Vera Parlac
Assistant Professor
Contact Info:
+1 (403) 220-7741
Education:
Dipl Eng Arch (Belgrade) MArch (UCLA)
Research Interest:
- responsive architecture
- adaptive architecture
- smart materials
- dynamic assemblies in architecture
- soft robotics
Selected Work:
Books
• Branko Kolarevic, Vera Parlac (eds.) Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change, London, Routledge, 2015.
Edited Publications
• Alfredo Andia, Umberto Bonomo, Macarena Cortes, Dana Cupkova, Vera Parlac. (eds.) Cross-Americas: Probing Disglobal Networks, Proceedings of 2016 ACSA International Conference, ACSA Press, 2017.
• Joshua Taron, Vera Parlac, Branko Kolarevic, Jason S. Johnson. (eds.) Integration through Computation: Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
• Jason S. Johnson, Joshua Taron, Vera Parlac, Branko Kolarevic. (eds.) Integration through Computation: Project Catalog of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
Book Chapters and Contributions
• Vera Parlac, "Global, Disglobal, Local", in Cross-Americas: Probing Disglobal Networks, Proceedings of the 2016 ACSA International Conference, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington, ACSA Press, 2017.
• Vera Parlac, Branko Kolarevic, "Towards Responsiveness in Architecture", in P. Beesley and A. Roushan Living Architecture Systems Symposium, Riverside Architectural Press, 2016.
• Branko Kolarevic, Vera Parlac, "Architecture of Change: Adaptive Building Skins", in M. Kanaani and D. Kopec (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Architecture Design & Practice: Established and Emerging, Routledge, 2015.
• Vera Parlac, "Material as Mechanism in Agile Spaces", in B. Kolarevic and V. Parlac Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change, Routledge, 2015.
• Vera Parlac, "Exploring Responsiveness in Architecture", in B.Kolarevic and V. Parlac Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change, Routledge, 2015.
• Vera Parlac, "Integrating Physical and Digital: Interactive Technologies and Design of Matter" in Integration through Computation: Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
• Vera Parlac, "Material Sensibilities" in Integration through Computation: Project Catalog of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
Refereed Publications
• Abdullah Safa Soydan, Gabriele Kuzabaviciute, Roxane Fallah, Bianca Guimarães de Manuel, Vera Parlac, and Pil Hansen, "When Constraints of Embodied Cognition Become Porous: Performances of Sensory Interactivity in Design", in MAPA D2 Danca Digital Journal, Vol 4, No 1, Technological Poetics Research Group, 2017.
• Vera Parlac, "Material Dynamics: Shape Memory Materials in Dynamic Skins in Architecture" in Proceedings of the Kine[SiS]tem International Conference: From Nature to Architectural Matter, DINAMIA'CET-IUL ISCTE - Instituto Universitario de Lisboa Press, 2017.
• Vera Parlac, "Material Actuation in Architecture" in Proceedings of the Façade Tectonics World Congress, Tectonic Press, Los Angeles, 2016.
• Vera Parlac, "Imagining Responsiveness in the Built Environment" in Proceedings of the Second International Conference and Exhibition On Architecture: Facing the Future, STRAND Sustainable Urban Society Association, 2014.
• Vera Parlac, "Surface Dynamics: From Dynamic Surface to Agile Spaces " in Proceedings of the 2013 ASCAAD Conference: DIGITAL CRAFTING Virtualizing Architecture and Delivering Real Built Environment, Jeddah, 2014.
• Vera Parlac, "Surface Change: Information, Matter and Environment " in Proceedings of the 2013 CAADRIA International Conference of Computer-Aided Architecture Design Research in Asia: Open Systems, CAADRIA, Singapore, 2013.
• Vera Parlac, "Surface Change" in Proceedings of the 2012 ACSA International Conference: CHANGE, Architecture, Education, Practice, ACSA Press, 2012.
• Vera Parlac, "Materially Driven Approach to Design " in Proceedings of the ARCC 2009 International Conference, Architectural Research Centers Consortium, 2009.
• Vera Parlac, "Material | Formation" in Proceedings of the 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii USA, 2009.
Curated Exhibitions
• Vera Parlac, Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change, Banff Center/ EVDS Kasian Gallery, 2013.
• Jason Johnson, Joshua Taron, Vera Parlac, Integrative Sensibilities, EVDS Kasian Gallery/Banff Center, 2011.
Refereed and Invited Exhibitions and Installations
• Vera Parlac, "Agile Spaces" and "SKiN", in Architecture Days, Center for Spatial Research, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2016, Invited
• Vera Parlac, "Changing Fields", in Facing the Future, Exhibition Book, of 2nd International Scientific Conference and Exhibition, STRAND Sustainable Urban Society Association, 2014, Refereed.
• Vera Parlac, "Agile Spaces" published in the Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture: Adaptive Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2013, Refereed.
• Vera Parlac, "Soft Kinetic Network (SKiN)" published in the digital Proceedings of the ACSA Annual Meeting 2012 Conference: Digital Aptitudes, Washington, ACSA Press, 2012, Refereed.
• Vera Parlac, "The Shifting Terrain: Interactive Surface" in Integration through Computation: Project Catalog of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
• Vera Parlac, "Responsive Architecture Project: “Soft” Kinetic Grid" in Integration through Computation: Project Catalog of the 31st Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, ACADIA Press, 2011.
• Vera Parlac, "Blue Jelly" and "Shifting Terrain" projects, in Input_Output: Adaptive Materials and Mediated Environments Exhibition, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, 2010, Refereed.
• Vera Parlac, "Shifting Terrain", Open Spaces, City of Calgary Public Art Program, Calgary TELUS Convention Center, 2010, Juried, won through competition.
Public Lectures
• "Building Dynamics: Architecture of Change", University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Architecture, Nevada, as part of the 2017/18 lecture series, 2018
• “Responsiveness and Material Actuation in Architecture”, Living Architecture Systems Symposium, University of Waterloo School of Architecture, Cambridge, 2016.
• "Building Dynamics: Architecture of Change", University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture, Texas, as part of the Fall 2016 lecture series, 2016
Personal Statement:
Vera Parlac is an Assistant Professor of architecture at the University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design where she runs the Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID) responsive architecture initiative. Vera’s current design and research is focused on responsive material systems and informed by contemporary models in biology, material science research, and mechatronic systems. Her research centers on experiments with material systems and assemblies that embody behavior and have capacity to adapt under external and internal influences. This research is concerned with capabilities and limitations of the new “sensing” and “active” matter and material systems to imbue built spaces with qualities of the natural environment, such as self-regulation or adaptability to changing conditions in the environment. This work has been published internationally.
Parlac holds a Diploma Engineer in Architecture degree from University of Belgrade and Master of Architecture degree from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Prior to her appointment in Calgary, she taught design and other subjects at several universities in North America, most recently at Temple University, and in Asia, in Hong Kong. Vera has worked in architectural firms in Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, Miami, and Los Angeles, including Carlos Zapata Design Studio and Kieran Timberlake Associates. She is a registered architect in Pennsylvania, U.S.
