Associate Professor

Dr. Alicia Nahmad-Vazquez is an Associate Professor of Architecture at SAPL, where she co-directs the Laboratory for Integrative Design. As a UCalgary Research Excellence Chair, Dr. Nahmad-Vazquez has carved a niche for herself at the intersection of robotics, digital fabrication, and traditional building cultures. Her work aims to democratize access to advanced technologies, empowering communities to harness these tools for meaningful, productive work. In addition to a prolific academic career that has earned international acclaim, she is also an artist and entrepreneur, founder of The Circular Factory (CF), MI Toolbox, and Architecture Extrapolated (R-Ex). Her research utilizes participatory design frameworks that engage with local communities to promote social innovation through the intersection of technology, architectural geometry, and traditional construction methods.

For Dr. Nahmad-Vazquez, the ultimate goal of her work is to care for humanity. Looking at the history of architecture and how it has evolved, she believes that humans have always been the focus. “It’s always about making things about life. It’s about how we express ourselves in a space.” She was particularly inspired by the idea that cities should be like a garden where people can grow and flourish. Her work applies technology to this task. “If we have a direct way of building more efficiently and more sustainably, we are addressing the main problem. We are caring for the future of humanity.”

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Contact information 
alicia.nahmadvazquez@ucalgary.ca
LinkedIn
Instagram @ali_nv

Keywords

• Digital fabrication
• Technology for social innovation
• Robotic fabrication
• Novel methods of construction
• Architectural geometry

Links

• Architecture Extrapolated I R-Ex