time for Q&A. Lunch provided; first-come first-served. View past CAAD Forums on the Texas Architecture YouTube channel.